UK psychologists improve ACT practice: connect with values and foster committed action, moving beyond inaction and impulsivity in our courses.
This talk explores two closely connected processes within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): moving from lack of contact with values towards values, and from inaction or impulsivity towards committed action. Participants will consider how clients can become disconnected from what genuinely matters to them, how behaviour can become organised around avoidance, habit, external expectations or immediate emotional relief, and how clearer contact with values can provide direction.
The talk combines theory with practical clinical application for post-graduate clinicians. It examines how to help clients identify personally meaningful values, distinguish values from goals, rules and social expectations, and translate those values into workable committed action. Particular attention is given to the difference between deliberate action, inaction and impulsive responding, with an emphasis on building psychological flexibility, choice and sustainable behaviour change.
By the end of this talk, participants will be able to:
- Identify when a client’s behaviour reflects lack of contact with personally meaningful values.
- Describe the distinction between values, goals, rules and externally imposed expectations.
- Identify patterns of inaction and impulsivity that interfere with values-based behaviour.
- Apply practical ACT strategies to help clients clarify values and translate them into concrete actions.
- Develop values-based committed actions that are specific, workable and responsive to the client’s current context.