Self-as-Context in Therapy: Help Your Clients Build a Flexible Self with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

by Beate M.E. Ebert, Steven C. Hayes (foreword)

168 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2025

Reviews

[Thomas Emmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Self as Context in Therapy” is a book that exceeds expectations. Written for therapists yet useful for anyone, it achieves the difficult task of explaining a complex topic while also showing how it can be used to help clients build a foundation for mental well-being. The author skillfully blends theory, examples, and exercises, while clearly showing how Self as Context fits into the six core processes of ACT. Her personal stories and experiences as a professional therapist add a real-life dimension that makes the material more engaging and relatable.
The concept itself can be hard to wrap your head around, but by the end of the book you not only understand it—you feel equipped to apply it in practice. There are also hidden gems throughout that are valuable even for non-professionals like myself interested in improving their mental health, such as learning to see thoughts as perspectives rather than absolute truths and the garden analogy used to explain the three aspects of self.
Intentionally or not, the author makes the influence of childhood experiences on mental health remarkably clear. Whether you are a clinician looking to expand your toolbox or someone wanting deeper insight into emotional well-being, this book is well worth reading. I’m certain the knowledge gained from it will have a lasting positive impact on me.

[Ben Siemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beate Ebert wrote a very useful book from her practical clinical point of view. Self-as-context is one of the six key processes of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. This is not a starter for people interested in ACT. It is instead a highly tailored approach to Self-as-Context in clinical work. The book is written in a very easy to understand way and it is yet very profound. I like this combination a lot! Complex topics need no complicated language in my opinion. This is a wonderful example, it is a book from a clinician for clinicians. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this aspect of ACT.