Mindfulness
The observing self
True or false: Acceptance means you like the emotions or thoughts
False: Acceptance is about making room for them, not liking or agreeing with them
Define defusion
Stepping back and separating from our thoughts, images, and memories (Looking AT thoughts rather than FROM thoughts)
Define values
A chosen life direction—an ongoing quality of action that reflects what truly matters to you, guiding how you want to live, not something you can check off or achieve.
ACT uses this hexagon-shaped model to illustrate its six core processes.
Hexaflex
This coping skill involves using your senses to ground in the present moment
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Skill
(5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can touch, etc.)
Acceptance in ACT is similar to this skill in DBT:
Radical acceptance
When someone becomes inseparable from their thoughts and are so caught up that they aren't even aware what they are thinking
Cognitive fusion
In ACT, “self-care" is considered a value while something like “do 10 minutes of mindfulness a day" would be considered this:
Goal
ACT includes six core processes that aim to increase this overarching ability:
Psychological flexibility/workability
This ACT term refers to being in the here and now, fully conscious of our experience, instead of being lost in our thoughts.
Contact with the present moment
Define acceptance
Opening up and making room for painful feelings, sensations, urges, and emotions
True or False: The purpose of cognitive defusion is to feel better or get rid of unwanted thoughts.
False: The aim of defusion is to enable mindful, valued living. To see the true nature of thoughts in terms of how helpful they are rather than how true they are.
In ACT, values are compared to this navigational tool, while goals are like destinations along the way
A compass
A highly popular and widely recommended book on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
"The Happiness Trap"
This acronym is a type of weather that is also a mindfulness exercise in ACT.
RAIN (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture)
Describe the metaphor of "dropping the rope" and how it relates to acceptance:
Instead of staying stuck in a tug-of-war with difficult thoughts and feelings, you can let go of the struggle—freeing yourself to focus on what truly matters
This common mindfulness metaphor in ACT involves watching your thoughts float by without grabbing onto them
Noticing a difficult thought and choosing to act in line with your values anyway is an example of this kind of move.
Towards move
Author of "The Happiness Trap" and famous ACT practitioner
Dr. Russ Harris
True or False: The mind is more in the past or future than it is in the present
True: Our mind is like an out-of-control time machine that constantly pulls us back into the past or forward into the future but we always have the ability to make contact with the present moment
There are 8 steps in the process of accepting emotions. Name 3.
Observe, Breathe, Expand, Allow, Objectify, Normalize, Self-compassion, Expand awareness
Name a technique to help yourself defuse from a thought or experience
Notice it, focused mindfulness, sing it out, silly voices, voice it, journal, metaphors
The FEAR acronym in ACT stands for:
Fusion, Excessive goals, Avoidance of discomfort, Remoteness from values
The founder of ACT
Psychologist Steven C. Hayes