What is Acceptance & Commitment Therapy?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is an action-oriented approach to psychotherapy that stems from Traditional Behaviour Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
Receiving therapy for one’s mental health is a very common, highly underrated act of self care. Psychology Today’s website defines Acceptance & Commitment Therapy as “an action-oriented approach to psychotherapy that stems from Traditional Behaviour Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.”
In ACT, clients are encouraged to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their emotions and learn to accept such feelings as adaptive responses to situations. Such acceptance and giving up the fight against the emotions allows them to move forward in their life. Such acceptance along with evaluation and understanding of one’s values leads to commitment to making necessary changes in their behaviour.
Are you currently experiencing something difficult in life that has negatively affected your behavior or ability to emotionally cope in an appropriate way? If so, you may benefit from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy at For Health’s Sake in Downtown (Queen St West), Leslieville (Queen St East) or Kingsway (Etobicoke).
How can ACT help me?
Dealing with your emotions can be extremely stressful and difficult, especially if you’re experiencing feelings of grief, sadness, anxiety, or depression. Oftentimes, people panic the first time they begin to experience these emotions and don’t know how to handle them, so they attempt to shove them away and go about their routines as normal.
The problem with this is that when emotions are not adequately addressed and dealt with properly, it can cause a plethora of behavioral problems that can cross over into personal and professional relationships. ACT aims to help clients address their issues head on and learn better ways to respond and adapt to stressful situations.
Psychology Today explains, “In ACT, clients are encouraged to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their emotions and learn to accept such feelings as adaptive responses to situations. Such acceptance and giving up the fight against the emotions allows them to move forward in their life. Such acceptance along with evaluation and understanding of one’s values leads to commitment to making necessary changes in their behaviour.”
Acceptance and Commitment therapy can be helpful for clients dealing with stress at home, in their workplace, depression, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), anxiety, and more.
What should I expect with ACT?
Therapy is nothing to be afraid of. It’s a healthy way to process your emotions and learn healthier coping strategies for everyday life.
By working with a For Health’s Sake therapist, you will come to understand the way you talk to yourself and how you view past trauma, limitations, relationship issues, and other problems.
Your therapist will help you to learn how to decide on your own if a situation requires immediate change or if you need to learn to accept it and adapt to it. They will also help you to look at your patterns of behavior in the past and decide whether or not they have been conducive to a healthy mindset.
The goal of ACT is to help you face and accept your situation for what it is, and to start practicing optimism and positivity when you want to make changes in your life.
Contact For Health’s Sake for an appointment
There are several valid ways you can begin changing the way you think and your overall outlook on life. ACT may be able to help you change your behavior, have a more positive outlook on life, reflect on your own values and morals, and become more committed to making necessary changes in your life.