To begin, let’s quickly review what ACT means…
ACT stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It is an evidence-based model that helps us understand and explore the experiences that have shaped us into who we are today. It allows us to identify our values and help direct our time, energy and resources toward goals that will lead us to accept ourselves and to ultimately live a meaningful and fulfilling life.
The goal of ACT is to empower psychological flexibility in order to accept our difficulties and to engage in mindful actions guided by our values.
Our minds are founded on our previous experiences, and by opening the door to mental flexibility, we are allowing the possibility of change; specifically, change that will help us heal and grow. It’s important to note; however, that ACT will look different for everyone, since we all live through different experiences. Nevertheless, it will always focus on a person’s ability to dissociate, accept the difficulties, become more mindful, and commit to this acceptance.
When pain or a negative thought/feeling presents itself, whether physical or psychological, it often gets in the way of our valued living. A normal reaction to pain is avoidance, rigidity, or even fusions. We can fuse into these negative thoughts which carries us down into a negative whirlwind of emotions. This is where the first step of ACT comes in.
Diffusion
Diffusion is a process that requires us to observe our pain or discomfort without necessarily being ruled by it. We need to ask ourselves: “is this thought or emotion helping me move in the direction I want to be going?”
We need to begin by building up the capacity to notice these negative thoughts/emotions. Once we are able to identify them, we are then ready to actively dissociate ourselves from them. Think of them as being a completely separate entity. By doing so, we can now unhook ourselves from getting into a cycle led by our negative thoughts/emotions, and aim to work in line with our values in order to choose actions that will bring us closer to what matters most to us. Overall, by working to diffuse from these thoughts, we are choosing to not let them take over our ability to live a meaningful life.
After practicing the concept of diffusion and becoming more comfortable with it, the next step of ACT is acceptance.
Acceptance
Acceptance is working toward choosing to be in a situation we would usually purposely avoid. The goal here is to lean into the discomfort that we feel rather than avoid it and to do things that would challenge our feelings of discomfort.
For example, someone who may be struggling with body dysmorphia may be more prone to wearing baggier clothes due to a lack of self-confidence. In this scenario, the baggy clothes are serving as a form of avoidance; therefore, to challenge this, we might suggest that they wear something slightly tighter.
The following are 2 techniques used to help with acceptance:
- Creating an acceptance hierarchy: making a list of the uncomfortable/painful thoughts to overcome from easiest to hardest. We would start with the easier ones and move down the list, until we are ready to tackle the hardest ones.
- Noticing what comes up throughout this journey: keeping a journal to be able to recognize our thoughts and feelings throughout the process.
In the beginning, the process of acceptance is difficult, and it is very tempting to avoid the things that we hope to challenge, but we need to remember that each time we accept, we are moving one step toward our values. Whenever we feel tempted to avoid the discomfort, we can ask ourselves, “is this action helping me take one step closer or one step back in my recovery?” Eventually, by continuously challenging ourselves and accepting the pain, we can move forward without letting it rule us.
The last step in acceptance and commitment therapy is mindfulness.
Mindfulness
To be mindful is to be present in the moment, the “here and now”. It allows us to be flexible, curious and aware of our surroundings, thoughts, emotions and behaviours. When being mindful, we are gathering information about these experiences so we can make informed choices and continue living life aligned with our values.
To go through the process of ACT is to actively commit to self-acceptance.
It allows us to continue living with our discomforts, which may be hard at first but will eventually get easier. Recovery from an eating disorder is not a linear slope; there will be some bad days, and also some better days. However, when we decide to recover, we are allowing ourselves to embrace all of these steps and pushing ourselves to keep our heads high, even on the hardest days. In ACT, and in anything else that we may be challenged with, remember that practice is essential!
We acknowledge that this is not an easy process and we recommend working with a healthcare professional to help guide you through these steps.
By: Valerie Bouzo, Registered Dietitian
Sööma est une entreprise bilingue qui fonctionne en anglais et en français. Nous fournissons des articles de blogue, des recettes et des articles de diverses sources qui sont parfois écrits en anglais et parfois en français. Si vous vous sentez incapable d’accéder à un article ou à un sujet spécifique en raison d’une barrière linguistique, veuillez nous contacter à info@sooma.ca et nous serons heureux de traduire le contenu pour vous.
Sööma is a bilingual company that operates in both English and in French. We will provide blog posts, recipes and articles from various sources that are sometimes written in English and sometimes in French. If you feel unable to access a specific article or topic due to a language barrier, please reach out to us at info@sooma.ca and we will be happy to translate the content for you.
References
- Harris, R. (2009). ACT Made Simple: An Easy-To-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
- Sutherland, F., Berman, M.I., & Anderson, J. (n.d.). From Struggling to Thriving: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Dietitians. EDRDpro.
