Each week we will be sharing a tip from our school psychologist, Mrs. Rollins.

This week we are talking about – What is ACT (therapy)?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is derived from Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). It was created by Steven Hayes, a psychology professor at the University of Nevada, as a means of working through panic attacks. CBT tries to reframe harmful thought patterns. ACT accepts all feelings as responses to situations which then allows the individual to move on.

Most therapies seek to avoid negative thoughts or emotions, but ACT teaches that experiencing negative thoughts and emotions are part of living life. ACT theory proposes that trying to control or suppress emotions/feelings actually leads to more distress.

ACT Therapists teach mindfulness, attention to personal values and commitment to change behavior. Those are 3 of the 6 main processes of ACT. The other 3 include cognitive defusion (changing your reaction to thoughts), being present in the current moment and self as a context or letting go of who you think you should be.

Therapy can look like listening to your self-talk about events, relationships or other challenges. You can then decide if a problem needs immediate change or acceptance for how things are with the ability for you to make behavioral changes that can modify the situation. The therapist helps examine patterns of thoughts/behavior to determine what hasn’t work to help stop the repetition of them.

The ultimate goal is to have emotional openness and adapt thoughts and behaviors to align with values and goals. By taking concrete steps to change their behavior while also accepting their experiences, clients usually end up changing their attitudes and emotional states. In CBT the goal is to reduce symptoms. In ACT, symptoms changing is considered a side benefit.

Psychology Today, Portland Psych Therapy, and Psych Central are all resources for more information on this topic.

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