Zettle (2016) The Self in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – OpenEvo

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The Self in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Zettle (2016) The Self in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Abstract

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is regarded as part of the “third wave” of cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT) that has emerged over the past quarter century (Hayes, Reference Hayes2004). It is a transdiagnostic approach recognized by Division 12 of the American Psychological Association (Society of Clinical Psychology, n.d.) as having strong research support in the treatment of chronic pain and modest empirical support in addressing depression, mixed anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and psychosis. Rather than seeking to directly change problematic thoughts, emotions, and other private events, ACT and related approaches within the latest generation of CBT writ large incorporate mindfulness, acceptance, and decentering/defusion strategies to change the function of such psychological events and alter how clients relate to them (Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, & Lillis, Reference Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda and Lillis2006). Unlike other third-wave approaches such as dialectical behavior therapy (Linehan, Reference Linehan1993), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, Reference Segal, Williams and Teasdale2002), and metacognitive therapy (Wells, Reference Wells2009), ACT is unique in (a) being explicitly grounded within a modern pragmatic philosophy of behavioral science known as functional contextualism (Hayes, Reference Hayes, Hayes, Hayes, Reese and Sarbin1993), (b) being informed by relational frame theory as an associated account of human language and cognition (Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, Reference Hayes, Barnes-Holmes and Roche2001), and (c) identifying increased psychological flexibility, or the ability to make behavioral adjustments in the service of one’s values, as its superordinate goal. Some discussion of each of these defining features of ACT is necessary to understand its stance on the self.

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Concepts Agency, Cognition, Cognitive Biases, Decentralized Self, Decentralized thinking, Psychological flexibility, Selfhood
Relevant learning goals Conceptual Thinking, Critical Thinking, Metacognitive Competency, Self-Regulation Competency, Systems Thinking
Relevant subject areas Psychology, Selfhood in Psychology
Relevant research methods Behavioral research/Psychology, Conceptual clarification, Content analysis, Scientific clarification
Relevant projects Annotated Reading List, Decentralized Self, Understanding Agency
Relevant school improvement goals Conceptual pluralism, Conceptual understanding

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