Articles Describing the Link Between RFT and ACT

Below is a list of articles that describe the relationship between RFT and ACT such as how RFT informs the ACT theory of psychopathology and intervention. Please contact the ACBS office at office@contextualscience.org if you know of additional articles that would be good to include.

• Barnes-Holmes, Y., Boorman, J., Oliver, J. E., Thompson, M., McEnteggart, C., & Coulter, C. (2018). Using conceptual developments in RFT to direct case formulation and clinical intervention: Two case summaries. Journal of contextual behavioral science, 7, 89-96.

• Barnes‐Holmes, Y., Hussey, I., McEnteggart, C., Barnes‐Holmes, D., & Foody, M. (2016). The Relationship between Relational Frame Theory and Middle‐Level Terms in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The Wiley handbook of contextual behavioral science, 365-382.

• Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., & McEnteggart, C. (2018). Relational Frame Theory: Description, Evidence, and Clinical Applications. (In press).

• Hayes, S. C., & Berens, N. M. (2004). Why Relational Frame Theory alters the relationship between basic and applied behavioral psychology. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Psychotherapy, 4, 341-353.

• Blackledge, J. T., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2009). Core processes in acceptance & commitment therapy. In J. Blackledge, J. Ciarrochi, & F. Deane (Eds.), Acceptance and commitment therapy: Contemporary theory, research, and practice (pp. 41-58). Bowen Hills, Australia: Australian Academic Press.

• Blackledge, J. T., Moran, D. J., & Ellis, A. E. (2009). Bridging the divide: Linking basic science to applied psychotherapeutic interventions - A relational frame theory account of cognitive disputation in rational emotive behavior therapy. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 27, 232-248.

• Gross, A. C., & Fox, E. J. (2009). Relational frame theory: An overview of the controversy. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 25, 87-98.

• Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Hayes, S. C., & McHugh, L. (2004). Relational Frame Theory: Some Implications for Understanding and Treating Human Psychopathology. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 4, 355-375.

• Blackledge, J. T. (2003). An introduction to Relational Frame Theory: Basics and applications. The Behavior Analyst Today, 3(4), 421-433.

• Blackledge, J. T. (2007). Disrupting verbal processes: Cognitive defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and other Mindfulness-based Psychotherapies. The Psychological Record, 57(4), 555 - 577.

• Fletcher, L., & Hayes, S. C. (2005). Relational Frame Theory, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and a functional analytic definition of mindfulness. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, 23(4), 315-336.

• Foody, M., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Luciano, C. (2013). An Empirical Investigation of Hierarchical versus Distinction Relations in a Self-based ACT Exercise. International Journal of Psychology & Psychological Therapy, 13(3), 373-388.

• Friman, P. C., Hayes, S. C., & Wilson, K. G. (1998). Why behavior analysts should study emotion: The example of anxiety. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31, 137-156.

• Gil-Luciano, B., Ruiz, F. J., Valdivia-Salas, S., & Suarez-Falcon, J. C. (2016). Promoting psychological flexibility on tolerance tasks: Framing behavior through deictic/hierarchical relations and specifying augmental functions. The Psychological Record, 67(1), 1-9.

• Guinther, P. M., & Dougher, M. J. (2015). The clinical relevance of stimulus equivalence and relational frame theory in influencing the behavior of verbally competent adults. Current Opinion in Psychology, 2, 21–25. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.01.015

• Hayes, S. C. (2004). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Relational Frame Theory, and the third wave of behavior therapy. Behavior Therapy, 35, 639-665.

• Hayes, S. C., & Gifford, E. V. (1997). The trouble with language: experiential avoidance, rules, and the nature of verbal events.American Psychological Society, 8, 170-173.

• Hayes, S. C., & Ju, W. (1997). The applied implications of rule-governed behavior. In W. O'Donohue (Ed.), Learning and behavior therapy (pp. 374-391). New York: Allyn & Bacon.

• Hayes, S. C., Levin, M., Plumb-Vilardaga, J., Villatte, J., & Pistorello, J. (2013). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and contextual behavioral science: Examining the progress of a distinctive model of behavioral and cognitive therapy. Behavior Therapy (44), 180-198.

• Hayes, S. C., & Hayes, L. J. (1992). Some clinical implications of contextualistic behaviorism: The example of cognition. Behavior Therapy, 23, 225-249.

• Hayes, S. C., & Wilson, K. G. (1993). Some applied implications of a contemporary behavior-analytic account of verbal events. The Behavior Analyst, 16, 283-301.

• Hayes, S. C., & Wilson, K. G. (1994). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Altering the verbal support for experiential avoidance. The Behavior Analyst, 17, 289-303.

• Hayes, S. C., & Wilson, K. G. (2000). Why it is crucial to understand thinking and feeling: An analysis and application to drug abuse. The Behavior Analyst, 23, 25-43.

• Hussey, I., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (2015). From Relational Frame Theory to implicit attitudes and back again: clarifying the link between RFT and IRAP research. Current Opinion in Psychology, (2), 11-15.

• Levin, M. E., & Hayes, S. C. (2009). ACT, RFT, and contextual behavioral science. In J. T. Blackledge, J. Ciarrochi, & F. P. Deane (Eds.), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Contemporary research and practice (pp. 1 – 40). Sydney: Australian Academic Press.

• Luciano, C., Ruiz, F. J., Vizcaíno-Torres, R. M., Sánchez-Martín, V., Gutiérrez-Martínez, O., & López-López, J. C. (2011). A relational frame analysis of defusion interactions in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. A preliminary and quasi-experimental study with at-risk adolescents. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 11, 165-182.

• Ruiz, F. J. (2010). A review of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) empirical evidence: Correlational, experimental psychopathology, component and outcome studies. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 10, 125-162.

• Torneke, N., Luciano,C., & Valdivia Salas, S. (2008). Rule-Governed Behavior and Psychological Problems. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 8(2), 141-156.

• Zettle, R. D. (2005). The evolution of a contextual approach to therapy: From Comprehensive Distancing to ACT. International Journal of Behavioral and Consultation Therapy, 1, 77-89.