Evaluating Process Variables in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Page: 1
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CHAPTER 1
EVALUATING PROCESS VARIABLES IN ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT
THERAPY
Recently, the debate over adherence to empirically supported therapies (ESTs;
Chambliss & Ollendyck, 2001; McCabe, 2004; Persons, 1995; Rosen & Davidson,
2003; Westen, Novotny, and Thompson-Brenner, 2004) has quieted with the shift to
empirically based practice (EBP; APA, 2006). EBP refers to the practice of therapy that
utilizes techniques with research support for particular symptoms given a theoretical
reasoning for doing so. This shift has allowed for great flexibility in the use of a variety of
empirically based techniques. Some therapies were developed with the ideas of EBP at
their core. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson,
1999; Hayes & Stroshal, 2004) is one such therapy.
ACT is based in functional contextual philosophy of science (Hayes et al, 1999).
Functional contextualism states that truth is defined by workability, and therefore is a-
ontological. Due to this worldview, the purpose of ACT is the prediction and influence of
psychological events and behavior. In order to most efficiently predict behavior, the ACT
developers used science to identify a way to describe or diagnose psychological
problems that was more amenable to treatment than the current model.
Functional Dimensional Diagnosis
Hayes et al. (1996) proposed a functional diagnostic approach based on the idea
that many problems that have been categorized into a number of psychological
disorders, such as anxiety and mood disorders, substance use disorders, and others,
have a common function. This function has been termed experiential avoidance (EA).
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Vander Lugt, Amanda Adcock. Evaluating Process Variables in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, dissertation, August 2011; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc84296/m1/9/: accessed March 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .