In addition to physical health, mental health is also an existential part of our wellbeing. Constant stress or recurring thought cycles can affect us in the long term. We humans often try to distract ourselves or “not let ourselves get down” from the unpleasant feelings that arise as a result.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT for short, spoken as English: act!) takes a completely different approach to dealing with such discomfort. Thoughts and feelings, however unpleasant they may be, are not harmful in themselves. It is our evaluation behind it that makes them problematic for us. Therefore, acceptance and commitment therapy is a lot about giving space to thoughts and feelings and simply letting them be there without giving them too much weight through negative reviews. To answer the question of how to get a healthy head using this method from psychology, we must first clarify what ACT means.

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So what exactly is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a term from psychology. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a therapeutic approach of cognitive behavioral therapy, a sub-spectrum of psychotherapy. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was created in the last 20 years by psychologist Steven Hayes. While “classic” cognitive behavioral therapy is about reevaluating and reformulating negative thoughts or events, ACT (as the name suggests) is about accepting these unpleasant inner experiences and thoughts and not about changing these cognitive content. Mindfulness and acceptance-based elements are used in the form of small exercises and metaphors. This part therefore covers acceptance in the ACT.

Your own values are the central element of commitment. Values are deep-rooted convictions, attitudes and ideals that are important to us humans, such as loyalty or autonomy. Values are therefore what we want for ourselves and what is important to us personally in life. In doing so, they give people a certain direction and orientation in life. Similar to goals — but there is a very important difference (as you can see in the video below). Acting in accordance with your values leads to greater satisfaction and quality of life in the long term. Why Because it feels good for us to act in harmony with what is important to us in our lives and everyday lives. And that brings us to the commitment part of the whole thing — as soon as there is clarity about your own values, it means in the truest sense of the word: ACT!

Based on concrete steps, it is worked out how you can act according to your values in the short, medium and long term without being distracted by negatively rated feelings or thoughts. A realizable result, in other words.

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The six core processes of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT methods are based on six central processes: attention, acceptance, cognition, self-concept, values and action.

1. Attention — being in the here and now without hanging too much on the past or future
2. Acceptance — especially of thoughts and emotions, without avoiding them or distracting yourself from them. Psychological flexibility means letting unpleasant thoughts and feelings be there as well.
3. Cognition — flexibility here means the so-called cognitive defusion, i.e. to free yourself from thoughts, rules and patterns that are too rigid and burdensome. Metaphors are often used for this. You can find one of them in the video below!
4. Self-concept — This is about accepting the many different roles you have in different contexts and being able to flexibly switch between them without persisting in one.
5. Values — to always be aware of your own values, even when you are in a negative emotion.
6. Action — the commitment to yourself to act according to your own values whenever possible (even if only on a small scale).

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The overall goal of ACT is always so-called psychological flexibility, which generally means that you are able to be present in the present moment and act in accordance with your own values in line with the commitment. However, psychological flexibility is also sought in each of the individual core processes. The following graphic shows what this means in practice:

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But I don't really need therapy?

Of course, behavioral and psychotherapy is not right for everyone. But ACT methods can also be wonderfully integrated into everyday life in the form of small food for thought or mindfulness exercises, even if you don't feel that you need the “complete program” from start to finish. The value work, for example, probably contains a few aha moments for everyone (as always when you deal with your own head and your emotional world 😉). Psychology also offers a suitable preventive measure with ACT methods. So if you generally feel like familiarizing yourself a bit, take a look at the YouTube channel of Russ Harris, one of ACT's most famous representatives.

Many ACT materials are available free of charge for everyone — including something that helps the whole thing be used in many different contexts in addition to classic behavioral and psychotherapy. ACT is therefore basically much more of an attitude than just a pure form of psychological therapy.

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If we have piqued your interest, feel free to watch the two videos linked here to learn more 😊

As you browse through this channel, you'll find many more small ACT clips of this kind.

Have fun with it!

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Sushi Train Metaphor - Dr. Russ Harris

Values vs. Goals - Dr. Russ Harris