Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Arizona

Our Approaches to Using ACT at Changes Healing Center

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a unique approach to mental wellness. ACT focuses on teaching each person to cope with negative thoughts or feelings instead of engaging in a tug-o-war with them – or worse, feeling shame about them. You have found the right resource if you are looking for acceptance and commitment therapy in Arizona. Our team can provide healing for those wrestling with various mental health concerns. 

ACT is very effective because it is all about staying present in the moment. You learn to acknowledge the pain without letting it ruin your life. Act helps you accept these inner experiences and commit to personal wellness. As a result, it helps you lead a more fulfilling and resilient life.

Changes Healing Center has integrated Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into our scope of practices. Our Arizona treatment center is where you can create a new reality. Our programs help you identify aspects of your life where you’re creating mental barriers. We support you as you flourish and create a new life. Specifically, you learn to develop a life focused on wellness and personal growth.

Read on to learn more about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and how our treatment center improves the lives of our clients through this and complementing approaches!

How Does Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Work?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) teaches you how to grow positive thoughts. Think about rose gardeners. They are aware of the sharp thorns. However, a gardener is focused not on the sharpness of the thorns but on the ultimate harvest of gorgeous, fragrant flowers. Similarly, ACT guides us to acknowledge our painful thoughts (the thorns) without letting them overshadow the potential joy (the blooming roses).

Let’s break down how ACT works. Once you see how this therapy approaches reshaping your thoughts, you will quickly develop strategies to resolve any mental health challenges you experience. Like any skill, the more effort you put into mastering these approaches, the more you will take away from therapy. The best part – ACT is a lifelong tool that helps you create a new life, addressing your values and desires.

Psychological Flexibility: A Proven Benefit of ACT

Psychological flexibility is the central theme of ACT. It’s about being open to experiences, both good and bad, without letting them dominate your life. 

Remember the rose gardening metaphor? The gardener knows that the thorns have scratched their arms, but they don’t let the fear of being scratched again consume them. They recognize the thorns as barriers, but they identify methods to overcome them and prune them anyway.

In ACT, you will similarly acknowledge that painful thoughts and feelings are a part of life. Yet, they don’t have to be barriers. You won’t do this alone. Commitment therapy therapists guide clients in the process of increasing their psychological flexibility.

Therapists Guide You to Mindfulness and Acceptance with ACT

Mindfulness is another crucial part of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It means learning to be fully present in the now. You learn to be aware of your thoughts and feelings without letting them overwhelm you. 

Mindfulness teaches you to consider your experiences without judgment, which can be incredibly liberating.

The part of ACT is to master acceptance. This does not imply that you make any effort, or worse, admit defeat. Instead, acceptance and commitment therapy and counseling teach you to recognize that some things, including some emotions, are out of your control. 

Acceptance and commitment therapy allow you to stop fighting an unwinnable battle with your feelings. You learn to make peace with ‘what is,’ rather than constantly struggling against ‘what should be.’

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Arizona Leads to Positive Change

Finally, commitment is where the lasting transformation in ACT takes place. You identify your values – the things that matter the most to you- and then align with them. 

Therapists work with clients to set goals and take actions that reflect their values. This practice leads to a more meaningful and fulfilling life. 

What Mental Health Conditions Can ACT Help With?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a versatile, practical approach that a trained therapist can apply to several mental health conditions. 

Here are some of the conditions where ACT can be particularly beneficial.

Struggling with Substance Abuse or Addiction

ACT offers a compassionate framework for breaking free from substance abuse. Once you understand the underlying emotional and psychological reasons for addiction, you will feel ready to tackle recovery head-on. 

ACT teaches you strategies that help you develop healthier behaviors and more positive feelings about moving through recovery from addiction.

ACT Helps Reduce Depression as Well as Trauma and PTSD

Depression can make people feel trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts and even lower motivation. ACT aids in breaking this cycle by teaching you to accept your feelings of sadness or despair without unfairly judging yourself.

Acceptance and commitment therapy also teaches behaviors aligned with your values, even when depression makes it hard to do so. This approach helps reduce the impact of depressive symptoms and replaces it with purpose and fulfillment.

ACT is super effective for a person with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by promoting psychological flexibility. It encourages an acceptance of traumatic memories without letting the trauma overwhelm them. 

Mindfulness means you learn strategies to help you detach from the trauma and focus on the present. Thus, the ACT reduces the intensity of your PTSD symptoms.

Managing Panic Disorder, Anxiety, and Stress

Anxiety and stress often arise from an irrational fear or when preoccupied with past events. ACT helps ground you, helps you stay in the moment, and teaches you to identify and co-exist with anxious thoughts. 

This acceptance reduces the power of anxiety and stress over your life. Therapy teaches you to identify actions that align with your values and goals.

For those with panic disorder, ACT provides tools to manage the intense fear and physical symptoms that accompany panic attacks. When you accept these fleeting thoughts, you can control the frequency and intensity of panic attacks.

ACT also helps you identify triggers and develop coping strategies that align with personal values and is a particularly effective approach for clients with co-occurring disorders such as those described previously.

4 Advantages of Living in the Present Moment With ACT

One of the best things about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is its emphasis on living in the present moment. The approaches we discuss in this section will become a new way of life that can bring numerous benefits. It is a handy tool for those who must overcome challenges or mental health issues. 

Here are some of the best reasons to give it a try:

1) Reducing the Impact of Negative Thoughts

The first benefit of living in the moment is that it reduces the power of negative thoughts over your life. When you focus on being here right now, you’re less likely to worry about the future or focus on past regrets. ACT teaches you to observe these painful thoughts without getting entangled in them. You learn how to utilize ACT to reduce the disruption in your life.

Being present also helps you manage your emotions. ACT encourages awareness of emotional responses without judgment. It helps allow you to have emotions but not feel so overwhelmed. This awareness leads to improved emotional regulation.

Specifically, therapy teaches how you can offset the negativity by dealing with any barriers in life with a more positive mindset. This can help in all areas of living, from time management and appreciation of each moment to learning new life skills with positivity and enthusiasm.

2) Counseling Helps Build Resilience to Stress and Anxiety

Mindfulness is also a powerful tool against stress and anxiety. It helps break the constant worry and rumination cycle that often characterizes these conditions. When you focus on the moment, you can overcome those stresses of your life with less effort.

3) Improving the Connection with Others

ACT also enhances interpersonal relationships. When you are fully engaged with your loved ones, you listen better, respond empathetically, and take a genuine interest. You reclaim the freedom to build a meaningful relationship with every friend and family member.

4) Creating a Greater Sense of Well-Being

You can utilize ACT to improve your feelings of well-being – body, mind, and soul. It encourages appreciating life as it is right now – not as you think it ought to be. This acceptance can lead to greater contentment, happiness, and a sincere appreciation for life’s simple joys.

Choose Changes Healing Center and ACT for Health and Recovery

At Changes Healing Center, we approach your journey to mental wellness like a gardener tending to roses. We understand that life often has many thorns – challenges and painful experiences. But you create beauty in your life through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This therapy allows your joy to blossom.

Are you ready to change your life? Changes Healing Center is here to support you. Reach out to us, and together, let’s talk about healing today!