If you have been to therapy before, chances are your therapist practiced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or at the very least taught you a few CBT strategies to manage your condition. Why? Because it works…for some people. CBT is a form of therapy that focuses on the interconnectedness of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and views changing negative thoughts as the driving factor for change. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is similar in that it focuses on the interconnectedness of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, but focuses on accepting negative thoughts and difficult feelings rather than trying to change them. At first glance, that might sound weird. Why would we want to accept these difficult thoughts if that is what is causing us distress in the first place? Because the thoughts themselves are not what is causing distress. Many people’s negative thoughts are thoughts that have caused distress for years and have been ingrained in them. This is why ACT may be more helpful for people who struggled with using CBT strategies. When people try to change their unhelpful thoughts and are unsuccessful, it causes more distress. If you aren’t able to change the thoughts, you are either struggling against it and inadvertently causing more stress or you are obeying the thought and giving into the stress-inducing thought. Either way, the outcome is generally unpleasant. Struggling against the thought and obeying it both take a lot of mental energy, so much so that the only thing left in your mind is the negative thoughts and/or emotions and you get pulled away from doing the things that matter the most to you. ACT allows people to create more space in their mind and allow room for the negative thoughts and emotions, but also the positive ones too. With more room in the mind, you can still make positive, meaningful actions in line with the values that are most important to you..

ACT teaches that thoughts are nothing more than that — simply just a thought and nothing more and nothing less. In ACT thoughts are no longer viewed as negative and positive because they are just thoughts. Oftentimes, people don’t view thoughts that way. Thoughts can be so automatic that once you think it, you automatically obey or struggle against it without even realizing what has happened and experience negative outcomes like anxiety or depression. With ACT your thoughts will continue to be automatic, but over time you can begin to notice them and be pushed around by them less. This is because you will begin to have some power over them and no longer be forced to bend to their will or tire out so quickly in the struggle against their will.

It is likely that ACT will challenge your way of thinking because it is very different from the ways people think and likely have for their whole lives. Using ACT in your life can be challenging but rewarding. Like therapy in general, it will be difficult and take effort, but through ACT you might be able to stop struggling and change your life.