The Scientific Status of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: An Analysis From the Philosophy of Science
This article examines ACT philosophy, theory, and research on five dimensions: (1) the quality of its meta-science; (2) the clarity of its constructs; (3) the psychometrics of its principal measures; (4) the adequacy of its account of values; and (5) the quality of its research. Significant problems are found in each dimension, and suggestions for improvements are offered. ACT aligns with a Machiavellianism that is problematic in accurately describing these commitments and constituting a meta-stance that permits problematic values to be embraced. Relatedly, there is evidence of a positive bias in ACT research that has been...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: William O'Donohue Source Type: research
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes and Mediation: Challenges and How to Address Them
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):971-988. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.07.005. Epub 2022 Jul 16.ABSTRACTAcceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) emphasizes a focus on theory-driven processes and mediating variables, a laudable approach. The implementation of this approach would be advanced by addressing five challenges, including (a) distinguishing ACT processes in measurement contexts, (b) developing and rigorously validating measures of ACT processes, (c) the wide use of psychometrically weaker ACT process measures and the more limited use of stronger measures in earlier work, (d) the inconsistency of past evidence that ACT process...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Joanna J Arch Joel N Fishbein Lauren B Finkelstein Jason B Luoma Source Type: research
A Metascientific Review of the Evidential Value of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Depression
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):989-1005. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.06.004. Epub 2022 Jun 26.ABSTRACTIn the past three-and-a-half decades, nearly 500 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have examined Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for a range of health problems, including depression. However, emerging concerns regarding the replicability of scientific findings across psychology and mental health treatment outcome research highlight a need to re-examine the strength of evidence for treatment efficacy. Therefore, we conducted a metascientific review of the evidential value of ACT in treating depression. Whereas reporting ...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Alexander J Williams Yevgeny Botanov Annaleis K Giovanetti Victoria L Perko Carrie L Sutherland Westley Youngren John K Sakaluk Source Type: research
Virtual reality exposure with vibrotactile stimulation for the treatment of fear of flying: A pilot study
CONCLUSIONS: Vibrotactile cues enhanced the sense of presence. However, the addition of vibrotactile stimulation did not have a consistent effect on anxiety experienced during exposure. Therefore, the benefits of incorporating vibrotactile cues in virtual reality environments for exposure therapy are not clear.PMID:37862878 | DOI:10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101915 (Source: Behavior Therapy)
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: J M Rib é-Viñes J Guti érrez-Maldonado Zahra Zabolipour M Ferrer-Garcia Source Type: research
A Systematic Review of the Use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Treat Adult Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):1006-1019. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.02.009. Epub 2023 Jun 2.ABSTRACTThe present review aims to critically evaluate available literature on the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to treat adult obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and to draw conclusions about using ACT to reduce OCD symptoms in adults with OCD. Databases (PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MEDLINE, and PubMed), Google Scholar, and article references were used to identify relevant studies through October 10, 2020. This review includes both peer-reviewed, published articles (n = 15) and unpublished theses and dissertations (n = 2) ...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Kelsey J Evey Shari A Steinman Source Type: research
A Process-Based Analysis of Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):1020-1035. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.06.003. Epub 2022 Jun 23.ABSTRACTCognitive defusion is among the main components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a contextual behavioral approach to psychotherapy. Defusion serves as a middle-level term, and, as such, may be useful for applying and disseminating behavior science, despite its lower precision. However, some authors argue that for middle-level terms in psychotherapy to be useful to clinicians, they need to be clearly linked to basic behavioral concepts, with higher precision; and that this is not currently the case with defusion. Our o...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Daniel A Assaz Ian Tyndall Claudia K B Oshiro Bryan Roche Source Type: research
The Idionomic Future of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: What Stands Out From Criticisms of ACT Development
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):1036-1063. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2023.07.011. Epub 2023 Jul 27.ABSTRACTThe present special section critical of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Training (ACT in either case) and its basis in psychological flexibility, relational frame theory, functional contextualism, and contextual behavioral science (CBS) contains both worthwhile criticisms and fundamental misunderstandings. Noting the important historical role that behavior analysis has played in the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) tradition, we argue that CBS as a modern face of behavior analytic thinking has a potentially important posi...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steven C Hayes Stefan G Hofmann Joseph Ciarrochi Source Type: research
Conceptual, Psychometric, Methodological and Value Problems in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Introduction to the Special Section, "A Critical Appraisal of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy"
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):929-938. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2023.07.004. Epub 2023 Jul 18.ABSTRACTThere is a voluminous and expanding literature regarding ACT, from descriptions of its theory to its stated roots in relational frame theory, the particulars of its therapy techniques and exercises, favored metaphors, randomized controlled trials, to many self-help books for a wide variety of problems. The therapy is widely marketed through workshops and many self-help books. ACT is associated with its own journal and its own professional organization, the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS). This literature is in...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Dean McKay William O'Donohue Source Type: research
ACT: A Process-Based Therapy in Search of a Process
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):939-955. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.07.010. Epub 2022 Aug 6.ABSTRACTA large array of randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses have determined the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). However, determining that ACT works does not tell us how it works. This is especially important to understand given the current emphasis on Process-Based Therapy, the promise of which is to identify manipulable causal mediators of change in psychotherapy, and how their effectiveness is moderated by individual contexts. This paper outlines four key areas of concern regarding ACT's status as a Proce...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Shane McLoughlin Bryan T Roche Source Type: research
The Scientific Status of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: An Analysis From the Philosophy of Science
This article examines ACT philosophy, theory, and research on five dimensions: (1) the quality of its meta-science; (2) the clarity of its constructs; (3) the psychometrics of its principal measures; (4) the adequacy of its account of values; and (5) the quality of its research. Significant problems are found in each dimension, and suggestions for improvements are offered. ACT aligns with a Machiavellianism that is problematic in accurately describing these commitments and constituting a meta-stance that permits problematic values to be embraced. Relatedly, there is evidence of a positive bias in ACT research that has been...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: William O'Donohue Source Type: research
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes and Mediation: Challenges and How to Address Them
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):971-988. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.07.005. Epub 2022 Jul 16.ABSTRACTAcceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) emphasizes a focus on theory-driven processes and mediating variables, a laudable approach. The implementation of this approach would be advanced by addressing five challenges, including (a) distinguishing ACT processes in measurement contexts, (b) developing and rigorously validating measures of ACT processes, (c) the wide use of psychometrically weaker ACT process measures and the more limited use of stronger measures in earlier work, (d) the inconsistency of past evidence that ACT process...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Joanna J Arch Joel N Fishbein Lauren B Finkelstein Jason B Luoma Source Type: research
A Metascientific Review of the Evidential Value of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Depression
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):989-1005. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.06.004. Epub 2022 Jun 26.ABSTRACTIn the past three-and-a-half decades, nearly 500 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have examined Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for a range of health problems, including depression. However, emerging concerns regarding the replicability of scientific findings across psychology and mental health treatment outcome research highlight a need to re-examine the strength of evidence for treatment efficacy. Therefore, we conducted a metascientific review of the evidential value of ACT in treating depression. Whereas reporting ...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Alexander J Williams Yevgeny Botanov Annaleis K Giovanetti Victoria L Perko Carrie L Sutherland Westley Youngren John K Sakaluk Source Type: research
Virtual reality exposure with vibrotactile stimulation for the treatment of fear of flying: A pilot study
CONCLUSIONS: Vibrotactile cues enhanced the sense of presence. However, the addition of vibrotactile stimulation did not have a consistent effect on anxiety experienced during exposure. Therefore, the benefits of incorporating vibrotactile cues in virtual reality environments for exposure therapy are not clear.PMID:37862878 | DOI:10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101915 (Source: Behavior Therapy)
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: J M Rib é-Viñes J Guti érrez-Maldonado Zahra Zabolipour M Ferrer-Garcia Source Type: research
A Systematic Review of the Use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Treat Adult Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):1006-1019. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.02.009. Epub 2023 Jun 2.ABSTRACTThe present review aims to critically evaluate available literature on the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to treat adult obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and to draw conclusions about using ACT to reduce OCD symptoms in adults with OCD. Databases (PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MEDLINE, and PubMed), Google Scholar, and article references were used to identify relevant studies through October 10, 2020. This review includes both peer-reviewed, published articles (n = 15) and unpublished theses and dissertations (n = 2) ...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Kelsey J Evey Shari A Steinman Source Type: research
A Process-Based Analysis of Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Behav Ther. 2023 Nov;54(6):1020-1035. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.06.003. Epub 2022 Jun 23.ABSTRACTCognitive defusion is among the main components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a contextual behavioral approach to psychotherapy. Defusion serves as a middle-level term, and, as such, may be useful for applying and disseminating behavior science, despite its lower precision. However, some authors argue that for middle-level terms in psychotherapy to be useful to clinicians, they need to be clearly linked to basic behavioral concepts, with higher precision; and that this is not currently the case with defusion. Our o...
Source: Behavior Therapy - October 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Daniel A Assaz Ian Tyndall Claudia K B Oshiro Bryan Roche Source Type: research
