Bond, F. W. (2004). ACT for stress. In S. C. Hayes & K. D. Strosahl (Eds.), A practical guide to acceptance and commitment therapy (pp. 275-293). Springer US.
The purpose of this chapter is to show how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) can be used to reduce stress. Stress has generally been conceptualized as a relational context in which people believe that a particular event threatens their well being, because they evaluate it as taxing, or exceeding, their coping resources (e.g., Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Based on this view, stress interventions have either targeted the stressor (the event itself) or the evaluation of the stressor as a threat to well-being and one’s ability to cope with it. While primarily focused on the latter target, ACT can be used to address them both.