Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Ground yourself in the moment, unhook from thoughts, and do what matters
Many people get frustrated in therapy by seeking "the answer" to their problems, building insight into their suffering with the idea that this insight will "fix" them. While this works well for some, others find that it does not do enough. ACT is different, because rather than looking backward, it focuses on the present moment. If your car is stuck in a ditch, it makes no sense to spend your time focusing on how you got there (e.g. where the fishtail started, how you handled it, what the traffic conditions were). No amount of insight gets your car moving again. It is more effective to focus on the present and figure out how to get unstuck and moving again. Once you're moving, it can be helpful to look back and gain insight.
A different approach
How it works
ACT is a cutting edge development among cognitive behavioral therapies that is heavily grounded in mindfulness and deep self-awareness in the present moment. Clients learn to contact the present moment, both to quiet their minds and gain clarity about the constant sense of self that can get lost in the noise and pressures of daily life. They learn skills to untangle themselves from the noise in their minds so they can have greater clarity about choice and actions that they need to take in difficult situations. They learn to accept and even embrace their emotions rather than struggling against them, and to find clarity with their personal values. This builds psychological flexibility that allows for more effective decision-making in the present moment. ACT helps you to make choices that tend to be based in a strong awareness of who you are and what is important to you, and adaptive to the current context of each unique situation. Clients work to accept who they are in the present, draw strength from who they have been in the past, and strive to become who they wish to become in the future.
Providers for this service
Ben Snyder
Kimberly Sersland Brady
