Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), based on Relational Frame Theory (RFT), is a third wave behavioral therapy that utilizes mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions to enable active engagement with life with greater psychological flexibility, clarity of values, and effective action. Within ACT’s framework, psychological suffering tends to be the result of maladaptive interactions between human language and thoughts, attempts to exert control, attachment to the conceptualized self, disconnection from the present moment, and unwillingness to engage in behaviors driven by one’s true values.

ACT is focused on letting go of fusion or attachment to thoughts, embracing the present moment, and engaging in effective patterns of behavioral action to move toward value-based goals. The idea is that life can be painful, and attempts to reduce pain through control and avoidance only result in additional unnecessary suffering. The ultimate goal of practicing the basic principles of ACT is to build a rich, vibrant, and meaningful life while accepting the inevitable pain that comes with it.

Get Committed to Your Goals

“Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda in “The Empire Strikes Back” We have all had the experience of setting a new goal with optimism and excitement about what the future might hold.  If goal-setting were an easy or trivial matter, there would not be so many motivational books written…

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Experiential Avoidance: The Desire to Avoid Distress

“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own soul.” – Carl Jung When we experience unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or sensations, there is often a natural tendency to want to avoid these uncomfortable experiences – sometimes, at all costs. This is called experiential avoidance.  The irony is that experiential avoidance has…

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Don’t Drain Love From Your Relationship

“When you struggle with your partner, you are struggling with yourself. Every fault you see in them touches a denied weakness in yourself.” – Deepak Chopra Healthy, stable, and loving relationships don’t happen by magic.  They happen as the result of two people actively working together to be a team, empathizing with the other’s point…

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6 Core Processes of Psychological Inflexibility

“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.” – Lao Tzu Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) uses a variety of mindfulness and acceptance-based strategies, along with behavioral changes and commitment to cultivate psychological flexibility.  What does it mean to say that one is “psychologically flexible?”  In the context of ACT,…

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Fusion vs. Defusion

“Doubt is not a pleasant state of mind, but certainty is absurd.” – Voltaire Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) contends that there are opportunities for purpose and meaning even in the midst of intense pain or suffering.  The goal of ACT is not to merely eliminate suffering, but to find a way to use one’s…

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