Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with your inner emotions.
Instead, accept these deeper feelings as appropriate responses to certain life situations that will no longer prevent you from living the life you want and deserve to be living.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (also known as ACT) is a mindfulness based therapy that aims to find the source of emotional suffering.
As humans, we avoid negative feelings and uncertainties as a form of emotional protection. While protecting ourselves from negativity is natural, avoiding pain and feelings all together can become even more harmful.
As negative emotions build up, it becomes more difficult to ignore them. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps to process these difficult emotions so that life can be lived in the present moment. Living in the present moment allows you to create more conscious choices about what is truly important to you!
What to Expect with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a common method for treating eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, depression, psychosis, chronic pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, among many others. An ACT therapist will focus on six main skills. Over the course of ACT, your therapist will work to strengthen each of these areas for optimal well-being. The six areas of focus are:
Defusion
The act of being able to be objectively aware of our thoughts instead of getting lost or “caught up” in them. This gives you more freedom and flexibility for where you choose to put your awareness instead of running on autopilot.
Openness
The willingness to allow emotional pain to be present without necessarily welcoming it. Openness is the alternative to avoidance.
Present moment
This mindfulness component allows you to be fully present in your life by noticing what you see, hear, smell, feel, and taste in the present moment.
Self as Context
The ability to see yourself existing as independent of your struggles or stories. This skill is usually one of the hardest but most rewarding ACT processes because it teaches you how to identify yourself as a combination of your personality traits instead of identifying with the struggles you’ve faced and latching on to your shortcomings.
Values
The things that are important to us and inform all of our choices. ACT teaches us different ways to connect to our values and take actions based on those values.
Committed Actions
This involves committing to actions that align with your values, even in the presence of difficult thoughts and feelings. This process encourages you to take concrete steps towards meaningful life changes, fostering a sense of purpose and direction.
Meet our therapists specializing in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Carolyn McNulty
Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Guardian Ad Litem
Madison Magnus
M.S., RMHCI
Theodosia Soula Hareas
Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Qualified Supervisor Director
Shea Dickey
Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern
Kelly Lehman
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Emily Camera
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Kiesa DeSimone
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Emily Tripp
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Brittany Hoff
B.A., M.S., Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Francesca Otero-Vargas, Ph.D.
Ph.D, RMFTI
Sarah Drew
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Joy Laurila
MSW, LCSW
Nicole Wilson
Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Certified EMDR Therapist
Rachel DeStefano
Licensed Marriage, Family, and Mental Health Counselor
If You’re Experiencing These Symptoms, It May Be Time For Professional Help.
