GRANNYSAGE AT THE CROSSROADS
  • Crossroads Home
    • Who Is Grannysage? >
      • Grannysage-the Crossroads Digest Version
      • Grannysage's Almanac >
        • Zen and the Art of Kitty Litter Raking
        • Dancing Our Way to Enlightenment
        • What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
        • Judges for the Ironbird Competition
        • Cave of Solitude
        • Is the Alice in Wonderland Rabbit Hole Really a Wormhole?
        • The Value of Giving and Receiving
      • How I Became a Hermit
  • Tower of Wisdom
    • The Alchemist's Workshop
    • Scrolls of Enlightenment >
      • Messages from Peace Pilgrim
      • Web of Connection Inspired by the movie Avatar
      • It Is What It Is
      • Looking With Different Eyes Chapt 1 >
        • What is ego - Chapt 2
        • What Is Reality - Chapt 3
        • Good and Evil - Chapt 4
        • Near-Death Experiences - Chapt 5
        • Our Soul's Plan - Chapt 6
    • Crossroads Chamber of Curiosities >
      • The Quest for the Yellow Diamond
      • The Mystery of Moundville Alabama
      • I Love Copper Harbor Michigan
    • The Library >
      • Captivating Critters >
        • Coast to Coast with a Cat and a Ghost
      • Science Fiction Books >
        • The Sleeper Must Awaken
      • Fantasy >
        • Books By L Frank Baum >
          • Following the Yellow Brick Road
          • More about Oz, Mr. Baum!
          • Interesting Tidbits from L Frank Baum’s Oz Books
          • L. Frank Baum's Last Five Oz Books
        • Dobby House Elf
      • Mystery >
        • Delta Crossroads
        • Murder in the Goblins' PLayground
      • Paranormal >
        • Wolf's Message
        • Tales of Love and Dying
        • Paranormal Thriller Threshold
      • Spiritual >
        • Quotes from Zen Books
      • Nonfiction >
        • Women Who Run With the Wolves - The World Needs More Storytellers
        • Thoreau on Productivity
  • Sage Hollow
    • The Clockmaker's Shop
    • Sage Blossom Inn >
      • Breads
      • Soup
      • Beverages -Alcoholic
      • Cheeses
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Desserts
    • Minstrel Hall >
      • Robert Johnson and the Legend of the Crossroads
      • "Who Is Ritchie Blackmore?" I Asked
      • Omnia Pagan Folk Band
      • The Magical Synergy of Queen + Adam Lambert
    • The Metalsmith Guild >
      • Art of Copper Enameling
  • The Crone's Hut
    • Whispers of the Crone
    • Inside the Hut >
      • Gaia Earth Mother
      • The Crone's Book of Shadows >
        • Wiccan Sabbats >
          • The Witch Who Danced With Ghosts
          • Why Is the Autumnal Equinox Named Mabon?
          • The Real Story of the Wicked Witch of the West
          • Joulupukki and Tonttu – Finnish Santa and Elves
          • Ostara, the Sabbat with the Rabbit
          • What to Wear to the Beltaine Maypole Dance
        • What So Mote It Be Means
  • Notes From the Crossroads
  • Crossroads Home
    • Who Is Grannysage? >
      • Grannysage-the Crossroads Digest Version
      • Grannysage's Almanac >
        • Zen and the Art of Kitty Litter Raking
        • Dancing Our Way to Enlightenment
        • What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
        • Judges for the Ironbird Competition
        • Cave of Solitude
        • Is the Alice in Wonderland Rabbit Hole Really a Wormhole?
        • The Value of Giving and Receiving
      • How I Became a Hermit
  • Tower of Wisdom
    • The Alchemist's Workshop
    • Scrolls of Enlightenment >
      • Messages from Peace Pilgrim
      • Web of Connection Inspired by the movie Avatar
      • It Is What It Is
      • Looking With Different Eyes Chapt 1 >
        • What is ego - Chapt 2
        • What Is Reality - Chapt 3
        • Good and Evil - Chapt 4
        • Near-Death Experiences - Chapt 5
        • Our Soul's Plan - Chapt 6
    • Crossroads Chamber of Curiosities >
      • The Quest for the Yellow Diamond
      • The Mystery of Moundville Alabama
      • I Love Copper Harbor Michigan
    • The Library >
      • Captivating Critters >
        • Coast to Coast with a Cat and a Ghost
      • Science Fiction Books >
        • The Sleeper Must Awaken
      • Fantasy >
        • Books By L Frank Baum >
          • Following the Yellow Brick Road
          • More about Oz, Mr. Baum!
          • Interesting Tidbits from L Frank Baum’s Oz Books
          • L. Frank Baum's Last Five Oz Books
        • Dobby House Elf
      • Mystery >
        • Delta Crossroads
        • Murder in the Goblins' PLayground
      • Paranormal >
        • Wolf's Message
        • Tales of Love and Dying
        • Paranormal Thriller Threshold
      • Spiritual >
        • Quotes from Zen Books
      • Nonfiction >
        • Women Who Run With the Wolves - The World Needs More Storytellers
        • Thoreau on Productivity
  • Sage Hollow
    • The Clockmaker's Shop
    • Sage Blossom Inn >
      • Breads
      • Soup
      • Beverages -Alcoholic
      • Cheeses
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Desserts
    • Minstrel Hall >
      • Robert Johnson and the Legend of the Crossroads
      • "Who Is Ritchie Blackmore?" I Asked
      • Omnia Pagan Folk Band
      • The Magical Synergy of Queen + Adam Lambert
    • The Metalsmith Guild >
      • Art of Copper Enameling
  • The Crone's Hut
    • Whispers of the Crone
    • Inside the Hut >
      • Gaia Earth Mother
      • The Crone's Book of Shadows >
        • Wiccan Sabbats >
          • The Witch Who Danced With Ghosts
          • Why Is the Autumnal Equinox Named Mabon?
          • The Real Story of the Wicked Witch of the West
          • Joulupukki and Tonttu – Finnish Santa and Elves
          • Ostara, the Sabbat with the Rabbit
          • What to Wear to the Beltaine Maypole Dance
        • What So Mote It Be Means
  • Notes From the Crossroads
GRANNYSAGE AT THE CROSSROADS

What Is Acceptance
and Commitment Therapy?

PictureImage via Pixabay
In 2013, my husband was involved in ACT therapy at the VA Medical Center. ACT is short for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I have a background in social work and am familiar with most therapies, but had never heard of this one, so I decided to do some research.

Although it is based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, it differs because it does not focus on changing your thoughts, but rather noticing and accepting them, even the negative thoughts. ACT was developed in the late 1980's and the results have been rigorously analyzed and found to be effective in treating depression, anxiety, chronic pain, as well as other disorders.

The core principles of ACT are as follows:
  1. Cognitive defusion: Learning methods to reduce the tendency to identify with thoughts, images, emotions, and memories.
  • Acceptance: Allowing thoughts to come and go without struggling with them.
  • Contact with the Present Moment: Mindfulness of the here and now, experienced with openness, interest, and receptiveness.
  • Observing the self: Accessing a transcendent sense of self, a continuity of consciousness which is unchanging.
  • Values: Discovering what is most important to one's true self.
  • Committed action: Setting goals according to values and carrying them out responsibly.
  • Source:Wikipedia

As I read over these core values, it struck me that it is not much different from what spiritual teachers over the ages have tried to tell us. Sometimes, when spiritual truths are studied and developed into a psychological model of treatment, it takes the “woo-woo” factor out of it. Many people are more receptive to a therapist teaching them skills of mindfulness and acceptance, than sitting down with a spiritual guru or reading spiritual books.

But in truth, all of these ideas have been around a long time. There is nothing new in this “new” therapy. Examples:

“Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story, instead of the actor in it.” 
Ram Dass


“This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor...Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.” 
Rumi


“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.” 
Lao Tzu


“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” Henry David Thoreau

Well, that is just a sample of the wealth of knowledge available to us already, without the need of a therapy that basically says the same thing. Still, therapy is a good tool to be used if it can help someone actually incorporate these concepts into their life. My husband seemed to find it very helpful.


© Diane Wallace  All Rights Reserved

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.