Write 7 pages with APA style on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The paper critically analyses how emotional control and avoidance contributes to more suffrage to people struggling with chronic conditions. Using empirical evidence, the paper also discusses the six principles of psychological flexibility to show how ACT is more helpful for chronically ill people than mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).
Write 7 pages with APA style on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The paper critically analyses how emotional control and avoidance contributes to more suffrage to people struggling with chronic conditions. Using empirical evidence, the paper also discusses the six principles of psychological flexibility to show how ACT is more helpful for chronically ill people than mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).
ACT is a behavioural therapy based on empirical science, but, emphasis much on acceptance, values, living in the present moment, compassion, forgiveness and so forth. ACT challenges the Western psychology claims towards stress management. The most significant difference between the ACT and other behavioural therapies is that its goal is not to reduce symptoms of stress. ACT does not aim at getting rid of stressful thoughts, but, achieves symptom reduction as a by-product. ACT has gained a lot of popularity in the recent past due to its ability in reducing stress among people living with chronic conditions (CADTH, 2012). The particular clinical conditions addressed by ACT may include depression, workplace stress, anxiety, cancer-related stress, drugs use and alcoholism as well as chronic conditions.
ACT and MCBT are among the various ‘third wave’ behavioural therapies that emphasise much on mindfulness skills development. ACT was created by Steve Hayes in 1986, and currently has lots of empirical evidence, which supports its effectiveness. MBCT differs from ACT in that it uses manual treatment protocols for use with groups suffering from depression and stress. On the other hand, the ACT is designed for use with individuals, groups and couples. ACT can as well be used in short and long term therapies in various groups of clinical populations. Additionally, ACT does not use manualized protocols for treatment. Instead, the therapist can create their own techniques and sometimes involve the clients in creating the mindfulness techniques (Bernardy et al., 2013).
In the context of chronic conditions, therefore, ACT is the best method compared to MCBT in the management of stress emanating from the often long-lasting effects of chronic diseases. .
