5 Tips on How to Get Started With ACT

5 Tips on How to Get Started With ACT

If you are thinking of trying acceptance commitment therapy, you might be wondering where you should start! That’s a fairly common problem, but fortunately, there are some simple answers; these are the 5 tips on how to get started with ACT

1. Admit You Have a Problem

The first step to getting any kind of help with any kind of mental health condition is; to admit that there’s a problem. You don’t have to know what it is, or what it’s called. You don’t need to know exactly why it happens or have any idea how to change it. All of that will come later when you start therapy.

However, the most important step in any kind of recovery is; to admit that your responses and behaviour might not be working for you and that you want to change them.

2. Be Prepared to Dig Deep

Very often, when we have mental health conditions, they are due to buried trauma and triggers; we don’t even know to exist. Many times, our responses don’t happen on a conscious level; so, we never really know why we do what we do.

ACT starts with acceptance of our thoughts, fears, emotions and feelings; but to do that, we need to take a long, hard look and peel back all the layers. It’s not always easy, but it is important to find out what is causing your behaviour; so you can start working to change it.

3. Find a Good ACT Specialist

Like any form of therapy; ACT works best when it’s guided by a trained specialist; who has studied the methods and treatment practices. If you want to try ACT for anxiety or anything else; start by finding a specialist who can help you through the process.

4. Don’t Expect Linear Progress

One of the reasons many people get frustrated with therapy; particularly when they are getting started; is that they feel they aren’t making enough progress, or worse, that they are backsliding.

It’s very important to understand before you start any kind of therapy or treatment; that it’s not always a linear process. You can expect to take the occasional step back, or even to the side to deal with another issue that you weren’t aware of. Progress is progress though; as long as you are doing the work; you will get where you want to go.

5. Get Ready to Commit to Change

After the acceptance part of ACT comes commitment, and this is the part where you will take action to make changes to the behaviours that are damaging, or that you don’t like. As you can imagine, this is often the hardest part of the therapy process for patients, but it’s very important that you not only know what is causing your behaviour, but also that you learn strategies to change it for the positive.

Trust your therapist. Follow the process, and don’t be afraid to take small steps towards your goals. You don’t have to change everything in one day, and it’s okay to take your time.