Acceptance and Commitment Therapy gets its name from one of its core values - accepting what is out of your personal control and commit to action that improves and enriches your life. The aim of ACT is not to reduce symptoms but to help you to live a rich, full and meaningful life. ACT uses mindfulness to help people to deal with distressing thoughts and effectively - in such a way that they have way less impact over you. There are 6 principles of ACT:
1. Cognitive Defusion - Distancing from unhelpful thoughts, images and memories.
2. Acceptance - Making room for unpleasant feelings, urges and sensations, allowing them to come and go without a struggle,.
3. Contact with the Present Moment - See mindfulness.
4. The Observing Self -Helping you to see that you are not your thoughts, feelings and emotions.
5. Values - What is significant and meaningful to you.
6. Committed Action - Setting goals guided by your values and taking effective action to achieve them.

In ACT you will work with a therapist to help you build psychological skills to cope with difficult thoughts, memories or feelings effectively. In addition you will explore what is important and meaningful to you (your values) and guide, inspire and motivate you to change your life for the better. The number of sessions you will need will depend on your goal. This will be discussed with you in your initial appointment. If you would like to discuss ACT further, please contact us via the contact page.