Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Transdiagnostic Behavioral Intervention for Mental Health and Medical Conditions

Abstract

Psychological interventions have a long history of successful treatment of patients suffering from mental health and certain medical conditions. At the same time, psychotherapy research has revealed key areas of growth for optimizing patient care. These include identifying novel treatment delivery methods that increase treatment adherence, developing new strategies to more effectively address the ever-growing population of patients with comorbid conditions, and elucidating the mechanisms by which effective treatments work in order to further refine their design. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an empirically supported psychotherapy that offers promise for patients suffering from a wide range of mental and physical conditions, while addressing these gaps and challenges in the field. ACT rests on the fundamental premise that pain, grief, disappointment, illness, and anxiety are inevitable features of human life, with the therapeutic goal of helping individuals productively adapt to these types of challenges by developing greater psychological flexibility rather than engaging in counterproductive attempts to eliminate or suppress undesirable experiences. This is achieved through committed pursuit of valued life areas and directions, even in the face of the natural desire to escape or avoid painful and troubling experiences, emotions, and thoughts. ACT is transdiagnostic (applies to more than one condition), process-focused, and flexibly delivered. In a relatively short period of time, ACT has been effectively implemented across a broad range of therapeutic settings, including mental health, primary care, and specialty medical clinics. ACT has also been delivered in a variety of formats, including 1-day group workshops, online and smartphone applications, and telehealth. Focus on how best to package and deliver treatment to meet the unique needs of different patient populations helps to ensure treatment adherence and has fostered successful application of ACT for patients in everyday clinical settings.

Grief rumination mediates the association between self-compassion and psychopathology in relatives of missing persons

“…There is evidence that enhancement of self-compassion and reduction of ruminative tendencies are mechanisms of change in mindfulness-based treatments for recurrent depression (van der Velden et al, 2015). Moreover, other third-wave cognitive behavioural treatments, such as compassion-focused therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy, are increasingly being used to target these phenomena (Beaumont & Hollins Martin, 2015; Dindo, Van Liew, & Arch, 2017). The first results of small trials among bereaved persons showed that mindfulness-based interventions might be effective in reducing symptoms of depression (O’Connor et al, 2014; Thieleman et al, 2014), anxiety, and PTS (Thieleman et al, 2014).…”

Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Psychiatry

“…Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a transdiagnostic intervention that is typically provided in an individual therapy setting; but may also be delivered in various formats depending on the therapeutic context (15). ACT uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies to develop committed behavior change by increasing psychological flexibility.…”

Development of a Clinically Feasible Process for Identifying Individual Health Priorities

“…Multiple practice change strategies, described elsewhere, were used to ensure buy‐in and participation of PCPs. Each step in the patient priorities identification process has a defined purpose and content adapted from our prior studies . These steps occurred in a clinical setting, the patient's home, or over the telephone over 1 to 2 sessions, depending on each patient's preferences, circumstances, and readiness.…”

“…Each step in the patient priorities identification process has a defined purpose and content adapted from our prior studies. 23,24,39,40 These steps occurred in a clinical setting, the patient's home, or over the telephone over 1 to 2 sessions, depending on each patient's preferences, circumstances, and readiness. The patient priorities identification process moved through values clarification to values-informed elaboration of goals and preferences and a conversation about tradeoffs.…”