ACT in plain language

ACT in plain language Submitted by Joel Guarna on February 1, 2006 - 10:38pm. I agree that explaining ACT plainly is difficult. With my clients, I often compare and contrast ACT with CBT more generally, since CBT is more widely known. I discuss similarities and refer to some common roots to both. I then illustrate some contrasts to traditional CBT by saying that an ACT approach is "not so much about changing the content of thinking (give examples, +/- thinking, etc) or fixing 'distortions' as about changing your relationship to your thoughts, feelings, memories, and other so-called private events (relate these to their presenting issues). ACT is less about making anxiety or depression go away and more about getting you untangled from the thoughts, feelings and rxns you have and getting you (client) moving in a direction that is important to you." I give a very lay summary that ACT is related to a basic science and theory about human language and thinking (I do NOT attempt to explain RFT in much detail) and their role in our suffering (I sometimes give examples of our pain/suffering and how it differs from nonverbal animals...if the client seems interested and appears to be following). I add that, since human language seems to complicate our dealing with private events, doing ACT as a "talk therapy" is tricky: "so, if you are up for it, we will use a lot of exercises, mindfulness practice, metaphors, and other methods to keep us both from getting tangled up in the words and ideas." I try to relate all of this to their personal issues as much as possible and use examples. I discuss this in "we" terms throughout. Once their interest is piqued (& it usually is) and I am satisfied they have a sufficient grasp on the approach to give informed consent, I implore them to hold whatever "understanding" of this that they now have VERY lightly. I then try to back out of all this wordiness and shift back into a more experiential mode. The process is a difficult balancing act b/n providing enough info for informed consent and getting ahead of ourselves and getting too didactic and wordy.

---

Explaining ACT - A comment submitted by Nicole Rensenbrink on October 2, 2010 - 10:37am.

I have a fairly low educated clientele and teens. I'm describing treatment to them in these terms:

I use a kind of therapy (ACT) that helps people figure out what's really important to them, develop goals that'll have them live according to what's most important, and then work through the barriers that get in their way of achieving these goals. There are three typical barriers:

1) Feelings: Lots of times people can't let their feelings be what they are so they act them out or create other problems for themselves by avoiding them.

2) Thoughts: Our brains are constantly busy and people often get so wedded to what their brains are telling them that they loose sight of what's really important to them.

3) Being present: Sometimes people are so distracted or preoccupied that they aren't there enough to follow through with what's important.

So that's I'll be doing with you in counseling, if you're interested.