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Aurora Counseling Associates

In plain terms

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps you make room for difficult thoughts and feelings instead of fighting them, and then act on what matters to you anyway. Rather than trying to delete anxiety or low mood, ACT builds the flexibility to carry them while still moving toward the life you want. It draws on mindfulness and a clear sense of your values.

A different goal than feeling better

Much of our struggle comes from the effort to control or eliminate uncomfortable inner experience, which tends to shrink a life over time as you avoid more and more. ACT changes the target. Instead of waiting to feel calm before you act, you learn to hold the discomfort lightly and take a step toward what you value now. Feeling better often follows, but it is a byproduct, not the entry fee.

What it helps with

ACT is used across anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and grief, anywhere the fight with your own experience has become the problem. The skills are practical: noticing thoughts as thoughts, making space for feeling, and choosing actions that fit your values even when it is uncomfortable.

This page is part of our therapy glossary.

Where we work with this

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Questions

Common questions

Does acceptance mean giving up?
No. Acceptance in ACT means stopping the exhausting fight with feelings you cannot control, so your energy goes into action you can control. It is the opposite of resignation.
Is ACT a type of CBT?
It grew out of the same tradition and is sometimes called a third-wave behavioral therapy. It shares CBT roots but focuses less on changing thoughts and more on changing your relationship to them.
What are values in ACT?
Values are the directions you want your life to move in, like being a present parent or a person who creates. They are not goals to check off but a compass for choosing what to do.

Ready when you are

A free 15-minute call is the easiest way to find out whether Aurora is the right fit.

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References and further reading

ACT is often used for anxiety and depression. For the evidence base, see the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science and the APA Division 12 review.