What are Values in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is about living better
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (or ACT for short; pronounced as the word “act” rather than A-C-T said separately) is an evidence-based therapy developed in the 1980’s that emphasizes mindfulness and acceptance skills to reduce suffering and increasing wellness.
ACT has thousands of research studies showing its effectiveness for many types of struggles, including anxiety, OCD, depression, substance use, body image concerns, sleep, chronic pain, and so much more. While many therapeutic approaches, such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), focus on altering the content of thoughts to change feelings, ACT focuses on changing the context in which thoughts, feelings, and behaviors occur.
For example, instead of debating a thought to show somebody it’s not true, an ACT therapist would help a client step back from the thoughts and see them as temporary mental experiences that we can either attach to or create healthy distance from. People struggling with OCD, anxiety, and depression tend to appreciate ACT’s emphasis on “doing less” and letting go, rather than continuing to engage in an endless inner debate with ourselves.
Another reason ACT has been so well received is that, rather than simply helping you reduce symptoms or to feel better, it empowers you to get better at feeling in the service of living a richer, fuller, and more vital life. It’s not about reducing your anxiety or stopping negative thoughts; it's about noticing the detrimental effects of pushing away uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and sensations and instead learning how to gently bring your attention to building a life that matters to you.
In essence, ACT teaches that if you allow your inner experiences to come and go, stay present, and be kind and gentle to yourself, your quality of life will improve, and psychological symptoms will naturally lose their grip on you.
What Are Values in ACT?
One of the most exciting and influential parts of ACT has been the idea of values. ACT’s take on values are quite different from what you may think of when you hear the word “value” in other contexts.
Values, seen from an ACT framework, are defined as ongoing, present-moment qualities of behavior that are freely chosen and give meaning and purpose to one's life. In other words, values in ACT refer to your heart's deepest, most passionate desires on how you want to show up in this world as a person.
You can think of values as either verbs or adverbs:
“Being a caring partner.”
“Acting respectfully”
“Taking care of my body.”
“Having meaningful conversation.”
“Experiencing new things in life.”
“Contributing to my community.”
“Keeping the environment clean.”
“Spending quality time with friends.”
Values Can Look Different in Different Areas of Life
Often, you’ll have a different set of values depending on which life domain you are thinking about. For instance, there are values related to your friends, romantic relationships, family, self-care & wellness, community & citizenship, education, and professional career. It can be helpful to reflect upon what sort of person you’d like to be in each of those categories, as some values may only be relevant to one or two life domains. One important thing to keep in mind is that values are inherently idealistic. They are not about the sort of person we are, might be, or have been. They are about who we truly want to be.
Quick Values Exercise: Imagining Yourself in the Future
Imagine you were to fast-forward time and picture yourself in the future. See if you can call up an image of yourself in old age, perhaps as a 90- or 100-year-old. Next, imagine you are looking back on yourself today. Take a moment to reflect on how your 90-year-old self would love to remember your current-day self acting? What sort of parent, friend, sibling, co-worker, or community member would you want to be? What could you picture that would bring a smile to your old, wisened face, or perhaps a happy tear to your eye? Your answers will give you a good sense of your core values.
Want Help Identifying Your Values?
If you’d like help getting clearer on what matters most to you, I created a free downloadable Values Worksheet you can use on your own.
Values vs. Goals in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) differentiates values from goals. While values are thought of as behaviors with no inherent endpoint, goals are accomplishments that you can move towards and complete. Values are like a direction on a compass, and goals are like destinations on the journey. If you set your compass due west, you can head in that direction indefinitely, without ever reaching west (i.e., values). You can visit various countries, states, museums, and festivals on the way west (i.e., goals). The best goals are always those that align with your values.
Here’s an example. If you value “being a caring friend” (something that you can never complete), some concrete goals underlying that value might be calling your best friend, sending a kind text message, or researching coffee shops that you could meet up at (all things you can do that serve the greater value of being a caring friend). Or if you value “engaging in self-care”, a goal could be drinking an extra cup of water every day or doing 5 minutes of neck stretches while waiting in line. You can technically take a drink of water and “check it off your to-do list”, but you can never check off “taking care of myself” and call it a day. Any moment you are aware of that value is a moment you can choose to act in accordance with it.
Life feels so much more vital, purposeful, and intentional when you connect with the values already underlying what you are doing. On the other end of the spectrum, it can be quite painful to reflect upon moments in life when we are not (or have not) acted in line with our values. However, if you are willing to take a look at those moments, the pain you feel can serve as a guiding light to show you exactly what you care about. After all, there wouldn’t be pain if there weren’t something meaningful underneath it.
One of the Most Powerful Things About Values in ACT: You Can’t Fail Them
One of the most profound things about ACT’s take on values is that you can never “fail” a value. Of course, it’s a common human experience for our goals not to work out (have you ever been rejected by a job, school, or person), and that can evoke all sorts of uncomfortable and painful thoughts, feelings, and memories. However, since values are ongoing, present moment qualities of behavior, as soon as we are aware that we’re not acting in line with our values, that awareness offers us a chance to shift back towards showing up in a more meaningful way. If we set our life compass due west, but realize we have been traveling east, all it takes is a simple pivot, and we are back on our chosen path. It’s also quite liberating to realize that even if a goal is out of reach, the values underlying the goal can still be clearly accessible.
Say someone tears a ligament and can’t pursue tennis, soccer, dance, etc., the way they imagined. They may think: “My whole dream is gone.”
But underneath might be the values of:
mastery
vitality
discipline
play
competition
growth
So the question becomes:
“If the original path is blocked, how else can those values still live?”
That might mean:
coaching
another sport
modified training
mentoring
movement for joy rather than identity
Values Are Only One Part of ACT
Once you’ve identified your values, it’s relatively easy to take action towards those values when you are feeling good and life is going smoothly. However, how often does life go as smoothly as we’d like? If you’re like most people, you’ve experienced many bumps, bruises, and curveballs thrown at you along the way.
When humans are in emotional or physical pain, our minds easily go into “flight vs fight or flight” mode, where we prioritize protection, defense, and safety, often at the expense of living a meaningful life.
Before we know it, we are caught up in a wave of thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories that likely lead us down a pathway of avoidance (e.g., distraction, rumination, substance use, phone use, etc.) rather than vitality and fulfillment. While values work is one very important component of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, the other components (also called “core processes”) help us “unhook” from uncomfortable inner experiences in order to reorient to our values in the here and now, even when life gets hard.
The 6 core processes of ACT include:
“>Defusion: separating ourselves from our thoughts.
>Self-as-context: connecting with our “observer self” or the part of you that’s able to notice the flow of your experience.
>Present moment awareness: noticing when you are ruminating and keeping your attention on the present moment.
>Committed action: making small, consistent, meaningful change over time.
>Acceptance: being willing to experience our thoughts and feelings in order to move towards our values.
>Values: Ongoing, qualities of behavior that give meaning and purpose to life”
Why Values Matter So Much in ACT for Anxiety and OCD
When you are working on your anxiety or OCD, you will be asked to do some incredibly hard things. Therapy often entails learning how to notice and lean into painful sensations and uncomfortable feelings that you have been trying to suppress or avoid, likely for months or years.
Furthermore, the gold standard treatment for anxiety and OCD involves taking active steps to face your fears. While totally safe and effective, this can feel risky. Understanding your values will help give you a reason why to do the hard work that comes with moving towards recovery from OCD and anxiety. It’s like a shining beacon at the end of a dark tunnel. While OCD and anxiety eat away at your ability to live a rich, fulfilling life, holding your values close to your heart will help give you the courage needed to put one foot in front of the other and do the hard stuff required to free yourself from the grasp of an overprotective nervous system.
A therapist trained in ACT can help you learn and apply each ACT process, move towards your values, and increase your overall quality of life. If you’re in Los Angeles, Redondo Beach, or California, contact us here for a free consultation to see if ACT might be a good fit for you.
If you haven’t already, make sure you download our free values worksheet by clicking here to help you identify and connect with your values.
Dowload the free Values worksheet