Acceptance and Commitment Therapy at Souther

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Recovery from addiction is full of challenges. One such challenge is combatting feelings of regret and shame. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which focuses on mindful acceptance followed by action, can help people with these struggles on their recovery journey. Southern Sky Recovery offers ACT as one of our many evidence-based therapy programs in South Carolina.

If you or a loved one are in addiction recovery and are struggling with feelings of regret or shame, please reach out to us at Southern Sky at 843.350.5769 today. Our acceptance and commitment therapy may be able to help you.

What is an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Program?

Inspired by traditional behavioral therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy for addiction, ACT focuses on accepting negative emotions, thoughts, and urges while encouraging clients to commit to positive, meaningful actions. In acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) programs in Bluffton, SC, clients meet with a counselor individually or as a group.

Through ACT, clients examine how their thoughts and feelings develop in response to specific situations and what their feelings might teach them about these situations. They learn helpful coping mechanisms to handle overwhelming feelings and to accept these emotions as part of life. They also make plans for prioritizing behaviors and actions that are consistent with their values.

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The Goals of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

One primary goal of ACT is to improve clients’ psychological resilience. It helps them open up to different emotional states. ACT counselors encourage clients to confront specific thoughts or emotions they may have been avoiding. Facing these thoughts head-on can help clients learn to accept the thoughts nonjudgmentally, even though they may be unpleasant.

Specific steps of the ACT process include:

Paying attention to each physical and emotional sensation as it happens, without judging the sensation
Allowing negative thoughts and emotions to exist rather than trying to deny, suppress, or alter them
Examining distressing thoughts and feelings from a distance
Understanding yourself as more than your thoughts, feelings, and experiences
Identifying your personal values and making sure your actions line up with these values and priorities (instead of letting your emotions influence your actions)
Committing to a goal or plan for future behaviors
Taking concrete steps to achieve your goals and plans

When clients pursue committed action, they make choices that align with their personal convictions. This can be very empowering and help clients in acceptance and commitment therapy programs in Bluffton; SC stays on track with lifelong recovery.

We Work With Most Insurance

We are an in-network provider with Cigna & Blue Cross Blue Shield, meaning up to 100% of the costs associated with treatment at our program.

Benefits of ACT as Therapy for Addiction

Research has shown ACT can be a powerful aspect of a treatment program for many mental health conditions that often occur along with substance use disorder. By helping clients deal with the overwhelming emotions that these conditions can cause, ACT techniques can improve their symptoms. ACT can even help treat chronic physical pain.

ACT’s focus on psychological flexibility is a great asset for clients working to change substance abuse behaviors. Instead of focusing on the short-term emotional reward that mind-altering substances can provide, clients learn thoughtful ways to respond to negative emotions without resorting to substance use.