Embracing Your Demons: an Overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Russ Harris · by 29 Aug 2007

Russ Harris did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
A meaningful life means taking action guided by your values while accepting the pain that inevitably comes with it.

Their wordsThe goal of ACT is to create a rich and meaningful life, while accepting the pain that inevitably goes with it.
Our reading
Therapy should change a person's relationship with painful thoughts and feelings rather than try to remove them; symptom relief then comes as a byproduct.

Their wordsIn ACT, the aim is to transform our relationship with our difficult thoughts and feelings, so that we no longer perceive them as ‘symptoms’. Instead, we learn to perceive them as harmless, even if uncomfortable, transient psychological events. Ironically, it is through this process that ACT actually achieves symptom reduction—but as a byproduct and not the goal.
Our reading
Psychological suffering is normal, not a rare disease: it is all around us despite the highest living standards in history.

Their wordsClearly, even though our standard of living is higher than ever before in recorded history, psychological suffering is all around us.
Our reading
Trying to avoid or get rid of unwanted thoughts and feelings usually creates extra suffering.

Their wordsUnfortunately, all too often when we try to avoid or get rid of unwanted private experiences, we simply create extra suffering for ourselves.
Our reading
Virtually every addiction begins as an attempt to escape unwanted thoughts and feelings such as boredom, loneliness or anxiety.

Their wordsFor example, virtually every addiction known to mankind begins as an attempt to avoid or get rid of unwanted thoughts and feelings, such as boredom, loneliness, anxiety, depression and so on.
Our reading
The core of an anxiety disorder is not anxiety itself but the preoccupation with trying to avoid or get rid of it.

Their wordsIt is not the presence of anxiety that comprises the essence of an anxiety disorder. After all, anxiety is a normal human emotion that we all experience. At the core of any anxiety disorder lies a major preoccupation with trying to avoid or get rid of anxiety.

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