ACT
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an empirically supported intervention developed by Steven Hayes in the 1980s. It uses acceptance and value based strategies in order to promote psychological flexibility. Acceptance means being open to our internal experience - including unpleasant emotions - instead of rejecting it and avoiding situations that trigger those difficult emotions. This is obtained through mindfulness or the present contact with our own internal experience (thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations) using a non judgmental stance. A non judgmental stance means that we don’t get over involved in our own internal experience and we don’t label what we are thinking and feeling in a specific moment as “good” or “bad”. Hence, the main objective of ACT is not the elimination of difficult emotions, rather to live a meaningful life by being aware of the present moment and move towards what matters to us.
It is a very active and experiential type of therapy where people are engaged in session to pay attention to what is happening to them in the here-and-now and to clarify their values and steps to reach them.
