10. Understanding Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Context: A History of Similarities and Differences With Other Cognitive Behavior Therapies

Summary

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has emerged as an innovative member of the broad family of cognitive behavior therapies (CBTs). To understand the place of mindfulness in ACT, it is necessary to understand the place of ACT within the broader CBT family. This chapter locates ACT within the CBT tradition and highlights similarities and differences with both traditional and contemporary cognitive behavior therapies. The chapter provides an overview of the six core processes of the ACT model, followed by a case example that illustrates assessment and treatment strategies linked to ACT processes. The centrality of mindfulness processes within the ACT model is discussed and examined in relation to a comparison of mindfulness among various branches of CBT. The related concepts of distancing, metacognitive awareness, and defusion are examined in light of the distinctions outlined in earlier part of the chapter. The chapter concludes with an overview of the ACT treatment development strategy with an emphasis on the simultaneous examination of both treatment outcome and theoretically coherent change processes.