Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based, transdiagnostic form of psychotherapy — developed by Steven C. Hayes and colleagues in the 1980s and grounded in functional contextualism and Relational Frame Theory — that integrates mindfulness and acceptance strategies with commitment and behavior-change strategies to cultivate psychological flexibility, the capacity to remain present and open to internal experiences while taking action guided by personally chosen values. Rather than seeking to reduce or eliminate unwanted thoughts, emotions, urges, or cravings, ACT targets a person’s relationship to these private events through six interrelated core processes: acceptance, cognitive defusion, contact with the present moment, self-as-context, values clarification, and committed action. Within nutritional psychology, ACT is particularly relevant to understanding and modifying dietary intake behaviors (DIBs), as it addresses experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion that often underlie emotional eating, food cravings, disordered eating patterns, and difficulty sustaining dietary change, offering a framework for aligning eating behavior with values such as health, vitality, and well-being rather than short-term affective regulation.