The hustle and bustle of life can be stressful. This is especially true when we second guess our thoughts, feelings, reactions, or emotions. Whether you or a loved one is struggling with family, friends, at work, or with your romantic partner or spouse, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the challenges we face in life. We want you to know, you don’t have to face these struggles alone – we’re here to help.
The foundation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) serves to help individuals create a life full of peace and meaning while gaining the skills to accept the painful and difficult struggles we all face as we progress through life. ACT is designed to help individuals identify, understand, and accept their feelings. Working with your therapist, you’ll learn how to let go of negative thoughts and behaviors to achieve a healthier, positive path forward.
What is ACT?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a form of mindfulness-based therapy, theorizing that greater well-being can be attained by overcoming negative thoughts and feelings.
The core philosophy of ACT focuses on three primary areas:
Accept your reactions and remain present
Choose a valued direction
Take action
ACT provides participants with the guidance, tools, and solutions they need to create the life they want by developing “psychological flexibility.” The ability to remain present and identify individual thoughts and feelings empowers individuals to take meaningful actions to achieve their goals.
Insight from the American Psychological Association Video Education Series
In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dr. Steven C. Hayes illustrates this empirically supported intervention. The goal of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is to increase psychological flexibility, or the ability to enter the present moment more fully and either change or persist in behavior when doing so serves valued ends. Therapists and clients work to establish psychological flexibility through six core ACT processes, including acceptance, the opposite of experiential avoidance; cognitive defusion, in which negative thoughts are observed mindfully instead of avoided or reasoned away; chosen values; and committed action.
How will ACT help me?
The aim of ACT is to experience the vitality and fullness in life, which includes a wide spectrum of human experiences, including the pain that we all inevitably experience at some point or another in our life. ACT does not attempt to directly change or stop unwanted thoughts or feelings (as is the case with CBT). Instead, ACT is designed to develop a new mindful relationship with specific feelings and experiences empowering you to take action that is consistent with your chosen values.
ACT therapy will teach you how to make room for your feelings, how to distance yourself from unhelpful thought patterns, and will redirect you to live a meaningful life by way of embracing what is important to you. Using a combination of mindfulness techniques and behavioral therapies, you’ll work with your therapist to identify the root causes of when/why you are avoiding emotions, as well as when/why you become overly involved in your thoughts.
Helping You Live Your Best Life
At The Juniper Center, we understand it takes courage to ask for help, and you don’t have to face your challenges alone. Using a combination of techniques at the forefront of neurological science and compassionate care, we empower our clients to live their best lives. Our team of mental health professionals leverages their extensive experience and training to create individualized treatment plans to help our clients reach their professional, personal, and mental health goals.
What matters to you, matters to us. Contact a member of our team to schedule your no-obligation consultation today. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you on your journey.
