ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2012) is an experientially-embedded cognitive-behavioral approach.  In short, we called it "ACT" (pronounced one word) because this behavioral approach is really about "doing" or "act"-ing. ACT is an empirically-based transdiagnostic psychological intervention that uses acceptance- and mindfulness-based behavioral techniques, strategies, and approaches to increase psychological flexibility and decrease experiential avoidance. ACT's foundation is built on Relational Frame Theory (RFT; Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, Roche, 2001). In intentionally, overly-simplistic terms, RFT is a theory about the double-edged sword of language and cognition, and how they relate to subjective human experience. It's all too often, that we get caught up and entangled with our inner experience. Because of this, changing the ways we see, relate, and experience our thoughts, feelings, memories, and physical sensations through openness and non-judgmental curiosity is at the core of this approach. Some of the ways we do this is through evocative, metaphors, paradoxes, meditations, and experiential exercises. Throughout the work with your practitioner, you will change that way you experience language, life, and it's stronghold.  To learn more about ACT and it's processes Click Here

Check out this cool recent article in the Washington Post on ACT!!

PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY

Psychological flexibility is a dimensional construct, featuring several interconnected human processes that contribute to health and well-being (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2012). It reflects one’s willingness to be open, centered, and engaged with the external and internal world. Working together, the open and centered processes of mindfulness and acceptance (i.e., acceptance, defusion, present moment, and self-as-context) interplay with commitment and behavioral engagement (values, committed action) to create psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility, as a model for psychological health and well-being, captures “the dynamic, fluctuating, and contextually-specific behaviors that people deploy when navigating the challenges of daily life” (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010, pp. 866). Psychological flexibility has been empirically linked with a growing number of health-related outcomes, including mental and behavioral response shifts in self-regulation and balance among important life domains (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). The psychological flexibility model proposes that pain and suffering is an inherent aspect of human life. With flexibility, humans are more able to adapt to ever-changing internal and external environments. It is with inflexibility and rigidity where behavioral restriction manifests.