In recent years, in Psychology the application of more recent therapeutic trends in clinical practice has gained special relevance. Thus, a powerful competitor has emerged for traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy, third-generation contextual therapies. It includes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Let’s see what it is based on.
The Basics of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
From the perspective of Acceptance and Commitment, it is understood that the origin of psychopathology would be found in “psychological rigidity.” The 6 processes that are part of this rigidity would be the following:
1. Cognitive fusion
It refers to process by which verbal events (thoughts) exert a strong control over our behavior That is, when a person behaves according to what he thinks, regardless of whether the consequences of doing so are negative for the person. This prevents us from being able to contrast our experience with reality.
2. Experiential avoidance
It takes place cWhen the person is not willing to stay in touch with their personal internal experiences (thoughts, emotions or physiological sensations) and does everything possible to avoid experiencing them. The avoidance of negative emotions becomes especially important, such as, for example; sadness, loneliness, fear, anxiety, guilt, etc.
3. Absent from the present moment
It refers to attentional rigidity and the predominance of the past and the future. This prevents the person from being in the present moment which is associated with pain, rumination, worries, etc.
4. I-concept
Make reference to a way of relating to oneself according to categories, evaluations and denominations That is, the person tries to be who they say they are. Which encourages self-deception.
5. Lack of clarity and commitment to values
When the person is not in touch with their own values or those values are not identified, the loss of the meaning of life is experienced
6. Inactivity/impulsivity
These are behavioral patterns of avoidance of actions or excessive actions whose objective is to reduce aversive emotional states.
How to achieve Psychological Flexibility?
The objective of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is to eliminate psychological rigidity and achieve “psychological flexibility.”
That is to say, It aims for the person to be in contact with the present moment, as a fully conscious human being without the need for defense (with reality as it is, not as it says it is) and persist in a behavior or change it based on your own chosen values. It is then when the person will be able to achieve psychological health, consisting of an open, focused and committed posture.
For all this, it is based on the use of the following procedures, understood as the pillars of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy:
1. Defusion
It tries to weaken the functional predominance of cognitive content. That is to say, that the person can understand thoughts, memories or beliefs as elements that occur but they do not represent absolute truths.
2. Acceptance
The objective is for the person to accept the emotional aspects that involve the human experience. It aims to open a space in which the person experiences these emotional aspects, without judging them, without getting mentally entangled in them. It is a willingness to be open, receptive and flexible.
3. Attention to the present
Pay attention to what is happening in a focused, voluntary and flexible way. So that can respond adequately to natural contingencies that are occurring in every moment.
4. I-context and I-content
The self as context understands the self as a process and as a place from which one can notice what is present, without judging it. That is, it understands a self, here and now.
5. Values
Values are not set goals or objectives. But they represent freely chosen vital directions, they are constructed, not discovered, and they are social in their focus. Clarification of these values enables the person to become involved in ongoing activity patterns
6. Committed action
It is about commitment to behavioral patterns. Or what is the same, materialize the values in the present
Psychological intervention in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Malaga psychologist Ana Romero Gómez, expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in the Psychologists Málaga PsicoAbreu office, emphasizes that it is a complex and scientifically supported therapy that should be carried out only by professionals specialized in this current.
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PsychologyFor. (2024). The 6 Pillars of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. https://psychologyfor.com/the-6-pillars-of-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy/