What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

The thing that I love about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (pronounced “act”) is that it focuses less on solving problems and more on creating and building a meaningful life. The work of ACT emphasizes present-moment awareness (also called mindfulness), acceptance, identifying your values, and committing to action towards those values. Life is more beautiful when your actions align with what is important to you.

With ACT, you learn to recognize what is happening by developing more awareness of your own thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Then you are better able to look at things from a different perspective and decide on the next right steps for life. Sometimes this means accepting something as it is and other times it means adjusting. The goal of ACT is not to submit to suffering, but instead to make informed choices for your life. Instead of eliminating all the difficult things (you have probably tried and realized it does not work well) the intent is to acknowledge difficulties and still move towards a life you are proud of.

ACT is not a treatment reserved for a specific diagnosis or condition. In fact, it is less concerned about personal labels and more concerned about helping you live the life you want to live. It is a process-based approach that has been shown to improve life satisfaction for people suffering from anxiety, depression, stress, or overwhelm. It also can be helpful for addressing issues around self-esteem and body image, parenting, marriage and relationships, and major life transitions.

Interested in learning more about how ACT can help with issues around relationships, chronic stress, anxiety, parenting issues, overwhelm or mood concerns? Let's chat. Counseling may be a good way to address barriers, develop skills, and fully engage with the people you love. I offer a specialized and modern approach to individual and couples counseling in Woodland Park, Colorado Springs, Buena Vista, Leadville, Telluride, and throughout Colorado.