ACT in Steps: A Transdiagnostic Manual for Learning Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

by Michael P. Twohig, Michael E. Levin, Clarissa W. Ong

ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) can be applied to any psychological disorder that involves struggle with inner experiences. With over 300 randomized clinical trials supporting its effectiveness, ACT has seen rapid growth in popularity, and an increasing number of therapists are being trained in its use. As such, the demand for practical resources on providing ACT has never been greater. ACT in Steps is aimed at any therapist who wants to get familiar with ACT. Chapters walk therapists through a recommended sequence of ACT sessions, including creative hopelessness, control as the problem, acceptance, defusion, mindfulness, values, and committed action, and provide accompanying materials for clients. The book also provides information on assessment, case conceptualization, treatment planning, and intervention that therapists can use as a starting point for practicing ACT. Exercises and worksheets are included which will continue to be useful long after readers have achieved mastery of ACT. Designed to serve as a more structured framework from which therapists can learn and experiment with ACT concepts, ACT in Steps is suitable for anyone interested in applying ACT across a range of presentations, from graduate students seeing their first clients to clinicians with years of experience interested in learning about ACT for the first time.

Genres: Psychology, Textbooks

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 14, 2020

Reviews

[Grace & John Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to learn how to DO acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), this is a fantastic book to get you going! It is an efficient and accessible read that immediately lends its concepts to practical usage. I highly recommend it for any therapist/clinician who is interested in improving their therapy skills!

[angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy to read and immensely useful.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a clinical psychology doctoral student working toward mastering, or at the very least familiarizing myself with, a therapeutic modality, I appreciate Michael Twohig and company. I heard about this book from a co-author (Clarissa Ong, Ph.D.) who I've had a chance to collaborate with at the University of Toledo. I do want to shout out her commitment to quality work and acknowledge the impact she's had on my research and clinical career. Clarissa, if you're somehow reading this, thank you!

This book provided a beginner's framework for better conceptualizing and implementing ACT. It helped me to better understand the mysterious "hexaflex" and how each component parlays into the next. Being a pragmatic thinker, it was helpful to see dialogues, demonstrations, and analogies that helped to summarize and, hopefully, make lessons more poignant for clients. I fully expect this book will inform how I work with my clients' this coming year.

[Chris Molnar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent manual for clinicians who want to learn to implement ACT and also for graduate students first learning ACT. I used it with a recent grad course (Mindfulness- and Acceptance-based Treatments) and all of the students valued it and rated it highly. It is concise, full of excellent clinical examples, and a great foundation. Dr. Twohig and his colleagues also offer many associated resources (in the book) for continued growth. I have valued his work treating OCD for over a decade now and the fruits of it are evident in this book. Even very experienced clinicians will find treasures in this book! I especially appreciated wisdom regarding how I was habitually beginning sessions and the impact of it on the client's capacity to focus on living in a mindful and ACT-adherent way. I won't spoil it for experienced clinicians!

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is aimed at nocive ACT therapists and offers to learn ACT by initially following a protocol. This can especially be helpful for those who feel overwhelmed by the flexibility inherent to ACT (in terms of when to adress which process).

The book also includes sample dialogues between client and therapist showing one possible way of delivering ACT. It is short an concise which I find positive. If this were my first book on ACT, I would likely want to combine it with at least one other book, e.g. by Harris or Hayes.

As with all ACT books I have read so far, I have found some new perspectives in this one as well, for example a short passage on how to end the last therapy session or the realization that defusion really is about more than just cognitive defusion from our thoughts.

[Gabriel Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best introduction to ACT that I've read, by far!

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful book for practitioners using ACT!