How Acceptance and Responsibility Therapy Helps You Cope with Any Difficulties

What is Acceptance and Responsibility Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (TRT) is a form of behavioral therapy focused on developing mental flexibility. That is, the ability to stay in the present moment and, despite negative emotions and thoughts, act in accordance with their values.

The creator of the technique, Professor Stephen Hayes, in the past himself suffered from panic attacks, but managed to cope with the disease by accepting his emotions and limitations.

TPE is referred to as the third wave of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), an effective method of dealing with various disorders. However, these approaches also have important differences.

At the heart of TPO lies several provisions:

1. Emotions that are recognized as negative will never disappear. Life is not a problem that can be solved. Therefore, you should not avoid situations that can cause unpleasant feelings, as well as be afraid of these internal experiences.
2. Human language and cognition are inextricably linked. Language helps people build arbitrary relationships between objects or events, and then perceive the world through the framework of the created structures. If you learn to see your patterns and separate the real world from your judgments about it, you can get rid of many problems and suffering.
3. There is no absolutely universal truth in the world. Therefore, in order to determine how to act, it is necessary to consider the personal values ​​​​of each person and judge his effectiveness by them.

Based on these assumptions, acceptance and responsibility therapy offers several therapeutic mechanisms.

How Acceptance and Responsibility Therapy Helps to Improve Your Life

Acceptance and Responsibility Therapy helps develop psychological flexibility through six key mechanisms:

1. Adoption. It is a positive, not judgmental, perception of the experience in the moment. A person makes room for painful feelings, impulses and emotions, seeks to perceive them objectively, does not try to resist them, control them or avoid them.
2. cognitive separation. The ability to separate oneself from thoughts, images and memories. A person learns to objectively observe his mental activity, not confusing it with reality. This allows thoughts to be perceived simply as language and text, without associating them with a meaning that is beyond his control.
3. Presence. Developing the skill of consciously paying attention to what is happening around and in the head at the moment, fully accepting it and not making any judgments.
4. "I" as context. If a person is sure that his personality is a set of certain unchanging qualities, painful thoughts and feelings can threaten his condition. Self-observation helps to pay attention to your real experience, help to separate yourself from judgments about your personality and accept it.
5. Values. A person determines the direction of life, and then learns to relate actions to their own values ​​and act constructively, without trying to avoid pain.
6. Purposeful action. People learn to change behavior to fit their values, take responsibility for their actions, and lead effective lives.

Thus, in the process of therapy, you learn to monitor your judgments and separate them from reality, stop resisting negative emotions, train unconditional acceptance and attention to present.

Maintaining a strong connection with the moment"Here and now”, you define your values ​​and goals, lead a fulfilling and meaningful life, observing yourself and focusing on the present.

What disorders are treated with Acceptance and Responsibility Therapy?

According to meta-analysis Based on 133 scientific studies with data from 12,477 people, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is effective in improving the condition in the following conditions:

• depression;
• anxiety disorder;
• dependence on chemicals;
• chronic pain;
• eating disorders;
• stress;
• somatic symptoms.

During therapy, people are learning track your internal dialogue, especially those related to traumatic events, problematic relationships, and physical limitations.

Such work helps to understand whether the problem requires immediate action and changes or will only help acceptance, as well as learning to stop repetitive thought patterns and behaviors that have caused problems in past.

As a result, people stop fighting painful emotions and instead choose more confident and optimistic behavior based on personal values ​​and goals.

How to Try Acceptance and Responsibility Therapy

First of all, you need to find a psychotherapist who deals with this type of therapy.

Anna Voitova says that for the formation of each of the six skills in TVET, they use conversations and explanations as well as specific exercises.

For example, for the process of cognitive separation, a metaphor for passing cars may be offered. Machines are thoughts that distract a person from his affairs, making it difficult to focus on the present. Perceiving them as something that comes and goes makes it easier to let go of unwanted ideas and images.

To get rid of intrusive negative thoughts, you can apply another exercise. Imagine that each thought that arises is placed on the back of a passing car, which then carries it away.

As soon as a person begins to perceive thoughts as a product of consciousness and understands that their content is not part of surrounding reality, he has the opportunity to pay attention to the present and do something useful.

Thus, through metaphors and exercises, you will learn how to move towards a rich and meaningful life, instead of fighting or avoiding your own thoughts, feelings, or memories.