What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)?
Updated: Aug 31
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, usually shortened to ACT, is one of the therapeutic approaches you will often see mentioned alongside Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). The two share some common ground, but ACT works from a somewhat different premise. This difference can make it clearer for you to decide whether this approach is a good fit for what you are dealing with.
The starting point is different
Many people come to therapy hoping to reduce or eliminate difficult thoughts and feelings, whether that is anxiety, low mood, or persistent self-critical thinking. ACT does not start from the assumption that this is always possible, or even always necessary. Instead, it works from the idea that a significant amount of psychological difficulty comes not from having difficult thoughts and feelings, but from the struggle against them.
This does not mean ACT treats distress as something to simply put up with. The aim is to change your relationship with difficult internal experiences, so that they have less influence over your behaviour, rather than to eliminate them outright.
Psychological flexibility
The central concept in ACT is psychological flexibility, which refers to the capacity to stay present with whatever thoughts, emotions, or sensations arise, without either avoiding them or being controlled by them, and to keep acting in ways that align with what actually matters to you.
This is built through a combination of processes. Cognitive defusion involves learning to notice a thought as a thought (a mental event), rather than treating it as a literal instruction or fact that must be obeyed. Acceptance involves allowing difficult feelings to be present without fighting them or trying to push them away. Present-moment awareness involves noticing what is actually happening now, rather than being pulled into rumination about the past or worry about the future.
Values as a compass
A distinctive feature of ACT is its focus on personal values. Values, in this context, are not goals to be achieved and ticked off, but ongoing directions that guide how you want to live and act, such as being a present parent, acting with honesty, or engaging fully in meaningful work.
Clarifying your values gives therapy a clear reference point. Rather than measuring progress purely by symptom reduction, ACT also asks whether you are able to act in line with what matters to you, even while difficult thoughts or feelings are present. This can be a useful shift for people who have found that waiting to feel better before taking action has kept them stuck.
Committed action
The final piece is committed action, which is the practical, behavioural side of ACT. This involves identifying specific steps that move you toward your values, and following through on them even when anxiety, low mood, or self-doubt are present. Over time, this consistent action, rather than the absence of difficult feelings, becomes the marker of progress.
Who ACT tends to suit
ACT has a reasonable evidence base across a range of presentations, including anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and difficulties involving avoidance. It tends to suit people who feel they have already spent a great deal of energy trying to control or eliminate certain thoughts and feelings, often without lasting success, and who are open to a different way of relating to those experiences instead.
It is not the only effective approach, and it is not necessarily the right fit for everyone. As with most therapeutic approaches, the value of ACT depends on how well it matches your particular difficulties and how you tend to respond to different ways of working. This is something worth discussing directly with a psychologist before committing to a particular approach.
Resilient Path Clinical Psychology is a private practice located on Toorak Road, on the Camberwell-Burwood border, offering therapy for adults, adolescents, and couples, available in-person and via telehealth. Serving Camberwell, Burwood, Ashburton, Glen Iris, Surrey Hills, Canterbury, Balwyn, Mount Waverley, Glen Waverley, Box Hill and surrounding areas. Medicare rebates available with a Mental Health Care Plan. If you have questions about getting started, you are welcome to get in touch..
