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Treatment Protocol and Manuals

ACT is an orientation to psychotherapy that is based on functional contextualism as a philosophy and RFT as a theory. As such, it is not a specific set of techniques. ACT protocols target the processes of language that are hypothesized to be involved in psychopathology and its amelioration, as described in the psychological flexibility model. ACT protocols are thus instances of a general intervention strategy which is designed to be flexibly applied. ACT protocols can vary from short interventions done in minutes or hours, to those that take many sessions. ACT can be used in groups, individual sessions, classroom settings, couples therapy, bibliotherapy, workplace trainings, and much more. 

When an ACT strategy is applied to a given problem it can include specific interventions tailored to fit the needs and resources of the context and population -- resulting in varied protocols across populations. Furthermore, there will be variation even within protocols for specific populations based on the creativity of the researcher/clinician and relative emphasis on various ACT/RFT-sensible processes. For all of these reasons and many more, the world ACT community has chosen not to ossify the treatment through processes of centralization, certification and the like, preferring to trust its development to open an scientific processes. These include sharing of protocols, identification of processes of change, outcome research, basic research, and so on. 

Protocols cited or displayed here are not the ACT approach to any given problem, but an ACT approach in the eyes of the serious researchers who post them. They are not "official" or "recognized" or approved by anyone by virtue of their posting here, but are offered as a resource to the world ACT community so that development of the approach can be accelerated. Clinical use of the protocols is the responsibility of those who choose to use them. If you plan to use these protocols in research, you should of course interact with the listed authors.

Since the ACBS community values intervention development as an empirical process, be sure to check out the latest evidence for the ACT model here.

ACBS Members: If you have an ACT treatment protocol you would like listed here, log in, and click on the "add child page" link at the bottom of this page. When adding your content, remember that you can attach relevant files and documents.

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