Author | Sophie Luo

It is based on this observation and understanding that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) proposes the solution or the right way to deal with life’s problems: Accept, Choose, Take action. ACT acknowledges the importance of our thoughts and feelings, but states that they should not dictate what happens next in our life. The six core processes (Defusion, Acceptance, Flexible Attention to the Present Moment, Self-as-Context, Values, and Committed Action) work together to create psychological flexibility, where the psychological pain that is inherent in difficult life situations can be accepted for what it is and learned from, and our attention and focus can then be shifted toward life-enhancing behaviors.

Defusion: We learn to be consciously aware of our thinking as it occurs, to disentangle from our minds, and to see each of our thoughts as just one of many ways to think about things, and know that what we do next is up to us and to what works for our life. For example, you might have had an unpleasant experience, and think, “I am bad.” Instead of believing this thought of yours (i.e., “I think/feel that I am bad, this means that I am truly bad.”), you merely say to yourself, “I am having the thought that I am bad, but it’s just a thought or feeling, it doesn’t mean it’s true. This is just one of many ways to think of myself, and thoughts like this happen sometimes. It will not determine what I do with my life next. I am in control of what happens next and it depends on what works to enhance my life.” ACT teaches that there is no absolute/literal truth, what is true is what works, so we are to look at our thoughts from the point of view of practical workability, which creates more cognitive flexibility that promotes a more workable life.

Acceptance: We willingly and actively accept our unpleasant thoughts and feelings even when we don’t like them, rather than avoiding them and constantly struggling with them. Defusion and Acceptance form an Open response style to life. It involves consciously experiencing feelings as feelings, thoughts as thoughts, memories as memories, etc., seeing them as mere experiences in life, rather than things that define who we really are. It allows us to dispassionately observe our mind at work while simultaneously “embracing the moment”.

Flexible Attention to the Present Moment: We exercise attentional control, and flexibly pay attention to what is happening in the present moment, rather than being so entangled with what our thoughts and feelings say who we are and becoming numb to what’s happening here and now in life. It’s important because the only time that anything happens is in the present – the present is all there is. This flexible attention to the present leads to increased engagement and behavioral expansion.

Self-as-Context: It’s also called Perspective Taking. The person I call me knows what I am thinking and feeling but is distinct from that process. It’s like consciously seeing my “self” and “my thoughts/feelings” as two separate entities, and I take the perspective of this “self” and look at “my thoughts/feelings” as an entity, accepting its existence with me in the same context/environment/space, but not being attached to or fused with it.

The above two processes (Flexible Attention to the Present Moment & Self-as-Context) form a Centered response style, meaning that we are centered in consciousness and in the social, physical, and psychological present; we notice and accept our thoughts and feelings, embrace what’s happening here and now, and can engage with these processes actively and constructively based on what works for my life.

Now that we’ve defused our mind/cognitions, accepted our thoughts and feelings as a normal experience, and are flexibly paying attention to the present moment, as well as seeing our self as context, we are ready to move to the next step: knowing what we want, and taking actions to achieve that, altering the depressing state of not knowing what we want or acting on the things that we care about the most. ACT calls it the Engaged response style, which involves Values and Committed Actions.

Values: Values (i.e., life directions) are freely chosen, being clear about what we choose to value in our life. It’s not what the society, culture or other people say or tell me what I should value, e.g., “I should value X”, or “A good person would value Y”, or “My father wants me to value Z”. So ACT focuses on personal “choices”, rather than a “decision-making” approach. Valuing focuses us on generating psychological purpose and meaning, and away from a problem-solving mode of mind, so that it could lead to behavior change because actions are guided by values. It’s only within the context of values that action, acceptance, and defusion come together into a sensible whole.

Committed Actions: A committed action is a values-based action designed to create a pattern of action that is itself values based. “Commitment” in this process is the actual moment-by-moment living out of a behavioral pattern in which we take responsibility for its shape. In other words, we identify the actions that we need to take to put our values into practice, and we see them through. It’s an extension of the values that we have freely chosen.

ACT seeks to help people to go through and grow in these six core processes, in order to create psychological flexibility for the goal of healthy living. However, each person’s situation and experience is unique, so depending on the assessment of each case, any core ACT process might be the first process addressed in actual treatment situations, and it doesn’t have to follow the order above.

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