What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people become more psychologically adaptable. ACT encourages you to be more fully in the present. Accepting your deep emotions, traumas, or negative coping mechanisms is key in this therapeutic approach.

ACT maintains that to adapt and grow, a person must fully accept themselves as they are. Therapists practicing ACT believe that suppressing or ignoring painful emotions or experiences is counter-productive to growth and change.

You must investigate your current patterns of thinking to change. After examining these patterns, you can better understand the way your thinking impacts you. This acceptance of your patterns and habits helps you change your behaviors.

Trying to stop ways of thinking can be detrimental to ACT. Your therapist will help you understand how and why you think a certain way. Your ACT therapist will encourage you to accept yourself within a given moment. This acceptance is ultimately the catalyst for change.

After fostering the acceptance of the present moment, with all its thoughts, beliefs, and experiences, your ACT therapist will encourage you to develop a new, more compassionate relationship with your experience.

Individuals experiencing a wide range of psychological issues can benefit from ACT because it emphasizes their unique relationship with their problems.

Therapists Who Specialize in Using ACT

Prior to becoming a therapist, I worked extensively in child welfare, foster care, and the courts. I am keenly aware of the impact of family stress, conflict, addiction, trauma, and mental illness across generations. Because of this, I am committed to providing high quality services to adults who are touched by these or related issues, such as challenging life transitions, relationships, or a...
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My most enjoyable times in therapy are the moments when a person realizes they have it within them to recognize a change to be made, the skills to do it, and feels successful. To experience that life changing moment with them is awe-inspiring. Some call this an "A-ha moment," "light bulb going off," or an "epiphany." Instead, I call this the moment when a person switches the channel of their in...

Susan Salomon

Portland

Maine

Welcome to my practice. All of us experience times in our life when we are struggling and ready for change. I work to engage with clients in a respectful and supportive relationship that honors their unique strengths and needs. Together we collaborate in identifying and understanding current concerns and developing treatment goals. Using evidence based therapy, I guide clients as they develop t...
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Gerald Michael Reid

Boston

Massachusetts

Dr. Gerald Reid works with children, adolescents, college students, and young adults. With his specialized, personable, and individualized approach, he provides COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT) and NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING. Dr. Reid also specializes in providing SPORT AND PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY consultation. Dr. Reid's training includes Boston University, the Center for Anxiety and Related...
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Roz welcomes both individuals and couples in her practice and sees a variety of mental health issues regularly. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner, Roz has the ability to see most insurances including Medicare, which includes individuals that experience a disability or an older adult. She meets with individuals, 12 years and older primarily....

Randee Olive Lscsw

Wichita

Kansas

EXPERIENCE CHANGE TODAY. Your Well-Being Is in Good Hands. Are you struggling with issues related to depression, trauma, grief, anxiety, or major life changes? There comes a time when help is needed from a licensed professional to cope with life's challenges. I offer traditional in-office therapy and for those on the go or looking for a more convenient way to communicate, I offer TELEHEALTH...

Patrick Gunderson

Chicago

Illinois

Dr. Patrick Gunderson specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders (e.g., Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), depression, and sexual trauma and abuse. He utilizes exposure-based interventions, which are used to help clients confront fears, expand their comfort zones, and extinguish avoidance behaviors. Dr. Gunderson helps clients...
I am a licensed professional counselor who has a straightforward approach that is combined with empathy and understanding. I will take a person where they are, not where I want them to be or where others' tell them they should be. I have worked for the past 10+ years with individuals who experience a combination of symptoms/stressors. I have worked with many different individuals with varying...
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