acceptance and commitment therapy

Most cognitive behavioral therapy approaches focus on aversive symptoms and problematic behaviors. This emphasis can limit the attention that’s paid to experiences that focus on growth and prosperity, such as a client’s culture and faith. Acceptance and commitment therapy, however, has a marked focus on values-based living, which aims to increase functionality by using values as a compass to do so.

Functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) focuses largely on the therapeutic relationship and the interpersonal behaviors that occur in sessions. FAP therapists pay special attention to identifying clinical relevant behaviors — behaviors that take place in sessions and exemplify the client’s real-life problematic behavior (termed CRB1), and the client’s real-life improved behavior (termed CRB2).  These are the “away moves” and “toward moves” clients engage in during sessions.

Behavior change that is consistent with personal values is the purpose of psychotherapy. As teens begin to identify what’s important to them and take steps to behave in ways that move toward those things, they will experience internal events that may be intense or challenging. These are things they’ve spent energy avoiding in the past, which have in turn steered them further away from their values.

Everybody worries, but some people have more than their share. Their peace of mind is often disrupted by “what if?” thoughts of bad possibilities. They recognize that worries are repetitive and unrealistic, but when they try to stop worrying, it gets worse rather than better!

By Adria Pearson, Ph.D.

Hearing traumatic material from clients is tough work and can result in what the literature has termed vicarious traumatization of therapists. That is, the therapist can be traumatized by hearing a client’s story and absorb their pain. Therapists are human, and because we care, it hurts to hear another human’s pain. This is part of why we are effective helpers. However, it is crucial to have strategies for coping with our own pain and holding a client’s pain without feeling traumatized, so we can be effective helpers.