Acceptance & Commitment Therapy | ACT

What is ACT?

ACT is a form of Mindfulness Therapy that helps us learn how to respond more wisely to problematic thoughts and feelings that naturally arise. As you may be aware, the way we think has everything to do with the way we feel, as most of us tend to take our thoughts and beliefs far too seriously. We assume that if a thought comes to mind it must be fact. ‘I don't know what I'm doing and I’m clearly going to fail,’ or ‘I can't trust her, people always let me down.’ If we take these thoughts to be facts, without question, we then begin to feel depressed, insecure, anxious, stressed, etc. In order to cope we often do everything in our power to avoid thinking and feeling bad and this unfortunately makes matters worse. Our research shows us that when we avoid, ignore or bury in order to cope the issue actually grows much larger and much worse in our minds.

How does ACT work?

ACT is a type of therapy that helps us to understand thoughts for what they really are - not facts but rather our biases, judgements, worries, wishes, wants, fears, needs, regrets, memories, etc. In ACT, we acknowledge that we all have very little control over our thinking. It is the nature of the mind for thoughts to endlessly come and go. What we do have control over, however, is how we respond to the thoughts that arise. In ACT, we learn to be access our larger and wiser minds, where we can watch our unhelpful thinking from a distance and then choose how we want to response to what comes up. In this, clients learn how to take unhelpful thoughts less seriously, cultivate thinking that actually helps them in life, and enabling them to take decisive action towards their goals based on their values.

When should I consider ACT?

A good rule of thumb is that your way of being in the world is not a problem unless it’s causing a problem. No one is perfect and we all struggle in some ways within ourselves and in our relationships with others. This is perfectly normal. If, however, you find that your struggles begin to negatively impact your relationships, work-life, confidence, productivity, engagement in life or your ability to function day to day then it’s likely a good time to seek help. Research shows us that ACT is a very effective therapy for a multitude of problems including anxiety, depression, panic attacks, low confidence, stress, anger and so much more.