Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

-The Dalai Lama

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Pain is a part of life. Deep down, most of us know that. The problem is that sometimes we let our pain dictate how we behave and it moves us toward suffering, we struggle against and agonize over our troubles. With that in mind, I work on helping people build lives that are bigger than their pain — I help them create full, rich and meaningful lives.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based model designed to teach people strategies to live life more in the present, more focused on important values and goals, and less focused on painful thoughts, feelings, and experiences. ACT teaches people how to cope with painful thoughts and feelings using acceptance and mindfulness techniques. ACT helps people to develop self-compassion and psychological flexibility and to build life-enhancing patterns of behavior. ACT is about embracing life and feeling all that it has to offer. It offers a way out of suffering by choosing to live a life based on what we value most.

A few more words about what is meant by “Acceptance” and “Commitment”…

Acceptance

Acceptance is about making room for the things we cannot control. It is a kind of mindful action — an intentional stance — that involves disarming the struggle you’re having with painful thoughts, feelings, memories, worries, etc. Acceptance should not be confused with approval or resignation; real acceptance empowers us to change what we can change and let go of what we can’t.

Commitment

Happiness is often built on momentary pleasure; Joy is usually built on a larger sense of meaning and purpose. It’s fostered by actions that are in the service of the things that give our lives meaning, the things that we care about most deeply. Commitment begins with getting clarity on what truly matters to you, what brings you true joy and what you want your life to be about. The practice of commitment involves learning strategies that help move you in the direction of your chosen values. When we move toward our values, we increase the richness, vitality, and meaning in our lives.