Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ( ACT )

Abstract Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that utilizes six core psychological process of change (acceptance, defusion, present moment awareness, self as context, values and committed action) to help individuals achieve psychological flexibility (i.e., the ability to choose one's behavior even when doing so brings a person into contact with aversive internal experiences).ACTshares many features of traditionalCBTand its distinctiveness has been a subject of debate. However,ACTappears to operate at least partially through distinct processes, and to emphasize experiential acceptance and valued behavior change over attempts to restructure thoughts or achieve symptom reduction. Empirical support forACTand its hypothesized therapeutic processes is mounting quickly, but much of it suffers from methodological shortcomings.