Mainly used by our Doncaster Talking Therapies for Long-term Conditions team, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a type of psychotherapy that helps people stay focused on the present moment, leading the individual to become non-judgemental and more accepting of their thoughts and feelings.
ACT focusses on being open, present, and doing what’s important to increase and further improve the quality of life.
The aim of ACT is to improve psychological flexibility, which means being in that present moment with a full awareness of what is happening in the body. ACT works with tolerating discomfort, rather than avoiding it, developing awareness in the here and now. This can be good and bad sensations, emotions and thoughts, before helping a person move in a values based way to behaviour change.
The Talking Therapies team do not use ACT as a standalone intervention, it is used to complement and enhance our other treatments.