Acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT (pronounced as the word act, not as the letters a-c-t), is a contextual behavioral therapy designed to increase psychological flexibility, or the ability to contact the present moment and change or persist in behavior to serve valued ends. The ultimate goal of ACT is to help people live rich, full, and meaningful lives. ACT can be conducted in a variety of settings, including individual, group, couples, and family therapy, as well as in organizational, educational, and coaching contexts. Cutting across many types of presenting problems for children and adults, ACT has been empirically shown to improve functioning for individuals diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and chronic pain, as well as for behavioral targets, such as smoking ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles