Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is a therapy which looks at your relationship to whatever is currently difficult in your life. As it is not always possible to change these difficulties, the core aim of ACT is to redirect your efforts away from your battle with them, to concentrate on things that really matter to you. This greater involvement in a meaningful life diminishes the amount of time focused on distress and helps to improve mood.
In ACT we use “mindfulness” techniques, which are drawn from Eastern meditation practices, coupled with some methods from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Mindfulness practice helps you to be more involved with the present moment (rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future) and to develop an awareness of how your mind works, which will allow you to choose actions that are helpful in each moment.
The “acceptance” component of ACT is about learning to accept that life will inevitably bring some distress, but moving away from suffering through the “commitment” component, which is about living our lives in line with our deepest values.
ACT has been shown effective for many different psychological problems and is particularly useful for people who feel “stuck”, who feel that they have an “avoidant” approach to difficulties in their lives, or who do not necessarily want to explore the past or childhood origins of their problems in a lot of depth. ACT tends to be a shorter-term approach to therapy.
For more information, please go to: https://contextualscience.org/act
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