Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is an empirically based treatment that relies upon acceptance and mindfulness strategies, along with commitment and behavior change strategies to increase psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility can be seen as the ability to hold our moods, emotions, thoughts, and opinions, a bit more lightly in effort to act on our longer term values and goals.

 

It's a pivot from short-term impulses, urges, and feelings that may give a sense of temporary relief in the moment, towards the who and what that really matters to us in the long-term, giving us a greater sense of fulfillment. In ACT, "our main interest in a thought is not whether it's true or false, but whether it's helpful; that is, if we pay attention to this thought, will it help us create the life we want?"