Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)
A practical approach to building a meaningful life, even when difficult thoughts and feelings show up.
What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based therapy that helps people develop a healthier relationship with difficult thoughts and emotions while taking meaningful action toward what matters most in their lives.
Rather than trying to eliminate uncomfortable feelings, ACT focuses on building psychological flexibility — the ability to stay present, open, and engaged with life even when things are challenging.
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Acceptance in ACT means learning how to make room for difficult thoughts, feelings, and sensations instead of constantly struggling to push them away.
When we spend a lot of energy fighting internal experiences, life can become smaller and more restricted. ACT helps people practice allowing these experiences to exist while still choosing how they want to respond.
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Cognitive defusion involves learning to step back from thoughts rather than getting caught up in them.
Instead of automatically believing every thought our mind produces, we learn to notice thoughts as mental events that come and go. This can reduce the power that unhelpful thinking patterns have over our behavior.
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ACT helps people clarify what truly matters to them — their values in areas like relationships, work, growth, and wellbeing.
From there, therapy focuses on taking small, meaningful actions in those directions, even when fear, doubt, or discomfort show up along the way.
What ACT Therapy Looks Like
In ACT therapy sessions, we might:
Explore patterns that keep you feeling stuck
Practice mindfulness exercises
Learn ways to step back from unhelpful thoughts
Clarify your core values
Identify practical steps toward the life you want to build
ACT is practical, experiential, and collaborative, meaning sessions often include exercises and real-life applications.
Try a Short ACT Exercise
You can try a brief exercise below to get a sense of how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) works.
This exercise takes about 1 minute.
Notice Your Thoughts
Take a slow breath and pause for a moment.
Notice whatever thoughts are passing through your mind right now.
Instead of getting caught up in them, try silently saying to yourself:
“I’m noticing that I’m having the thought that…”Then place your current thought at the end of that sentence.
For example:
“I’m noticing that I’m having the thought that I might be doing this wrong.”
“I’m noticing that I’m having the thought that today is stressful.”
What This Exercise Does
This simple shift helps create a little space between you and your thoughts.
In ACT, we call this cognitive defusion — learning to see thoughts as mental events rather than absolute truths that must control our behavior.
With practice, this skill can make it easier to stay grounded and focus on what truly matters to you
If you'd like to learn more skills like this, ACT therapy can help you develop practical tools for navigating difficult thoughts and emotions while building a meaningful life.