Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) expands the foundations of CBT to helping clients connect with what they value, and how to acknowledge and accept feelings without necessarily changing them. ACT can be incredibly useful for clients struggling with intense anxiety, OCD, depression and more mental health diagnoses, as well as for clients who are just generally looking to understand themselves and improve their life. While CBT is based in challenging thoughts, ACT assists clients in learning how to create a different relationship with their thoughts. 

Two of the main tenants of ACT are: 

Acceptance - Accepting that thoughts and emotions are appropriate responses to certain situations

Commitment - Committing to making changes in your life that align with your values

For clients who are interested in doing ACT work, we might start by engaging in an activity that assists clients in identifying your values. From there, we might move on to creating the ACT matrix, which is a tool that helps clients identify and visualize their values and what things might be keeping them from living the life they want to live. 

These foundational tools of ACT assist clients who would like to better understand what they feel, how their feelings impact their life, what they value, and how to take steps towards meaningful changes.