Introduction to
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Patty Bach, Ph.D.
Daniel J. Moran, Ph.D., BCBA
Acknowledgments
• The ACT/ RFT community was very
supportive and helpful as I compiled this
presentation
The purpose of life is not to be happy, but
to matter,
to be productive,
to be useful,
to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.
-Leo Rosten
We can try to control the uncontrollable by
looking for security and predictability,
always hoping to be comfortable and safe.
But the truth is that we can never avoid
uncertainty and fear. So the central question
is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear but
how we relate to discomfort.
-Pema Chodron
Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it
– Bruce Lee
It’s like you’re surfing…
The same wave that can be a source of pain, can be
a beautiful flowing grace and source of power.
It’s all a matter of how you respond to it.
-Trey Anastasio
What have I
gotten
myself into!?
An Intro to the Intro to ACT
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is
…built on empirically based principles
…aimed to increase psychological flexibility
…using a mindfulness-based approach
…with behavior change strategies
… built on empirically based principles
Severe substance abuse
Social phobia
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Smoking
Depression
Chronic pain
Workplace stress & creativity
Trichotillomania
Panic disorder
Psychosis
…aimed to increase psychological flexibility
Psychological flexibility is:
contacting the present moment fully
as an historical human being,
and based on what the situation affords
changing or persisting in behavior
in the service of chosen values.
…using a mindfulness-based approach
Mindfulness is:
…much easier learned by experience, but…
…it involves:
paying attention in a particular way;
on purpose,
in the present moment,
and nonjudgmentally
– Jon Kabat-Zinn
…with behavior change strategies
Behavior change strategies include:
Applied Behavior Analysis strategies
Contingency management
Level systems
Traditional Behavior Therapy strategies
Exposure
Social skills training
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is
an empirically based intervention aimed to
increase psychological flexibility using a
mindfulness-based approach with
behavior change strategies
Contact with the
Present Moment
Acceptance
Values
Essential
Components
of ACT
Defusion
Committed
Action
Self as
Context
Acceptance
Actively contacting psychological experiences
directly, fully, and without needless defense
while behaving effectively
Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, & Strosahl, 1996, p. 1163
Defusion
Looking at thoughts, rather than from thoughts
Seeing thoughts as what they are, not as what
they say they are
Self as Perspective
A sense-of-self that is a consistent perspective
from which to observe and accept all changing
experiences
Committed Action
Overt behavior in the service of values
Moving forward in your important chosen
directions
Values
Chosen life directions
Values give life meaning
There is a distinction between a value and a goal
Intimate relationships
Family relations
Social relations
Employment
Education and training
Recreation
Spirituality
Citizenship
Health/physical well-being
Contact with the Present Moment
Mindfulness practice is based on the premise
that only in the experience of the current event
can one accurately perceive what is really
happening
Contact with the
Present Moment
Acceptance
Values
Essential
Components
of ACT
Defusion
Committed
Action
Self as
Context
These six core processes are interconnected
with mutual and facilitative relationships
among them…
Contact with the
Present Moment
Acceptance
Values
Essential
Components
of ACT
Defusion
Committed
Action
Self as
Context
This then is the
overall
ACT model
Contact with the
Present Moment
Acceptance
Values
Defusion
Committed
Action
Self as
Context
Acceptance and
Mindfulness
Processes
Contact with the
Present Moment
You can chunk
them into two
larger groups
Acceptance
Values
Defusion
Committed
Action
Self as
Context
and
Contact with the
Present Moment
Commitment
and Behavior
Change Processes
Acceptance
Values
Defusion
Committed
Action
Thus the name
“Acceptance and
Commitment
Therapy”
Self as
Context
ACT Question
Contact with the
Present Moment
(6) at this time, in
this situation?
(2) are you willing to
have that stuff, fully
and without defense
Acceptance
If the answer is
“yes,” that is
what builds...
Defusion
(3) as it is, and not as
what it says it is,
Values
(5) of your chosen
values
Psychological
Flexibility
(4) AND do what
takes you in the
direction
Committed
Action
Self as (1) Given a distinction between
Context
you and the stuff you are
struggling with and trying to
change
• www.contextualpsychology.org
• www.ACTinPractice.com
• [email protected]