What is ACT therapy?
ACT is an acronym for “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.”
As the name suggests, ACT therapy encourages patients to accept and acknowledge emotions instead of avoiding them. Your feelings are valid. When you recognize that the emotions you feel are a natural and appropriate reaction to situations, you can learn from them rather than avoiding them altogether.
Difficult situations may be unavoidable, but you have control over how you respond and allow it to affect your life.
We have emotions. It’s normal and natural. Anger, frustration, and sadness are not character flaws, they’re essential components of the human experience.
What happens during an ACT therapy session?
Your inner voice will be allowed to speak. You will learn to recognize how you talk to yourself. Learning to trust yourself, you will be given tools to help you discern between situations that require action and those that must be accepted. If the situation won’t change, you will acquire skills to help you adjust your behavior to make it more sustainable.
You and your psychologist will also note patterns in behavior and thoughts and work to break unhealthy cycles that no longer serve you. The work is determined by your goals and what you would like to achieve in therapy.
Is ACT therapy right for you?
ACT therapy is a proven treatment for many mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, OCD, and PTSD. Lewin Psychological Services offers an integrative approach to teletherapy tailored to your needs, using modern psychodynamics and ACT as a foundation.