Acceptance & Commitment Therapy in Massachusetts
When difficult thoughts and emotions become overwhelming, it can be tempting to push them away. Acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based approach that helps you respond differently to difficult emotions while taking actions aligned with your values.
At Newton Recovery Center, our acceptance & commitment therapy in Massachusetts is part of a broader approach to addiction and mental health treatment. It can help you develop psychological flexibility and reconnect with what matters most to you.
What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
Acceptance & commitment therapy, commonly called ACT, is a form of behavioral therapy that focuses on psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is one of the central ideas behind ACT. Psychological flexibility means being able to experience difficult thoughts, emotions, or circumstances without allowing them to completely determine your choices. A 2024 review found that ACT was associated with increased psychological flexibility and reduced psychological inflexibility, with these changes also linked to reductions in psychological distress. This helps explain why ACT focuses less on trying to eliminate every uncomfortable thought or feeling and more on changing how a person responds to those experiences.
ACT does not suggest that painful experiences should simply be accepted without change. Instead, it teaches skills for relating to internal experiences differently while taking purposeful action. Treatment often explores personal values, mindfulness, acceptance, and patterns of avoidance that may interfere with living according to those values. Ultimately, this approach can help you spend less energy fighting your inner experience and more energy participating in the life you want.
How ACT Therapy Works
ACT works by helping you recognize when thoughts, emotions, memories, or uncomfortable sensations are influencing your behavior. Everyone experiences difficult emotions, but efforts to avoid, suppress, or control them can sometimes interfere with relationships, responsibilities, recovery, and other areas of life. During ACT, you can learn to notice what is happening internally without immediately reacting to it, such as acknowledging a substance craving without automatically acting on it.
ACT also encourages you to consider what you want your life to stand for. Identifying your values can provide direction when difficult emotions make it harder to know what to do next. From there, you can take practical actions that reflect those values, even when discomfort is still present. The goal is to develop greater flexibility in responding to your experiences so difficult thoughts and feelings do not have to dictate your choices.
The Six Core Processes of ACT
Acceptance & commitment therapy incorporates several interconnected concepts that can help people respond to internal experiences in new ways.
Your therapist may explore areas such as:
Acceptance
Learning to make room for difficult emotions and experiences rather than exhausting yourself trying to eliminate them.
Cognitive Defusion
Creating distance from thoughts so you can recognize them as thoughts rather than automatically treating them as facts.
Being Present
Developing greater awareness of what is happening in the current moment rather than becoming consumed by the past or future.
Self-as-Context
Exploring the distinction between who you are and the thoughts, feelings, memories, or experiences you have.
Values
Identifying the qualities and principles that you want to guide your decisions and relationships.
Committed Action
Taking practical steps that move you toward your values, even when uncomfortable emotions or uncertainty are still present.
These concepts are not about forcing yourself to think positively. Instead, they can provide a framework for responding to life with greater intention.
What Does ACT Help Treat?
ACT may be considered for people experiencing a range of mental health and substance use concerns. It can be particularly useful when avoidance, difficult emotions, or patterns of thinking interfere with daily life and make it difficult to move toward personal goals.
ACT may be incorporated into treatment for concerns such as:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Trauma-related symptoms
- Substance use disorders
- Stress and emotional distress
- Cravings and emotional triggers related to recovery
- Difficulties associated with avoidance and behavioral patterns
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Addiction
Substance use can sometimes become a way of escaping thoughts, memories, emotions, or situations that feel too difficult to handle. The temporary relief may reinforce a cycle that becomes increasingly difficult to break. ACT can help individuals recognize this pattern without approaching it from a place of shame. Instead of automatically reacting to cravings, fear, sadness, anger, or self-critical thoughts, you can learn to notice what is happening and consider how you want to respond.
Addiction Specialists
Meet Our Team
Our licensed clinicians, counselors, and medical providers bring years of experience in addiction and mental health treatment, and they’re here to support you at every step of your care in Newton.
Michael Leggiero
Co-Founder
Pamela Sullivan, LADC
Clinician
Casey Burke, LADC-II, CADC, BBA
Program Director
Jessie Beaton, LMHC
Clinical Director
ACT for Co-Occurring Mental Health Conditions
ACT may also be helpful for mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma-related symptoms, and other conditions. The objective is not to promise a life without difficult emotions. Every person experiences disappointment, grief, uncertainty, and stress. ACT focuses on developing a different relationship with those experiences so they do not have to prevent you from pursuing relationships, responsibilities, interests, and goals that give your life meaning.
What to Expect During an ACT Therapy Session
ACT sessions are conversational and collaborative. Your therapist may begin by exploring what brought you to treatment, what you have been struggling with, and what you hope could be different. Together, you may identify situations in which difficult thoughts or emotions tend to influence your behavior.
You may also practice mindfulness exercises or other techniques designed to help you observe internal experiences without immediately reacting to them. Rather than simply discussing your challenges, ACT encourages you to apply these concepts to situations that arise in everyday life. You might identify a personal value and then determine one small action that reflects it. These choices can then help translate therapeutic insight into changes you can carry with you beyond the treatment setting.
ACT Therapy Across Our Levels of Care
Acceptance & commitment therapy can have a place in treatment at more than one level of care. Because ACT focuses on how you relate to difficult thoughts and emotions and how those experiences influence your choices, its principles can remain useful whether you are receiving intensive treatment or continuing care after a primary program.
At Newton Recovery Center, we offer the following programs:
- Day Treatment: ACT may be incorporated into a more intensive treatment schedule, giving you time to explore patterns that may be interfering with recovery and begin identifying actions that reflect what matters most to you.
- Intensive Outpatient Program: With regular therapy and clinical programming, you can begin applying ACT concepts to situations involving stress, substance use, relationships, or mental health symptoms outside of treatment.
- Outpatient Treatment: ACT can become part of ongoing therapy as you navigate everyday responsibilities and encounter thoughts, emotions, or circumstances that challenge your progress.
Finding Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Massachusetts
Finding the right therapy involves more than choosing a particular technique. It also means finding a treatment environment where your concerns can be understood within the larger context of your life and recovery.
Newton Recovery Center is located just outside Boston and serves individuals from throughout Massachusetts. Our center provides both mental health and substance use treatment and offers a range of evidence-based and holistic therapies.
With a multidisciplinary team and multiple therapeutic options available, treatment can adapt as your needs and goals evolve. If you are considering acceptance and commitment therapy in Massachusetts, speaking with a treatment professional can help you understand whether ACT and what particular level of care may be appropriate for you.
Begin Acceptance & Commitment Therapy in Massachusetts
Our acceptance & commitment therapy in Massachusetts can help you approach uncomfortable experiences with greater openness while making choices that reflect who you want to become. We offer a full suite of services designed to treat every facet of a person, so they can achieve long-term recovery and stability. Give us a call or visit our admissions page today to learn more about ACT, complete a free assessment, or verify your insurance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
Acceptance and commitment therapy, commonly called ACT, is a behavioral therapy that primarily centers on developing psychological flexibility. It helps people learn to experience difficult thoughts, emotions, and circumstances without allowing them to dictate their choices or prevent them from living according to their values.
What Are the Six Core Processes of ACT?
The six core processes of ACT are acceptance, cognitive defusion, being present, self-as-context, values, and committed action. Together, these concepts can help people change how they relate to difficult thoughts and feelings and make choices that align with what matters to them.
How Is ACT Different From CBT?
Both ACT and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help people recognize patterns that affect their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, but they approach those patterns differently. CBT often focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns, while ACT emphasizes accepting internal experiences and taking action based on personal values.
Does ACT Help With Addiction?
ACT can be incorporated into treatment for substance use disorders by helping individuals recognize when they use substances to avoid or escape difficult thoughts, emotions, memories, or situations. It can also help people notice cravings without automatically acting on them and develop healthier responses.
What Mental Health Conditions Can ACT Treat?
ACT may be helpful for a range of mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression, and trauma-related symptoms. It can also be incorporated into treatment for substance use disorders and other concerns in which difficult thoughts or emotions interfere with daily life.
How Long Does Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Take?
There is no set number of sessions required for ACT, as treatment length depends on your concerns, goals, level of care, and progress. ACT may be used as part of a broader treatment plan rather than as a stand-alone course of therapy.
Does Insurance Cover ACT Therapy in Massachusetts?
ACT is often incorporated into a broader mental health or substance use treatment plan rather than billed as a separate service. Coverage depends on your insurance plan and the program in which you receive treatment. The team at Newton Recovery Center is happy to review your benefits with you before treatment begins.
