Acceptance + commitment therapy
Instead of pushing away or fighting with unpleasant emotions, ACT challenges people to focus on accepting them and working to better understand why they exist.
Acceptance + commitment therapy at Aster Springs
How does acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) work in eating disorder treatment? Maybe an individual uses food as comfort when faced with painful thoughts. It just feels easier to eat instead of telling someone they’re hurting. Alternatively, a person may rigorously control their eating when they feel like they don’t have control over anything else. Instead of expressing their feelings, they bury them.
With the assistance of our skilled therapists, each client learns that it’s counterproductive to ignore their problems and suppress their emotions. They learn self-compassion instead of always judging themselves harshly.
About ACT
ACT is an evidence-based treatment that derives its name from what’s at the very core of its function: to accept and commit. This approach targets the underlying causes of mental health disorders, including eating disorders, empowering individuals to process emotions constructively and develop more effective coping strategies.
How ACT Works
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) forms the basis for ACT. In treatment, clients gradually learn to stop the avoiding behaviors they often use when faced with problems. Instead of denying or ignoring difficulties, they gain insight and tools to help them recognize and confront them. There are six core components of ACT.
1. Acceptance
Teaches the concept of making room for difficult thoughts and feelings without controlling or avoiding them.
2. Cognitive Defusion
Encourages individuals to step back from their unhelpful thoughts and view them simply as mental events, rather than facts that should control and influence their feelings.
3. Contacting the Present Moment
Helps individuals tune into the current moment with openness, curiosity, and without judgment.
4. Self-as-Context
Helps individuals see themselves as the steady, observing part of their minds, able to notice thoughts and feelings without being defined or consumed by them.
5. Values
Challenges individuals to identify the deeply held qualities (compassion, honesty, patience) that give their life meaning and guide their choices.
6. Committed Action
Helps individuals choose behaviors that align with what truly matters to them so they can build a life guided by their values, not their fears.
The Aster Springs Difference
Our distinctive approach combines compassionate, inclusive care with innovative treatment methods, promoting an environment where daily healing leads to lasting real-world recovery.
Our ACT Approach
Listen in as Odyssey Behavioral Healthcare’s AVP of Clinical Operations, Kate Fisch, LCSW, CEDS, explains acceptance and commitment therapy and how it’s used at Aster Springs.
outcomes at aster springs
Clinically excellent treatment, superior clinical outcomes.
We measure outcomes to ensure the highest quality of care and lasting recovery. Aster Springs is fully accredited by CARF® International, reflecting our commitment to excellence in eating disorder treatment.
Levels of Care
We’ll meet you where you are. Aster Springs offers a comprehensive continuum of care, bridging the gap between inpatient treatment and general outpatient therapy.
Take the next step at Aster Springs.
Whether you’re seeking treatment for the first time or returning after previous care, the team at Aster Springs is here to help you navigate this stage in your recovery journey.
Your privacy is our priority. All communication is completely confidential.
