Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Your brain isn’t always your friend.

You forget something, and immediately, a self-condemning voice in your head yells, “You’re so stupid and incompetent!”

You have an argument with your partner, and suddenly you feel terrible guilt and wonder if your relationship is over.

You work hard, and your accomplishments are rewarded with pay raises and promotions. But deep inside, a part of you still feels like an imposter who could be exposed at any moment.

You walk around on high alert, your senses finely attuned to any potential threat. It’s exhausting, but you can’t help it.

A petty disagreement provokes an angry tirade of abusive words and thrown objects. In the aftermath, you feel horrible and hate yourself. Where did all that anger come from?

The harder you fight your thoughts, the stronger they get.

Sometimes it feels like you have too many voices in your head competing for attention and control.

Sometimes it feels like your brain has been hijacked by an anxious or depressed part of you, and you can’t get free of it.

Critical thoughts, condemning thoughts, worrying thoughts, fearful thoughts, angry thoughts, all of them provoking strong emotions that leave you feeling panicked, depressed, shameful, worthless, or unlovable.

You want to live your best life, but it often feels like you’re working against yourself.

Who’s in charge? The thinker or the thought?

Everyone gets hijacked by their thoughts from time to time, but thoughts are just words and pictures in your brain, stories you tell yourself.

These thoughts and stories feel powerful. They feel true, so you believe and obey them. You become paralyzed or avoidant and persist in behaviors that don’t serve your values and goals.

Who’s driving your bus, you or your thoughts?

Psychological Flexibility

When you have psychological flexibility, you accept the thoughts or stories you tell yourself without being controlled by them. You consciously contact the present moment. Based on the situation, change or persist in behavior in service to your values and goals.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a third-generation cognitive behavior therapy that promotes psychological flexibility. ACT teaches you concrete strategies to free yourself from your self-limiting stories and thoughts, overwhelming feelings, and self-defeating personality traits so that you can create the life you want.

ACT focuses on three areas:

Accept your thoughts and reactions.
Choose a valued direction.
Take action.

I received my training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy from Steven Hayes, Ph.D., the founder and creator of ACT.

Go ahead and reach out by phone at (662) 435-0050 or email – or complete the contact form below to schedule a free consultation.