Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, known as ACT (pronounced as the word "ACT" is a mindfulness-based therapy that incorporates elements of Buddhist mindfulness meditation and newer behavioral therapy techniques.

 

ACT is quite different from traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in that it teaches people how to accept and embrace unpleasant thoughts, feelings and sensations rather than trying to control or eliminate them. The rationale behind this, is that a great deal of human suffering is the result of not engaging vitally in life due to trying to reduce feelings such as fear, anxiety, frustration, etc. These emotions are necessary parts of working toward what you hold dear, your values, and to try to avoid them is to avoid those aspects of life which bring meaning and vital involvement.

 

Through this process of embracing unwanted feelings in the service of achieving goals, often the negative feelings are significantly reduced.The paradox is, the more you try to avoid certain feelings, the more they hang around and negatively influence your life