Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Values, Avoidance and Anxiety

Education and safety note. This page is for general information. It cannot diagnose you, assess your individual risk, or replace care from a qualified professional. If you are in immediate danger, may harm yourself or someone else, cannot stay safe, or have symptoms that may be medically urgent, contact local emergency services or crisis support. In Ireland, call 112 or 999 or go to the nearest emergency department; you can also read the HSE crisis guidance. Medication decisions need to be discussed with a qualified prescriber.

Introduction

At its core, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a type of psychotherapy that is not about winning an argument with your own thoughts. Rather, it is concerned with how you relate to those thoughts, as well as your feelings and urges.

ACT can be particularly relevant when it comes to anxiety. Anxiety can be disabling in more ways than one; it is not just the fear itself that gets in the way, but the energy spent trying to avoid it, to control what is uncertain, or to bide your time until you feel confident enough to go on with your life.

What You May Be Looking For

ACT is built on things like acceptance, defusion, psychological flexibility and present-moment awareness.
To accept something is not to like your symptoms or give up. It is to make space for hard internal experiences once you realise that fighting them is a trap.
Then there are values. These are not so much goals as they are directions – honesty, courage, independence, kindness.
With anxiety, ACT might pose the question: what if you let anxiety be present without leading but did not let it make the decisions?

Patterns You Might Know

Some people will recognise these tendencies:

Putting off anything of meaning until they are in a calmer state.
Avoiding the unknown and watching their world shrink as a result.
Engaging in such a fierce battle with a thought that the struggle outweighs the fear.
Wanting to change but having little patience for therapy that feels like self-argument.

What Perpetuates the Problem

Readers may know they feel unwell but not see the loop. This part of the piece is important for search usefulness because it offers a workable formulation rather than blame.

Fear is given power by experiential avoidance.
Reassurance can be a temporary fix but leaves uncertainty as something you cannot stand.
When you are fused with a thought, it starts to feel like an order.
If you arrange your life to sidestep anxiety, you risk losing touch with what is meaningful.

What May Help

Make a distinction between an anxious thought and a fact.
Ground yourself in the moment and take a realistic step forward.
Do small things that matter to you even if the anxiety has not gone away.
Ask yourself what value you are denying by avoiding.

Remember to keep ACT in perspective; it is a useful approach but not the only way to talk about therapy. And where there is a risk to safety, or matters of medication, trauma, pregnancy or psychosis are in play, the advice should be to have an appropriate medical or professional assessment.

The Role of Psychotherapy or Counselling

This content can be linked in with our psychotherapy methods cluster, alongside CFT-related work and integrative approaches. Jonathan's material on communication is a natural fit here given the overlap with values and meaning.

In essence, a therapist can help you slow the pattern down so you can observe it and perhaps try a different response. Whether it is dealing with body sensations, grief, relationship dynamics, self-criticism or practical changes in behaviour, that is where the work lies.

As for the research by Jonathan Haverkampf, present it as a route for those interested in his background in communication, not as the sole basis of clinical evidence. Let the peer-reviewed and independent guidelines carry the main evidential weight there.

When to Seek More Urgent, Medical or Specialist Help

ACT is not a substitute for urgent care, medication review where needed, or specialist treatment for high-risk substance use, psychosis, mania or severe self-harm risk.

If a reader is in immediate danger, cannot stay safe, may harm themselves or someone else, or has symptoms that could be medically urgent, they should contact local emergency services or crisis support. In Ireland, emergency help is available through 112 or 999, or the nearest emergency department. For medication questions, medication decisions need to be discussed with a qualified prescriber.

A few FAQs

Is this page enough to tell me what I have?

No, not in itself. While it can put things in perspective and give you the right terminology, we do not diagnose or evaluate your risk here. For that you need a professional who can consider the whole situation: your history, physical condition, any medications or substances, stress levels, your relationships and culture, as well as your current safety.

Can therapy help with this?

Therapy may help, especially if the pattern is one that persists or confuses you, causes distress, puts a strain on your day-to-day life or your relationships. The best type of therapy is a collaborative effort where you are free to ask questions about the methods, the boundaries and what the work is aiming for.

I would be embarrassed to ask for help

Sources and review. Published or updated in May 2026. This page is educational and uses public-health, guideline, peer-reviewed, or professional sources where clinical claims are made.