What does this rating mean?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a type of talking therapy. ACT teaches people two main processes: (1) acceptance of the situation based on what can and can’t be changed; and (2) commitment to personal values. These processes aim to help a person cope better with experiences that may cause depression.
ACT teaches psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is the ability to be aware of your own thoughts and choose how you think and respond to certain situations. The opposite is psychological rigidity. This means that a person reacts automatically to situations or emotions without much thought about the consequences. By teaching psychological flexibility, ACT empowers a person to break psychological rigidity and respond to situations in a way that will help their depression.
ACT also teaches people how to identify and commit to their personal values. This helps people to choose better ways of responding to situations and encourages them to make choices that align with their personal values.
ACT is a newer kind of therapy and there is not as much evidence to support is as there is for other types of therapy, such as cognitive behaviour therapy. However, studies have found that that ACT is more effective at reducing depression symptoms than no treatment. Some studies have found that ACT is about as effective as other psychological therapies at treating depression.
More research is needed to determine if ACT is effective in the long term and if it is effective for people with severe depression.
ACT may involve seeing a therapist weekly for several months. It can be expensive, although in Australia Medicare provides rebates for visits to clinical psychologists, psychologists and other therapists (see below).
ACT is available from a range of people with different levels of training, including psychologists (see Psychologists & other therapists).
In Australia, Medicare provides rebates for visits to some therapists under the Better Access to Mental Health Care scheme. ACT may be covered by some private health insurance funds and is sometimes available from therapists employed in hospitals or government-funded clinics.
ACT appears to be an effective treatment for adults with mild-to-moderate depression in the short term. It is not clear if ACT is effective for depression in the long term.
Last reviewed and updated: 1 December 2019
These treatments are very useful. They are strongly supported as effective by scientific evidence.
These treatments are promising and may be useful. They have some evidence to support them, but more evidence is needed to be sure they work.
These treatments have not been properly researched. It is not possible to say whether they are useful or not.