Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Summary & key facts

Researchers randomly assigned 101 outpatients with moderate to severe anxiety or depression to either cognitive therapy (CT) or acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Both groups showed similarly large improvements in depression, anxiety, daily functioning, quality of life, life satisfaction, and clinician-rated functioning. The two treatments seemed to help in different ways: CT outcomes were linked to changes in "observing" and "describing" experiences, while ACT outcomes were linked to reductions in "experiential avoidance" and increases in "acting with awareness" and "acceptance." The authors conclude that ACT is a viable, deliverable treatment whose overall effectiveness was similar t

Key facts:

• The study randomly assigned 101 heterogeneous outpatients reporting moderate to severe anxiety or depression to CT or ACT.
• The researchers used very minimal exclusion criteria to increase how much the results might apply to real-world patients.
• Both CT and ACT produced large, equivalent improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms.
• Both CT and ACT produced large, equivalent improvements in functioning difficulties, quality of life, life satisfaction, and clinician-rated functioning.
• For the CT group, changes in "observing" and "describing" one's experiences appeared to mediate (help explain) treatment outcomes.
• For the ACT group, changes in "experiential avoidance," "acting with awareness," and "acceptance" appeared to mediate (help explain) treatment outcomes.
• The authors state that ACT has a small but growing base of research support and that, in this trial, its effectiveness appeared equivalent to traditional cognitive therapy.

Abstract

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an action-oriented approach to psychotherapy that stems from traditional behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Clients learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their inner emotions and, instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should not prevent them from moving forward in their lives.

Topics

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Acceptance and commitment therapy Anxiety Clinical psychology Cognition Cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive therapy Depression (economics) Economics Experiential avoidance Group psychotherapy Internal medicine Intervention (counseling) Macroeconomics Medicine Psychiatry Psychology Psychotherapist Quality of life (healthcare) Randomized controlled trial