What is ACT?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, is a modern behavioural therapy that helps people develop a more flexible way of responding to difficult thoughts, emotions and experiences. Rather than making the removal of uncomfortable feelings the main goal, ACT focuses on helping people make room for what they cannot always control while continuing to move toward what matters to them.
What is psychological flexibility?
At the centre of ACT is psychological flexibility, the capacity to stay aware of what is happening inside and around us, remain open to our experiences, and choose actions that reflect what we genuinely care about. Psychological flexibility does not mean always feeling calm, positive or happy. It means being able to respond more freely even when discomfort is present.
For example, someone may feel anxious before a social event and have the thought, “I’m going to embarrass myself.” Psychological flexibility might involve noticing the anxiety and the thought without needing either of them to disappear before deciding whether attending the event fits with the kind of relationships and life they want to build.
Why can struggling with thoughts and feelings become a problem?
Trying to avoid pain is a very understandable human response. However, problems can develop when avoiding or controlling uncomfortable thoughts and feelings begins to impact a person’s life. Someone might repeatedly avoid situations that trigger anxiety, withdraw when they feel vulnerable, or wait until they feel completely confident before doing something important.
ACT refers to this pattern as experiential avoidance when efforts to escape or control internal experiences become rigid or interfere with meaningful action. ACT therefore explores not simply whether a coping strategy reduces discomfort in the moment, but whether it is workable over time and helps the person move toward the life they want.
The six processes of ACT
ACT describes six interconnected processes that can support greater psychological flexibility. Therapy does not necessarily move through these in a fixed order; different processes may become more or less important depending on the person and situation.
Acceptance involves learning to approach thoughts, feelings and physical sensations with greater openness and willingness, particularly when fighting with them is getting in the way. Acceptance does not mean liking an experience, agreeing with it or giving up. It is about allowing space for what is already present while choosing how to respond.
Cognitive defusion helps people step back from thoughts rather than automatically treating them as facts, instructions or rules that must be followed. A thought such as “I can’t cope” can be noticed as something the mind is producing, rather than something that has to determine what happens next.
Contact with the present moment involves deliberately bringing attention back to what is happening here and now. ACT may use mindfulness and other attention exercises to help people notice when they have become caught in worries about the future, stories about the past or other internal experiences, and gently reconnect with the current moment.
Self-as-context encourages a broader perspective on the self. People can easily become attached to descriptions such as “I’m weak,” “I’m an anxious person,” or “I always fail.” ACT helps people notice that these are experiences and stories about the self, rather than the entirety of who they are.
Values are personally chosen qualities that describe how someone wants to live and what they want to stand for. They may relate to areas such as relationships, work, learning, health or community. Unlike a goal that can be completed, a value provides an ongoing direction. For example, being caring, curious, courageous or dependable.
Committed action means translating values into behaviour. This may involve setting realistic goals, taking small steps and continuing to act in a valued direction even when uncomfortable thoughts or feelings arise. The emphasis is on moving toward something meaningful rather than organising life around avoiding discomfort.
What does ACT look like in therapy?
ACT is often practical and experiential. Alongside conversation, a psychologist may use mindfulness exercises, metaphors, imagery or activities that allow a client to notice their usual responses in real time. For example, therapy might explore what happens when a person tries to push away a thought, practise observing thoughts with more distance, or identify how avoidance has affected an important area of life.
Values work can also help clarify what a person wants their actions to represent. From there, therapy can focus on manageable steps that bring everyday behaviour closer to those values. ACT is therefore not only about changing a person’s relationship with difficult internal experiences; it is also about building patterns of action that make life feel more purposeful and meaningful.
Does ACT aim to reduce symptoms?
People may experience improvements in symptoms through ACT, but symptom reduction is not treated as the only measure of progress. A person can still experience anxiety, sadness, uncertainty or self-doubt and be making meaningful therapeutic progress if these experiences have less control over their choices.
The broader aim is to help people become more open, aware and engaged: more willing to experience what shows up internally, more able to notice the present moment, and more able to take action in directions that matter to them.
Who can ACT help?
ACT is a flexible, process-based approach that has been studied across a wide range of psychological, behavioural and health-related difficulties. Because treatment focuses on patterns such as avoidance, becoming caught up in thoughts, disconnection from the present and difficulty acting on personal values, ACT principles can be adapted to different presenting concerns rather than being limited to one diagnosis.
Ultimately, ACT is not about eliminating every difficult thought or feeling. It is about developing the flexibility to carry difficult experiences differently, while continuing to build a life guided by what is personally meaningful.
At Graham Psychology, all of our psychologists are equipped to use ACT with clients and will determine based on the clients concerns, history with therapy and mental health presentation whether its the most suitable therapeutic modality to use in sessions.
If this modality sounds like it would be helpful for you, explore our team of experienced and compassionate psychologists based in Melbourne to find one you think you would pair well with. Alternatively, our Admin team are excellent at matching clients with suitable clinicians, based on support needs and availability - they can be contacted at reception@grahampsychology.com.au or via phone at (03) 8838 8687.