# Definition of ACT?



## roverred (Dec 23, 2007)

I read the stickied post and the ACT site, but i'm still confused on what it is. Is it just exposure to anxietic situations? If you feel anxiety do what scares you. Then afterwards, assess and evaluate what happened?


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Acceptance Commitment Therapy?
I think it is accepting that one is anxious and committing to working through things. :stu


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## mountain5 (May 22, 2008)

I'm starting ACT with a therapist who's given me a couple books. I've had mixed results with CBT so I'm giving this a try. I'm still figuring it out and I'm not sure the therapist is an expert on it, either.

Exposure...sort of. That's part of it. It's more about examining your assumptions and negative thought patterns before the exposure situation ever takes place. The difference with CBT is that you aren't trying to manage or eliminate your negative thoughts, you're just noticing them and learning not to let them control your behavior. Really, I think what's in ACT is 90% of the same stuff as a good CBT program, but my opinion may change as I continue to work the program. If anyone else has experience with ACT I'd love to hear your thoughts.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

> It's more about examining your assumptions and negative thought patterns before the exposure situation ever takes place.


Thats a core principle of CBT, although it seems many therapists just try to push people into exposure and then claim that is CBT. This is wrong and its one of the main reasons for failure in treating SA. Its not CBT - pure and simple.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

The common, and in many cases justified, criticism of Traditional CBT is that it does not pay any mind to the persons emotional needs, which may not be being met, and that by termng thoughts irrational and instantly trying to change them, that the important step of acceptance and emotional validation of current situations is ignored. These are valid points.

However, CBT adapts and changes all the time - which is one reason why in the UK practitioners are required to update their training regularly. A very well known CBT therapist in the UK, called Windy Dryden, has written many books on Acceptance, and the 'third wave' of CBT - which includes Mindfulness Based CBT and Compassion Based CBT - incorporate the acceptance and human emotional needs elements. To go one further than this, Schema Therapy - the outgrowth of CBT fused with many emotions focused therapies, makes human emotional needs and validation the very centre of its approach.

These are also criticisms leveled at CBT by the Human Givens approach. I have read their books and again they do not seem to be aware of the progression from Traditional CBT to either the Third Wave therapies or the advances made in CBT for SA by Clark and Wells.

I am afraid I do not know any ACT titles. I may do some looking into them though for my own library!


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## mountain5 (May 22, 2008)

So, nobody here is actually doing ACT?


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