Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Utah | ACT

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a values-based form of counseling that helps people develop a more flexible relationship with difficult thoughts and emotions while taking meaningful action toward the life they want.

ACT is not about eliminating every uncomfortable feeling. It helps you stop allowing those experiences to determine what you can do, who you can become, or what matters most.

You do not have to wait until you feel better to begin living differently.

It is natural to want relief from anxiety, sadness, painful memories, self-doubt, or uncertainty. Sometimes, however, the effort to control or avoid these experiences begins to make life smaller.

You may avoid relationships because rejection is possible. You may postpone an important goal until you feel more confident. You may withdraw from meaningful activities because depression has taken away your motivation.

ACT helps you make room for difficult internal experiences while choosing actions that move you toward what matters.

People may explore ACT for concerns involving:

Anxiety and excessive worry
Depression and low motivation
Trauma-related distress
Grief and painful loss
Perfectionism
Self-criticism or low self-worth
Obsessive or intrusive thoughts
Chronic pain or health-related stress
Major life transitions
Relationship difficulties
Work-related stress or burnout
Fear of failure
Procrastination and avoidance
Feeling disconnected from purpose
Difficulty making important decisions
Feeling stuck despite understanding the problem

Your therapist will help determine whether ACT, another approach, or a combination of treatments is most appropriate for your needs.

What happens in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

ACT is collaborative, experiential, and focused on helping you build psychological flexibility.

Psychological flexibility is the ability to remain aware of your present experience and choose whether to continue or change your behavior based on what serves your values.

In ACT, you may learn to:

Notice thoughts without automatically obeying them
Allow emotions without becoming consumed by them
Return your attention to the present
Recognize that you are more than your symptoms or story
Clarify what genuinely matters to you
Take manageable steps in a meaningful direction

ACT develops these abilities through six connected processes.

Acceptance

Acceptance means allowing thoughts, feelings, memories, and physical sensations to be present without using unnecessary energy to fight, suppress, or escape them.

This does not mean liking the experience, approving of it, or wanting it to continue. It means recognizing what is already happening internally so you can decide what to do next.

For example, you might acknowledge, “Anxiety is here,” while still attending an important event, having a needed conversation, or trying something new.

Acceptance creates room for choice.

Cognitive Defusion

When you are fused with a thought, it can feel like an absolute fact or command.

The thought “I might fail” can quickly become “I cannot try.”
“I feel unlovable” can become “I am unlovable.”
“My mind says something bad will happen” can become “I am in danger.”

Cognitive defusion helps you step back and see a thought as something your mind is producing—not necessarily a fact you must believe or an instruction you must follow.

You may practice changing “I am going to fail” to “I am noticing that my mind is telling me I am going to fail.”

The thought may still be present, but it no longer has to control your behavior.

Contact With the Present Moment

The mind frequently travels into the past or future. It may replay mistakes, predict disasters, rehearse conversations, or imagine everything that could go wrong.

Present-moment awareness helps you reconnect with what is happening here and now.

Your therapist may use mindfulness, grounding, breathing, sensory awareness, or attention exercises. The purpose is not to empty your mind. It is to notice your experience more fully and return your attention when it wanders.

Self as Context

eople can begin defining themselves by their thoughts, emotions, diagnoses, or past experiences:

“I am broken.”
“I am an anxious person.”
“I am a failure.”
“I am what happened to me.”
“I am the mistakes I have made.”

ACT helps you develop the perspective of the observing self—the part of you that can notice thoughts, emotions, memories, and sensations without being reduced to any one of them.

You are the person noticing anxiety, not anxiety itself. You are the person carrying a painful history, not only the history.

This perspective can create greater openness, compassion, and freedom to change.

Values

Values are the qualities and principles you want to express through the way you live.

You may value:

Connection
Compassion
Faith
Family
Honesty
Learning
Courage
Creativity
Service
Stability
Health
Independence
Belonging
Personal growth

Values are different from goals. A goal can be completed, while a value continues guiding your choices.

Getting a new job may be a goal. Contributing, learning, or providing for your family may be the values behind it. Repairing a relationship may be a goal, while honesty and connection guide how you approach that work.

ACT helps you distinguish what genuinely matters to you from what you believe you “should” value because of pressure, comparison, fear, or someone else’s expectations.

Committed Action

Committed action means taking practical steps that reflect your chosen values—even when motivation is low or uncomfortable thoughts and feelings appear.

These steps do not have to be dramatic. Committed action might include:

Sending an application despite fear of rejection
Setting a needed boundary
Reconnecting with someone important
Attending an event while feeling anxious
Creating a healthier daily routine
Asking for help
Returning to an activity depression interrupted
Having an honest conversation
Practicing self-care without waiting to feel deserving
Trying again after a setback

The goal is not perfect action. It is repeatedly choosing a meaningful direction.

Acceptance is not resignation.

The word “acceptance” can sound like giving up, tolerating mistreatment, or deciding that nothing can change. That is not what ACT teaches.

Acceptance applies to internal experiences such as thoughts, emotions, memories, and physical sensations. It allows you to stop fighting what is already present long enough to choose an effective response.

You can accept that fear is present and still protect yourself.
You can acknowledge grief and continue building a meaningful life.
You can recognize anger without acting aggressively.
You can accept reality and work to change what is changeable.
You can experience self-doubt and take a courageous step.

Acceptance is not passivity. It is an active willingness to experience discomfort in the service of something important.

ACT changes your relationship with thoughts.

Some therapies help evaluate whether a thought is accurate. ACT often asks a different question:

Is treating this thought as a fact helping you live according to your values?

A thought does not have to disappear before you can move forward.

Your mind may continue producing worries, criticism, memories, predictions, and doubts. ACT helps you notice these experiences without handing them complete control of your choices.

The goal is not to win an argument with your mind. It is to prevent the argument from consuming your life.

Your values—not your therapist’s values—guide treatment.

Values are central to ACT and to the way we provide counseling at Inner Peace Counseling of Utah.

Your therapist will not decide what you should believe, what kind of life you should pursue, or which relationships, traditions, identities, or priorities should matter to you.

Instead, your therapist will approach your experiences with curiosity, dignity, and respect while helping you clarify your own values.

Treatment is adapted to you rather than expecting you to adapt to a one-size-fits-all definition of wellness or success.

ACT is active and experiential.

ACT involves meaningful conversation, but it is more than discussing problems intellectually.

Sessions may include:

Mindfulness and awareness exercises
Values clarification
Metaphors and experiential activities
Noticing and naming thoughts
Practicing cognitive defusion
Exploring patterns of avoidance
Making room for difficult emotions
Identifying workable choices
Setting values-based goals
Planning small, committed actions
Reviewing what you learned from taking action

You may also practice skills between sessions so they become usable in your daily life.

How is ACT different from CBT?

ACT developed from the broader cognitive-behavioral tradition, and both approaches examine how thoughts and behaviors affect well-being.

Traditional CBT may help you evaluate a thought and develop a more accurate or balanced response. ACT often focuses less on changing what the thought says and more on changing how you relate to it.

For example:

CBT might ask, “What evidence supports or challenges this thought?”
ACT might ask, “Can you notice this thought and still choose an action that reflects your values?”

Neither approach is automatically better for every person. Your therapist may use ACT, CBT, or elements of both depending on your concerns, preferences, and treatment goals.

Progress is more than symptom reduction.

Relief from symptoms can be an important goal, but ACT also considers whether your life is becoming richer, more flexible, and more connected to what matters.

Progress may look like:

Participating in life even when anxiety is present
Recovering more effectively from difficult emotions
Spending less time struggling with thoughts
Making choices based on values instead of fear
Developing greater self-compassion
Returning to meaningful activities
Becoming more present in relationships
Responding more flexibly to setbacks
Taking action without waiting for perfect confidence
Feeling a stronger sense of direction or purpose

You can experience discomfort and still be moving forward.

How long does ACT take?

ACT can be provided as a focused, short-term treatment or incorporated into longer-term counseling.

The length of therapy depends on:

Your treatment goals
The nature and severity of your concerns
How long difficulties have been present
Whether multiple concerns are being addressed
Opportunities to practice skills
Your response to the approach
Other treatments or support you may need

You and your therapist will review progress and adjust the treatment plan when appropriate.

Is ACT right for you?

ACT may be worth exploring if you:

Feel controlled by worry, fear, or self-doubt
Avoid meaningful experiences because they are uncomfortable
Spend significant energy fighting thoughts or emotions
Feel disconnected from your values or purpose
Understand your patterns but still feel unable to change them
Want a mindfulness-based and action-oriented approach
Are going through a situation you cannot simply fix
Want to live more fully while difficult emotions are present
Feel trapped by perfectionism
Keep waiting to feel ready before taking action
Want counseling that respects your personal values

Your therapist will help determine whether ACT fits your needs and how it may be combined with other approaches.

Move toward what matters.

At Inner Peace Counseling of Utah, we provide compassionate, individualized counseling that helps people navigate life’s challenges within the framework of their own values.

Our therapists work with children, teens, and adults. Counseling is available at our Draper and Saratoga Springs locations and through secure telehealth for clients throughout Utah.

Ready to take a meaningful step?

You do not have to eliminate every difficult thought or emotion before beginning to create the life you want.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can help you become more present, respond more flexibly, and take purposeful action toward what matters most to you.

Your hope. Your help. Your happiness.

Let’s Work Together

Get in touch so we can start working together.