Acceptance and commitment therapy, also known as ACT, is a unique approach to helping teens focus on improving their mental health, whether they struggle with anxiety, depression, or other mental health disorder. Like other types of therapy used to treat teen mental health, ACT focuses on accepting negative thoughts and emotions in order to commit to actions that lead teens to a better life.
What Is ACT Therapy?
Acceptance and commitment therapy is a type of psychotherapy that helps people cope with struggles through acceptance, mindfulness, and personal values. ACT is used to treat a wide variety of mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. This type of therapy is grounded in the belief that trying to suppress or eliminate emotional pain often leads to greater suffering. Instead, ACT encourages teens to accept their inner experiences and commit to taking actions aligned with their core values.
ACT Therapy Values
In acceptance and commitment therapy, values are not goals, but rather a way of doing things. They act as guidance to direct those suffering from mental health in the right direction when it comes to healing. ACT helps adolescents identify their core values and live in a way that aligns with those values. Those values may change over time, emphasizing the importance of psychological flexibility and helping teens identify what matters most to them.
Six Core Processes of ACT Therapy
ACT is built on six core processes that help teens adapt to different situations with openness and resilience. These processes are:
- Acceptance: This involves embracing thoughts and emotions as they are, rather than fighting or avoiding them. Acceptance doesn’t mean approval but rather acknowledging reality as it is.
- Cognitive Defusion: This process helps individuals to detach from their thoughts, reducing their power. Rather than seeing thoughts as truths, ACT encourages viewing them as mere words or passing mental events.
- Being Present: Mindfulness is a cornerstone of ACT. It involves being fully aware of the present moment without getting lost in thoughts about the past or future.
- Self-as-Context: ACT encourages a perspective where the self is viewed as a constant context for thoughts and experiences, rather than being defined by them. This helps individuals to see themselves as more than just their thoughts or emotions.
- Values Clarification: Identifying and understanding what truly matters to you is essential in ACT. This process helps in defining the direction you want your life to take, based on your core values.
- Committed Action: Finally, ACT focuses on taking steps that are in line with your values. Even in the face of difficult thoughts and emotions, ACT encourages committed action towards goals that reflect what is important to you.
Benefits of ACT Therapy
ACT is a highly effective way to help individuals learn psychological flexibility when it comes to the challenges they face. This type of therapy helps teens improve their mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and even PTSD. In addition, those suffering from emotions due to grief or even physical struggles such as chronic pain may also benefit from ACT therapy.
The main benefit of ACT therapy is helping reduce suffering that individuals face. Individuals must first become self-aware of what they struggle with before taking actionable steps to improve their emotional and physical wellbeing. Through self-awareness, individuals have a greater understanding of how to improve their life and make the right changes to reduce suffering. For example, someone having the negative thought that they are failing school might lead to academic stress. Making an organized study and homework schedule, seeking a tutor, or talking with a teacher about what they are struggling with are all actionable steps one can take to reduce academic anxiety. However, the teen must first be aware of what their stress is in order to overcome it.
How to Incorporate ACT Therapy into Daily Life
Incorporating ACT therapy in daily life requires adolescents to accept the cause of their suffering. ACT therapy is about taking actionable steps to improve one’s life, with the main focus on improving areas of life that cause the most negative thoughts and emotions.
Mindfulness is a great first step to incorporating ACT therapy into daily life. Through mindfulness, teens become present in the moment to reflect on and understand their current thoughts and feelings. Breathing exercises and meditation are also used to prevent mood-altering thoughts from taking hold. This is especially effective for those suffering from depression to overcome negative thoughts and emotions.