Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

 
 

About Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a type of behavioural therapy that blends mindfulness with self-acceptance. You learn to understand your feelings instead of bypassing or changing them.

You’ll work on reframing your values and adjusting your behaviors to better match them. ACT interventions support learning how to cope with life's challenges and strengthen overall psychological flexibility.

At Relational Creatures Psychotherapy, we offer ACT to help people experiencing various mental health concerns, including anxiety disorders, depression, low self-esteem, trauma, and more. (CO NOTE: you can link to those specialities pages once they’re live).

 

How does ACT work?

The 6 core processes of ACT are:

  1. acceptance

  2. cognitive defusion

  3. being present

  4. self-as-context

  5. values

  6. committed action

The six processes follow the psychological flexibility model, where your behavior aligns with your values instead of your emotions driving your behavior.

ACT assumes that people are naturally capable of strengthening their psychological flexibility. Strongly rooted in mindfulness principles, ACT focuses less on controlling or even changing your circumstances and more on embracing your experiences and taking meaningful actions that align with your values.

In other words, it isn’t about trying to change how you feel. It’s about acknowledging and owning your feelings and making greater meaning out of them. 

Although it's normal to want to minimize, bypass or deny your painful emotions, this can often do more harm than good. Doing so can actually make the emotional discomfort more intense.

The same thing applies to difficult life situations. Although it's tempting to ruminate over the past or fixate on what might happen next, there's something to be said about just sitting with what's happening right now. ACT helps build these mindfulness muscles. Increasing your capacity for mindfulness can make you feel more empowered and regulated.

The truth is that emotional pain cannot be avoided and tough times are inevitable, despite our best intentions. ACT is a mental health modality that will help you pass through these difficult experiences and emotions.

ACT differs from other counseling modalities in the sense that your therapist won't try to reframe your pain or actively reduce it. Instead, you'll learn how to strengthen your self-acceptance and feel more inner peace regardless of what's going on in life.

 
 

What do ACT sessions look like?

Your initial session will be 75 minutes long. During your first appointment, your therapist will ask you questions to better understand you and your areas of struggle. This is known as an assessment. Depending on how much you share, the assessment phase can last anywhere from 1-3 appointments. The assessment is critical. It helps you and your therapist understand your goals, and it helps your therapist develop a treatment plan to support you in achieving these goals.

After the assessment is complete, treatment begins!

In the treatment phase, you will be introduced to a variety of skills to practice and implement to better manage your symptoms. Most people will have a therapy session every 1-2 weeks, and we recommend this cadence for optimal treatment.

CO NOTE: Is there “homework” after sessions or does the client just show up and talk?

Effective therapy typically takes somewhere between six to twelve appointments (for some more, others less).

Many choose to continue therapy once formal treatment is complete. This is referred to as maintenance. People who do this typically have an appointment once every 6-8 weeks. This is not a requirement and is a matter of personal choice.

Your first appointment will be 75 minutes long. For all future appointments, you can choose to book for 1 hour (60 minutes) or 1.5 hours (90 minutes). 

 

Is ACT right for you? Who is it for?

Anyone can participate in ACT. Studies show that this type of therapy is best for teenagers and adults. You’ll need to use abstract thinking (understanding things or ideas that aren’t physical objects or experiences), which may be challenging for children to comprehend.

At Relational Creatures Psychotherapy, we work with and recommend ACT for:

  • pre-teens and teens

  • young adults and new grads

  • adults

  • parents

  • couples and individuals in relationships

ACT can be a standalone therapy model, but it also integrates well with other modalities, including cognitive-behavioural therapy, narrative therapy, and EMDR. CO NOTE: can link to these other pages when they’re ready

 
 
 
 

In-person and Online/Virtual Therapy

We offer therapy for individual adults, both in-person and online.

In-person counseling sessions available at our offices located in Marlton, NJ. Our offices are easily accessible to many towns in Burlington County and Camden County, including: Marlton, Evesham, Mount Laurel, Medford, Moorestown, Voorhees, Cherry Hill, and Haddonfield.

Our offices are easily accessible with free parking. There is a curb and one step to enter the office, if you require wheelchair accessibility, please let us know prior to your first session, and we will work with you to accommodate.

Online/virtual counseling sessions are scheduled and held through SimplePractice, our secured, HIPAA compliant EHR software. Many of our clients prefer online/virtual therapy for the privacy and flexibility it affords. You can join sessions from the privacy of your home or office, at a convenient time in your day. However, virtual sessions may not be appropriate for everyone. You can discuss this with us during a consultation call.

Online counseling sessions are not recorded and no replay will be available.

The price for a session is the same whether you book your counseling session in-person or online.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 
 

Ready to get started with therapy? We’re here for you.

To begin working with one of our therapists or make sure our practice is right for you, please contact us to request a complementary 15 minute consultation call.

We look forward to speaking with you!