This therapy belongs to the third wave of cognitive behavioral therapy and can be classified as a mindfulness-based behavioral therapy. Unlike traditional CBT that attempts to modify thoughts directly, ACT focuses on changing the function of difficult thoughts and feelings and our relationship to them so that we no longer perceive them as problems or symptoms but as passing events.
ACT uses mindfulness techniques, experiential exercises, values-based behavioral interventions, metaphor and paradox. The goal is to increase psychological flexibility by gaining control over language processes that create psychological suffering. Psychological flexibility is the ability to contact the present moment more fully and consciously, and to change or persist in behavior in accordance to your values in life. By increasing psychological flexibility, the ability to live better and accept inevitable pain improves.
ACT has been shown to be effective with a variety of psychological problems, e.g. workplace stress, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, chronic pain, anorexia and schizophrenia.