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Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is focused on teaching individuals how to be psychologically flexible by accepting their thoughts, feelings, and experiences, connect with their values, and take effective action toward those values. The six principles of ACT are: acceptance; defusion; contact with the present moment; committed action; self-as-perspective; and values. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of each principle and to argue whether applying those principles could aide in serving victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). An overview of theoretical underpinnings and a history review will provide the required background needed to determine if these principles could be effective for the intended populations. Then we will review the current literature for treatments with those populations. Next will be determining if there are any gaps in the research that need filling in order to determine effective methods for serving the intended populations of offenders and victims of IPV, specifically those who are a part of the LGBTQIA community. Finally, we will determine if ACT is behavior analytic in nature, what ethics apply to the use of ACT and what are the feasible next steps to appropriately serve victims of intimate partner violence and the LGBTQIA community.
Theoretical Underpinnings
ACT, according to Psychology Today on April 10, 2019, is an action-based approach to psychopathology (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, n.d.). Psychotherapy is generally described as a way to aide individuals with various types of mental illnesses and difficulties with emotions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD and others. Most people might describe psychotherapy as laying on a sofa talking about your feelings to some therapist. One can also view psychotherapy as way to talk about and identify how your feelings and thoughts might be affecting your behaviors and then make effective changes to your behavior to live a more valued life. According to a podcast called ACT in Context: The History and Development of ACT with Steven Hayes (2011), Hayes gives credit to Sigmund Freud for bringing psychotherapy to the mainstream and setting the stage for culture to become more interested in psychological principles. Freud is most commonly known as the founder of psychoanalysis, a way to treat those with mental illness by “making the unconscious conscious”, and for his theories that explain human behavior. Steven Hayes, the founder of ACT, acknowledges Freud’s contribution as being able to describe “the life within and the role of the unconscious” (Dehlin, Plumb, & Hayes, 2011).
Although Hayes acknowledges the great contributions Freud made to the field, he goes on to say Freud had radical and controversial ideas and, “the way he went about theorizing and collecting data made it hard to disprove any of his findings” (Dehlin, Plumb, & Hayes, 2011). An in-depth discussion of the method Freud used would be beneficial but is beyond the scope of this paper