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In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the six core processes (often referred to as the "hexaflex" and based in "yearnings,") reflect essential psychological skills or attitudes that individuals strive to develop.Â
These processes are aimed at increasing psychological flexibility and they work because they are essential underlying components of all human beings. Here they are along with their clinical applications:
Cognitive Defusion:
Concept: This involves learning to perceive thoughts, images, and memories as what they are (products of the mind) rather than what they appear to be (threatening events, facts).
Clinical Application: Techniques like repeating a word until it loses its meaning, observing thoughts without action, or using metaphors help clients detach from unhelpful thoughts and reduce their impact.
Acceptance:
Concept: Acceptance involves embracing thoughts and feelings without trying to change them, fight them, or avoid them.
Clinical Application: Encouraging clients to allow emotions and sensations to come and go as they are, without struggling against them. Mindfulness exercises and body scans are commonly used.Â
Contact with the Present Moment:
Concept: This process involves being fully aware of the here and now, with openness, interest, and receptiveness.
Clinical Application: Mindfulness practices, grounding techniques, and exercises that focus attention on the current experience help clients engage with the present rather than being preoccupied with past or future concerns.
Self-as-Context:
Concept: Also known as the "observing self," this concept helps individuals distinguish themselves from their thoughts and feelings, promoting a sense of self that is consistent and continuous across time and contexts.
Clinical Application: Exercises that involve observing thoughts and feelings from a distance or adopting a perspective of the self that remains unchanged despite different experiences and emotions.
Values:
Concept: Values are deeply held beliefs about what is important and meaningful in life. They guide behavior and provide motivation.
Clinical Application: Identifying and clarifying clients' values, helping them to articulate what truly matters to them, and using this understanding to guide goal-setting and decision-making.
Committed Action:
Concept: This involves setting goals according to values and taking effective action towards achieving them, despite potential obstacles and discomfort.
Clinical Application: Developing concrete, value-driven goals and action plans, and fostering perseverance in clients through goal-setting exercises, action planning, and problem-solving techniques.
These processes interrelate and support each other, fostering psychological flexibility, which is the ability to contact the present moment fully and change or persist in behavior when doing so serves valued ends.