The Rationale, Theory and Goal of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
third-wave, brain injury
Acceptance and commitment therapy is a third-wave behavioural therapy with roots in the Relational Frame Theory. According to Relational Frame Theory, human suffering predominantly emerges from normal psychological processes, especially those involving human language.An approach that focuses on acceptance might be more beneficial than an approach focusing on eliminating and altering thoughts and feelings related to acquired brain injury.Psychological flexibility is established through the six core components of acceptance and commitment therapy: acceptance (accepting feelings without changing them), cognitive defusion (creating a distance from thoughts), self-as-context (taking perspective and separating the self from the process of thinking), mindfulness (attention for the here and now), values (discovering what really matters) and committed action (actions linked to chosen values). These core processes both overlap and interact with each other.To rely less heavily on language, each of the six core components is demonstrated through active experiential practice, such as experiential exercises (mindfulness and defusion exercises), behavioural change processes (committed action) and the use and acting out of metaphors.