Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an empirically-based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies with commitment and behavior-changes to increase one’s psychological flexibility.
The goal is not the elimination the of difficult feelings or fighting emotions; rather, it is to become aware of what truly maters in your life and to not get caught up in painful thoughts feelings, and experiences that may leave you feeling stuck, frustrated and suffering. You will learn to disengage from painful thoughts and feelings through acceptance and mindfulness skills, to develop self-compassion and psychological flexibility and to build life-enhancing patterns of behavior.
Using ACT, I will help you recognize ways in which your attempts to suppress, manage, and control negative emotional experiences can create more problems. By recognizing and addressing these problems, you will have a way out of suffering by choosing to live a life based on what matters most to you and be better able to make room for values-based actions that support well-being. The ACT acronym stands for:
- Accept what you are experiencing just as it is, and not as what your mind says it is (e.g., terrible, weak, out of control).
- Choose what you want to be about and do, right where you are (e.g., what matters to you in your life, right here, right now?)
- Take action in life directions that matter to you.
ACT has developed within a scientific tradition, and there continues to be a thriving research community that examines the basic science underlying ACT and the effectiveness of applying ACT skills and strategies to a broad range of life problems (e.g., anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse, chronic pain, psychosis, eating problems, and weight management) and areas of life that mater such as work, play, family, spirituality, health, just to name a few.
ACT is much more than therapy. It is an approach to thriving, empowerment, and growth. ACT teaches a number of skills and strategies that can be helpful to you when faced with life’s obstacles, problems, and pains and when you struggle trying to find a way forward into a life that matters. The challenge of the human condition is to find a way to make the most of this precious life even when it is hard and difficult to do so. Using ACT, I will teach you powerful skills to do just that. ACT can be used both as brief and long-term therapy to address a wide range of psychological issues.
If you feel this is for you, contact me to make an appointment.
