ACT – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Sydney
Helping young people respond more flexibly to their thoughts and feelings.
What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
It’s completely normal to experience ups and downs throughout life. However, there may be times when navigating difficult thoughts and feelings without support can feel overwhelming. This is true at any age, but especially for young people who are already experiencing changes in their lives.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy designed to help people navigate these moments. As child psychologists, we work with young people to help them respond differently and face these experiences with greater confidence. ACT is an evidence based therapy that typically follows a flexible format that can be adapted to different ages and stages of development.
Challenges ACT May Help Young People Navigate
ACT may be used to support people experiencing a variety of mental health concerns. Whether your child is dealing with difficulties at school, struggling to manage stress, or finding certain thoughts and emotions overwhelming, this form of therapy may be helpful. It can be especially helpful when a young person has not responded to more straight forward cognitive behaviour therapy or when thought challenging has been problematic for them.
Other mental health concerns ACT may help young people manage include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Emotional fatigue
- Intrusive thoughts
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Eating disorders
- Low self-esteem
How ACT Supports Change
By teaching young people the skills to acknowledge their thoughts and feelings without letting them control their actions, it allows them to act in a way that aligns with what they value and how they want to be in the world.It may also help enhance emotional openness, flexibility, and regulation, while supporting improved quality of life and greater mental clarity.
Has your child been struggling with overwhelming thoughts and feelings?
Our friendly team is always here to offer support.
The Key Strategies Behind ACT
ACT isn’t about controlling or stopping negative thoughts. Instead, it’s focused on tolerating and accepting these thoughts so they may have less impact.
There are six common strategies ACT employs to help reach this goal:
Acceptance
Acceptance is about opening up and making space for the difficult thoughts and feelings, dropping the struggle that we may have with them.
Cognitive Defusion
Cognitive or thought defusion focuses on viewing thoughts simply as a group of words, images or ideas rather than as facts, allowing us to unhook from them and ultimately being less driven by them.
Contact With the Present Moment
This involves staying connected to thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations in the present moment without judgment. These techniques are highly experiential and involve practising exercises in advance of when they might be needed.
Values
ACT aims to help young people identify what matters to them and what they would like to do more of so these values may better guide their actions and responses.
Committed Action
Committed action involves taking steps aligned with personal values rather than avoiding difficult thoughts and feelings.
Self Development
The Observing Self Developing the part of yourself that is able to observe your thoughts and feelings non-judgementally.
Answering Your ACT Questions
How long Acceptance and Commitment Therapy takes will depend on your child’s specific circumstances. We usually book in the first six , though longer-term support may be needed for more complex concerns.
An initial consultation may help determine whether ACT is appropriate for your child’s needs. Your psychologist may then discuss your child’s challenges and recommend support that may be suitable.
ACT may be used alongside other therapeutic approaches, depending on the young person’s needs and the treatment plan developed by their psychologist.
At The Young Mind Clinic, we offer a range of mental health services that may support different conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and behavioural difficulties. We even offer parenting support for those who may benefit from it.
Likewise, we also offer a variety of assessments to support an ADHD diagnosis, an autism diagnosis, or to assess your child’s cognitive abilities.
What Sets The Young Mind Clinic Apart?
Registered Psychologists
Our team comprises AHPRA-registered psychologists and offers services under Medicare. All psychologists at the clinic have Masters level training.
Tailored Care for Young People
We support children and adolescents up to 18, with psychologists who work specifically in this area.
Convenient Support
Based in Lane Cove, we offer our local community and the surrounding suburbs convenient access to care and support in a comfortable space where they may feel understood and heard
The Young Mind Clinic
We’re Here When You’re Ready
Has your child been struggling to manage change, stress, or difficult emotions? Our team at The Young Mind Clinic is here to offer help. Using ACT, as one of the evidence based therapies we draw on, we aim to support young people as they learn new ways to respond to difficult thoughts and feelings. Contact us today to get started.