There are many therapeutic models a therapist or counsellor can use when supporting you through the challenges you face in life. ACT Therapy – or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – is one of these.
First developed in 1986 by Steven Hayes, ACT Therapy is an evidence-based behavioural therapy that uses a six-step process to support you in developing what is known as psychological flexibility. It is often teamed with mindfulness practices. In essence, this therapy teaches you to accept things that are not in your control, and encourages you to accept your thoughts and feelings, rather than making judgements around them, suppressing or avoiding them.
Psychological Flexibility
Psychological flexibility is the ability to observe and accept your thoughts and feelings in a situation, whilst not allowing them to control or define you. Managing your mental and emotional resources, adapting, and shifting perspective through psychological flexibility have been shown to lower the impact of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and many other challenges.
The Problem with Self Talk
Humans have an incredible ability to connect concepts. This skill is beneficial most of the time. However, there are situations where our minds connect concepts in an unhelpful and sometimes unhealthy way.
When we have had a negative or traumatic experience, avoiding thinking about it often seems like the best, or even the safest, option. But the effect of this can sometimes be to set up an unhealthy relationship between certain words and ideas, creating a negative internal dialogue. We begin to think of ourselves, and talk to ourselves, in a negative way. Instead of seeing these words and thoughts for what they are – just words and thoughts – we can begin to take them literally. Rather than seeing words like ‘failure’ as an experience we have had, we start to apply them to who we are as a person, which sets us up for more negativity in the future.
The Concept of ACT Therapy
ACT Therapy uses the theory that the best way to escape a problem is to solve it. This means addressing the thoughts and feelings brought up by negative experiences, and assigning them their proper place as an experience rather than as a defining factor of our inner self. In this way we can change our relationship with these thoughts and feelings so that we no longer see them as ‘symptoms’.
This might at first feel confronting, particularly if you have suffered a traumatic event. However, it is the role of your therapist to support and guide you safely through this process.
ACT then works to identify and separate situations you are able to change, like working in a toxic environment, from those you are not able to change, like illness or disability. Your ACT Therapist will then work with you to put in place strategies to change those things you can change, and reframe the way you approach and think about those things which can’t be changed.
What is ACT Therapy used for?
ACT Therapy has been used with great success in treating a range of issues, including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- OCD
- PTSD
- Psychosis
- Substance Abuse
- Chronic Pain
- Diabetes
The Six Steps of ACT Therapy
- Cognitive De-fusion – this step involves separating from your unhelpful thoughts, words, images and memories by stepping back, You and your therapist will then work together to change the way you react to these thoughts, so that you are aware of them, but not attached to them.
- Acceptance – this involves acknowledging the feelings, sensations and emotions you are experiencing, but allowing them to come and go as a normal part of life. For some people this can be challenging, especially if there are feelings of shame or guilt attached, but it is the role of your therapist to support you through this towards the next stage.
- Being Present – by being aware of the present moment, fully engaging with whatever we are doing, and focusing on the here and now without trying to predict, control or change the experience, we can see more clearly and begin to separate ourselves from our feelings and thoughts around negative experiences.
- Self as Context – provides an understanding that there are two parts to our mind – our thinking self and our observing self. We can then recognise we are more than the sum of our experiences, and that we have a core ‘self’ that exists outside those experiences, which helps us to define who we are.
- Values – clearly identifying the personal qualities and goals you aspire to in life, the person you wish to be, and the things that are most important to you, provides a compass for the actions you need to take to move past these thought feelings, and experiences, rather than remaining connected to them.
- Commitment to Action – guided by your values you can begin to take effective action. You and your therapist will work together to establish new patterns of behaviour that support your values and goals in life and allow you to navigate through difficult or negative situations.
Using ACT we understand that we all have unhelpful thoughts at times, but that even as we acknowledge them, we don’t have to believe them.
ACT Therapy can be used to address major issues in your life, like PTSD or anxiety. It can also be used to identify patterns of behaviour that may have been holding you back in your life or relationships. You will quickly recognise these patterns, and in the future be able to address and resolve them using the techniques you have learned during your therapy.
If you believe ACT Therapy could help you become your favourite version of yourself, or you would like more information on how it could help you deal with the challenges you are facing in life, give me a call on 0490 697 289 or contact me here.
