You will be equipped with the following tools:
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ACT Defusion Metaphors โ โWatching the Cloudsโ
Allow clients to experience the space between noticing and reacting.
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Allowing the Waves
Help clients to learn to accommodate unpleasant emotions in general, like anxiety and anger, that threaten to derail clients from behaving in line with their values.
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Choice Points โ Avoidance versus Acceptance
Leverage the Choice Point Model to help clients become aware of habitual avoidance patterns and consciously choose more adaptive, values-based responses.
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Expanding Space
Help clients cultivate a non-reactive, spacious awareness that draws on the three core ACT processes of the observer self, mindfulness, and acceptance.
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Exploring Clean and Dirty Discomfort
Help clients distinguish between these options that arise at choice points.
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โIโm Having the Thought Thatโ โ A Cognitive Defusion Exercise
Teach clients cognitive defusion by encouraging them to observe their thoughts mindfully and prefix them with the phrase โIโm having the thought thatโฆโ which creates psychological distance, greater perspective, and emotional regulation.
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Looking at Your Younger Self
Help clients with facilitating contact with the transcendent self by guiding them to visualize themselves at a younger age and engage with that version of themselves from a place of acceptance, compassion, and presence.
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Ranking Your Values & Life Deviation Scores
Help clients to evaluate the gap between how much they value key life domains and how fulfilled they feel in each one.
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โThanking the Mindโ โ A Cognitive Defusion
Use humor, irony, and personification to help clients detach from the literal content of thoughts.
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The Compass vs. The GPS
Help clients internalize this metaphor and apply it to reframe setbacks, disengage from rigid expectations, and recommit to values-led action.
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The Hexaflex and Inner Compass: A Reflective Practice
Use the clientโs values as a directional reference point to help navigate setbacks and identify choice points in sessions.
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The Mindful Check-In
Help clients by using evidence-based mindfulness techniques, including grounding, sensory noticing, and breath awareness.
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The Obstacle Roadmap
Help clients anticipate and mindfully respond to internal and external obstacles that may arise when pursuing values-based goals, thus increasing their capacity for committed yet flexible action.
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The Two Perspectives Exercise โ Meeting the Observer Self
Guide clients through a structured experiential process that contrasts their content-based self with their context-based self.
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The Willingness Scale
Help clients examine their willingness to experience internal discomfort in specific situations where avoidance has become a barrier to growth.
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Using Life Deviation Scores to Take Action
Help clients transform value misalignments (life deviation scores) into meaningful long-term and short-term goals.
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Writing Your 80th Birthday Party Speech: A Values Clarification Exercise
Help clients connect with their authentic values by asking them to imagine delivering a heartfelt speech on their 80th birthday.
Vince Hooker โ
These Acceptance and Commitment Therapy tools are really well put together. Itโs refreshing to come across new ways of presenting the ACT approach. I like how client friendly they are too; even those new to the ACT concept could work through them with confidence!
Lavinia Shivdasani โ
๏ปฟIโve found the ACT tools from PositivePsychology.com to be a highly practical and well-structured resource for integrating evidence-based methods into coaching. The exercises are very helpful, and working with my client has shown significant progress. They offer depth without overwhelm and are particularly effective for clients navigating overthinking, emotional avoidance, or values misalignment. The ACT exercises are an invaluable resource for anyone looking to cultivate greater psychological stability, emotional resilience, and values-based action in todayโs demanding and uncertain world.
Nikki Fricker โ
The ACT tools offer clear, purposeful exercises that have already formed a vital part of my coaching toolkit. Not only are the exercises clear to follow, but the additional explanations, tips & advice included have given me a greater level of understanding that I am excited to share with my clients.
Amanda Jaeger, APSW, IECMH-E, PMH-C โ
This is an excellent resource pack! For instance, Iโve found The Two Perspectives Exercise to be a deeply impactful intervention for introducing the โself-as-contextโ process in both individual and group work. The structured use of experiential dialogue and chair work effectively bridges the theoretical depth of ACT with accessible, client-centered practice.
Zachary Stepanovich, LLMSW โ
The 17 ACT Tools is a comprehensive package of materials that provides information, guidance, and exercises in the 6 domains of ACT. The tools are balanced and can be selected for specific client needs to help develop greater psychological flexibility.
Christina Dyer โ
These ACT tools are thoughtfully designed to help therapists support their clients in developing greater psychological flexibility and living more authentically in alignment with their deepest values. These tools are practical, with accessible exercises that empower clients to respond to setbacks with flexibility and continued forward action. They are an invaluable resource for both therapists and clients, fostering lasting, meaningful change in everyday life. I especially enjoyed the Compass vs. The GPS Exercise to help clients live their values even when life doesn’t go according to plan. The entire toolkit builds one’s capacity for acceptance, committed action, and resilient living!