FACT: The utility of an integration of functional analytic psychotherapy and acceptance and commitment therapy

Functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are 2 contemporary behavioral therapies designed to address complex clinical problems. The 2 therapies are described, and areas of convergence and divergence are discussed. A new psychotherapy integrating the 2—functional-analytic acceptance and commitment therapy (FACT)—is defined. It is argued that FACT enhances the utility of FAP or ACT alone by expanding the target of therapy to include both interpersonal and intrapersonal client behaviors. In addition, the authors posit that the intervention technologies used in FAP and ACT enhance one another. The authors also address the following topics: populations for whom FACT would be most beneficial, supervision and training issues, current empirical research on FACT, and FACT’s applicability and generalization.