Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Last updated: April 2026

These are a beginning list of process studies in ACT that are not based on self-report instruments per se: interview studies, analyses of transcripts, and the like. If you find additional qualitative studies, please let ACBS staff know and ask them to add it to this page: [email protected]

The CBS tradition is committed to a high standard of empirical evaluation. This includes not just controlled assessment and evaluations of outcomes but also the specification and evaluation moderations and of the putative processes of change. Furthermore, we also seek to understand the links between these processes of change and basic functional behavioral and evolutionary science principles, including those drawn from RFT. As the best known applied wing of CBS, all of these features are important to ACT research.

The CBS tradition is committed to a high standard of empirical evaluation. This includes not just controlled assessment and evaluations of outcomes but also the specification and evaluation moderations and of the putative processes of change. Furthermore, we also seek to understand the links between these processes of change and basic functional behavioral and evolutionary science principles, including those drawn from RFT. As the best known applied wing of CBS, all of these features are important to ACT research.

Developed within a coherent theoretical and philosophical framework, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a unique empirically based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies, together with commitment and behavior change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility.

Here is a list of resources for those seeking ACT training or who want more direction in what to do next in terms of learning ACT.

There are two basic ways to begin learning about ACT:
Reading up on it your own
Seeking out a community in which to network and broaden and deepen your knowledge of ACT

On Your Own:

Links to peer reviewed assessments of the ACT evidence base:

Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS)

Volume 18, October 2020, Pages 181-192

Authors

Andrew T. Gloster, Noemi Walder, Michael E. Levin, Michael P. Twohig, Maria Karekla

Abstract

Presented at ACBS World Conference 13, Berlin, Germany, 2015