Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Addiction and Substance Abuse

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of psychotherapy that helps you become more accepting and less judgmental of your thoughts and experiences. In the course of your addiction treatment at Golden Peak Recovery, our therapists may use ACT to help you learn you to cope with negative feelings without turning to drugs or alcohol.

During this therapy, you learn how to spend less time worrying about the past and more time focusing on the present. Using mindfulness techniques, you develop the ability to be less judgmental about your thoughts. We also focus on your values and goals, and help you see where your behavior may not align with your values.

ACT was established based on six core principles that define the treatment.

• Acceptance. Instead of struggling with negative emotions, acceptance teaches you to live with those feelings without judging yourself for feeling that way.
• Cognitive diffusion. Rather than trying to stop negative thoughts completely, you learn to diffuse them and take away their power.
• Being present. It’s important to be aware of moments and events in your life as they occur.
• Self as context. When you learn to observe yourself in a non-judgmental way, it becomes easier to accept your thoughts without letting them affect who you are.
• Values. Your beliefs and values should define your behavior. If they don’t align, ACT will help you understand why.
• Committed action. Lastly, ACT shows you how to use your values to set goals and take active steps toward meeting them.

Getting to the root of your addiction with ACT

At Golden Peak Recovery, we employ ACT to address mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression that can lead to substance abuse. Turning to drugs or alcohol to deal with painful situations or thoughts can create a cycle of abuse that leads to addiction. But the root problem never really goes away, and your behavior continues to feed your addiction.

In a substance abuse rehab program, ACT teaches you how to accept those difficulties without judgment and commit to taking actions to deal with them. ACT doesn’t treat your symptoms; it teaches you to embrace them by using mindfulness techniques. This ultimately helps you change your relationship with negative emotions and achieve your recovery goals.