I’m currently participating in an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) group and I thought I’d give you a bit of an insight into what I’ve been doing because I know some of you might have an interest.
ACT is about accepting what you can’t control, such as unwanted emotions, and choosing to behave in line with your values so that your life is enriched and meaningful. It utilises mindfulness ie. paying attention nonjudgmentally to the present moment and other techniques. It’s not about removing unwanted thoughts and emotions but instead, changing the way you respond to them.
There’s a metaphor of passengers on a bus and in ACT you keep on driving despite difficult passengers (thoughts, emotions). You don’t fight them or kick them off but keep moving forward anyway and noticing the positive passengers. You’re driving towards your values(what’s meaningful to you) and a lot of time is spent identifying what these are.
We’ve been learning about dealing with strong emotions and how we get ‘hooked’ by difficult thoughts. This is accompanied by bodily sensations, urges for action and feelings. Then there’s a choice point and this is where you can choose to act on your urge or do something else and is a point of potential intervention and where change can occur.
Some ways of acting including noticing the emotion is there, using imagery by imagining it as a shape/colour/thing, or accepting it and giving it space realising that you can continue on with this emotion present.
You've got potential 