What if life is like driving a bus full of noisy passengers, some of them difficult? Maybe your passengers (your thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc.) are really into backseat driving. They repeatedly remind you of your past mistakes, question your judgement (“Are you sure?”), complain about being uncomfortable or that everything is taking too long, suggest other routes or stops, and on and on. Maybe you stop the bus and try to get those passengers to be quiet or to just leave, and you find yourself in a struggle with them instead of driving. Or maybe you change your route to try to keep them quiet, and you end up someplace you didn’t intend instead of heading toward your destination.
This bus metaphor is one I often use in early counseling sessions to introduce clients to acceptance and commitment therapy, also called ACT (pronounced “act”). Although ACT is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), I don’t ask clients to keep track of and correct “cognitive distortions,” which is a CBT term for ways we might be thinking “wrongly,” such as catastrophizing, overgeneralizing, or thinking in all-or-nothing terms. ACT helps clients develop a different relationship with their thoughts and feelings so that they can stop struggling and do what is important to them.
One of my underlying assumptions as an ACT therapist is that our tendency to struggle and get stuck are normal side effects of language. Words are representations that often carry a great deal of baggage–that is, they have many associations that affect our perceptions and can get in the way of our noticing what is actually happening. Having language enables us to do many wonderful things, including solving problems. But this problem-solving capability means our brains look for problems to solve, fretting about the past, worrying about the future, and interpreting events in the present as possible dangers or discomforts to avoid. Because of these language side effects, I use metaphors, experiential exercises, and drawings or diagrams along with dialogue in sessions.
Other underlying assumptions of ACT are that distress and discomfort are normal parts of human life, that trying to avoid all distress and discomfort actually makes things worse, and that our behavior makes sense given our context. Of course, “making sense” does not always mean “working well.” Back to the bus metaphor, it makes sense to want your noisy passengers to quiet down or get off, but fighting them doesn’t get you where you want to go.
ACT aims to help you notice what is working well and not working well, and shift from being stuck in ineffective or unsatisfying behavior patterns to being psychologically flexible: equipped and willing to experience difficult thoughts, feelings, and experiences in service of what matters to you. I love helping clients learn and practice six components of psychological flexibility:
- Present moment awareness: being able to be in the here and now; mindfulness
- Acceptance (or willingness): being open to experiences as they are
- Cognitive defusion: being able to look at your thoughts, rather than from your thoughts
- Awareness of a noticing self: being able to explore different perspectives rather than buying into fixed stories of who you are
- Being in touch with your own values: determining what is meaningful to you in the present
- Commitment to action: doing what works and is aligned with your values
ACT is evidence based and transdiagnostic, meaning it’s a good treatment for many mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, difficulty adjusting to major life changes, and more. If you’re feeling stuck in some way, ACT can help! If you’d like more information about ACT, visit the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. Or click here to learn more about working with me at GroundShift Counseling.