Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

In this chapter, ACT is presented as a psychotherapeutic approach connected to Contextual Behavioral Science and that proposes a model of psychopathology for which ACT processes would be the treatment. What constitutes psychological distress for ACT is defined as the suffering that occurs when verbal processes interfere with behavior in a way that is harmful to the individual, especially in an attempt to control the frequency or presence of private events (thoughts, feelings, memories, or painful remembrances, physical sensations seen as uncomfortable) and by doing so, produce a restriction or limitation of other aspects of life. The proposed treatment for this type of verbal distress, presented by ACT, aims to promote psychological flexibility, decrease experiential avoidance, and expand behaviors toward values. Each of the ACT processes for psychological flexibility is briefly introduced and some clinical examples are used to illustrate these processes.