The 6 pillars of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

A type of psychotherapy that attempts to address the issue of psychological rigidity.

In recent years, the application of more recent therapeutic currents in clinical practice has gained special relevance in psychology. Thus, a powerful competitor has emerged to the traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy, the third generation contextual therapies. This includes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.. Let's see what it is based on.

The foundations of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

From the perspective of Acceptance and Commitment, it is understood that the origin of psychopathology would be found in a "psychological rigidity". The 6 processes, which are part of this rigidity would be the following:

1. cognitive fusion

Refers to the process by which verbal events (thoughts) exert a strong control over our behavior.. That is, when a person behaves according to what he or she thinks, regardless of whether the consequences of doing so are negative for the person. This prevents us from being able to contrast our experience with reality.

2. Experiential avoidance

Occurs when the person is not willing to remain in contact with his or her personal inner experiences (thoughts, emotions or physical sensations). (thoughts, emotions or physiological sensations) and does everything possible to avoid experiencing them. Of particular relevance is the avoidance of negative emotions, such as sadness, loneliness, fear, anxiety, guilt, etc.

3. Absent from the present moment

This refers to attentional rigidity and the predominance of the past and the future. This prevents the person from being in the present moment.which is associated with pain, ruminations, worries, etc.

4. I-concept

It refers to a way of relating to oneself according to categories, evaluations and denominations.. That is to say, the person tries to be who he/she says he/she is. This favors self-deception.

5. Lack of clarity and commitment to values

When the person is not in touch with his or her own values or does not identify those values, one experiences a loss of meaning in life..

6. Inactivity/impulsivity

These are behavioral patterns of action avoidance or excessive actions aimed at reducing aversive emotional states.

How to achieve Psychological Flexibility?

The goal of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is to eliminate psychological rigidity and achieve "psychological flexibility".

That is to say, aims for the person to be in contact with the present momentas a fully conscious human being without the need for defense (with reality as it is, not as it claims to be) and to persist in a behavior or change it according to his or her own chosen values. It is then that the person will be able to achieve psychological health, consisting of an open, centered and committed posture.

For all this, it is based on the use of the following procedures, understood as the pillars of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy:

1. Defusion

It tries to weaken the functional predominance of cognitive contents. That is to say, that the person can understand thoughts, memories or beliefs as elements that occur, but do not represent absolute truths.but do not represent absolute truths.

2. Acceptance

The goal is for the person to accept the emotional aspects involved in the human experience. It aims to open a space in which the person experiences these emotional aspects, without judging them, without becoming mentally entangled in them. It is a willingness to be open, receptive and flexible.

3. Attention to the present

Paying attention to what is happening in a focused, voluntary and flexible way. In such a way that to respond appropriately to the natural contingencies that are occurring at any given moment. at any given moment.

4. Self-context and Self-content

The I-as-context understands the I as a process and as a place from which one can notice what is present, without judging it. That is, it understands a self, here and now.

5. Values

Values are not set goals or objectives. Rather, they represent freely chosen life directions, are constructed, not discovered, and are social in their focus. The clarification of these values enables the person to become involved in ongoing patterns of activity..

6. Committed action

This is the commitment to behavioral guidelines. Or what is the same, materializing values in the present.

Psychological Intervention in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

The Malaga psychologist Ana Romero Gómez, an expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in the cabinet Psychologists Malaga PsicoAbreu, emphasizes that it is a complex and scientifically supported therapy that should be carried out only by professionals specialized in this current.