EmpathicPivot

ACT does not try to modify maladaptive thoughts and schemas as CBT does, but instead through mindfulness, teaches people to acknowledge and accept them as they occur in the here and now as part of the human experience (Flaxman, Blackledge & Bond, 2011).

One of the key tenets of ACT is based on relational frame theory (RFT) which proposes that human language is not just the association of words or concepts with real world things but also the impulse to form a relationship between different “objects, ideas, or concepts, no matter how random” (Johnson & Bennett, 2024, p. 47).

Relationship building between things can be arbitrary and can produce behavioural results, for example the concept of ‘failure’ could be related to ‘worthless’ and lead to avoidant behaviour in situations where failure may be possible or to unhelpful reactions to failure (Flaxman, Blackledge & Bond, 2011).

Understanding the relations a person has made between things, especially the ones that dominate their thinking, allows for an understanding of why they behave in the way they do (Johnson & Bennett, 2024).

RFT allows the practitioner to understand how simply relating words and ideas together can cause psychological distress and also how to plan interventions (Johnson & Bennett, 2024).

Functional contextualism, relative to ACT, is about considering the context of a particular behaviour to determine its function or purpose. Specific behaviours are understandable given the historic and current context in which they happen (Johnson & Bennett, 2023).

The context could be related to time, such as an historic or current event or behaviour, or to something physical, such as a person or location, or to something psychological, such as their emotional state (Johnson & Bennett, 2024).

ACT promotes empowerment through ongoing self-resilience and self-care that gives people the skills to manage their own issues (Lo, 2023; van Breda, 2023).

Mindfulness is empowering in that it is non-judgemental and allows for radical acceptance of a person’s experiences as they are (Lo, 2023).

ACT seeks to find ways for a person to be able to accept the psychological distress that is an unavoidable part of human life (Flaxman, Blackledge & Bond, 2011).

ACT identifies a person’s values and the life they want to live and then seeks to change the relationship they have with the behaviours, thoughts and experiences that are stopping them from achieving that life (Bennett and Oliver, 2025).

To be able to achieve the “psychological flexibility” (Harris, 2019, p. 6) that will enhance a person’s life involves six core processes (Harris, 2019). 

According to Harris (2019) these are: 

• Contact with the present moment – mindfully paying full attention to our experience of the present moment and engaging with it;
• Defusion – being able to step back, acknowledge, label and observe our thoughts and feelings—to detach from them instead of being absorbed in them.
• Acceptance – instead of avoiding unwanted experiences, thoughts and feelings the person makes room for them and accepts them;
• Self-as-context – to be aware of the “noticing self” (p.7) or the part of the mind that is conscious of thoughts, emotions and feelings as they happen as opposed to the part of the mind that is “generating thoughts, beliefs, memories, judgments, fantasies, plans, and so on” (p. 7). The noticing self is not defined by the thoughts, emotions or feelings, just exists alongside them;
• Values – determining what matters in life, how the person wants to behave and what type of life they want which provides a direction for “workable” (p. 23) thoughts or actions, or ‘towards moves’(p. 10); and
• Committed action – to achieve “a rich and meaningful life” (p. 7) by putting values into action through collaboratively developing a plan of small realistic steps including building skills. (pp. 6-7)

The practitioner’s role is to guide the person toward greater psychological flexibility by modelling mindfulness, compassion, and openness rather than trying to remove or control their discomfort (Harris, 2019).

The person’s role is to engage actively and with curiosity in exploring their experiences, practicing acceptance and defusion, and taking committed action in line with their personal values (Harris, 2019).

In Australia ACT is recommended for “generalised anxiety, social anxiety, panic, borderline personality, depression, health anxiety, obsessions and compulsions, pain, psychosis, problematic substance use, binge eating and body dysmorphia” (Johnson & Bennett, 2023, p. 28).

Reduction in emotional reaction to distressing thoughts, increase in ‘workable’ actions and positive value-orientated changes to behaviour (Flaxman, Blackledge & Bond, 2011).

Offers a clear framework for the practitioner with lots of supporting resources (Johnson & Bennet, 2023).

ACT is complex and requires keeping up to date with theory and developing skills so as to maintain “fidelity to the model” (Bennett & Oliver, 2025, p. 312).

Bennett, R., & Oliver, J. (2025). Acceptance and commitment therapy: 100 key points and techniques (2^nded.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032719603

Flaxman, P. E., Blackledge, J. T., & Bond, F. W. (2011). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Distinctive features. Taylor & Francis Group.

Harris, R. (2019). ACT made simple (2^nd ed.). New Harbinger Publications.

Johnson, D., & Bennett, R. (2024). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Responses to frequently asked questions. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003364993

Lo, H. (2023). Psychological and clinical theories. In D. Hölscher, R Hugman & D. McAuliffe (Eds.), Social work theory and ethics: Ideas in practice (pp. 28-47). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1015-9_5

Van Breda, A. (2023). Person-centred approaches to social work practice. In D. Hölscher, R Hugman & D. McAuliffe (Eds.), Social work theory and ethics: Ideas in practice (pp. 143-168). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1015-9_5