ACCEPTANCE & COMMITMENT THERAPY

Make room for what you feel.
Move towards what matters.

You don’t have to win an argument with every thought before taking a meaningful step.

With Angelica Esposito, MA, MSW, RSW · Adults 18+
In Burlington & online across Ontario · English & Italian

What is ACT?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT, pronounced “act”) is about making room for difficult thoughts and feelings while doing more of what matters to you. This is called psychological flexibility: having more choice in how you respond, even when life is hard.

We might use ACT when worry, self-criticism, or a life change leaves you feeling stuck or pulls you away from the things you care about.

A different relationship with thoughts and feelings

Acceptance means allowing some room for inner experiences rather than spending all your energy fighting them. It doesn’t mean approving of harm, giving up, or accepting circumstances that need to change.

ACT calls this next idea “cognitive defusion”: noticing a thought without treating it as an instruction or a fact. If your mind says “I’ll get this wrong,” we can acknowledge the worry and still consider what you want to do next.

Coming back to the present

Mindfulness means paying attention to what’s happening now, rather than being pulled along by every thought. You can notice a worried thought without letting it tell the whole story of who you are.

In a session, this might be a brief pause to notice your surroundings or what is happening in a conversation. It doesn’t require a long meditation or an empty mind.

Your values, in everyday life

Values are the qualities you want to bring to your life and relationships. “Committed action” simply means taking steps in that direction—small ones count, and you can adjust as you go.

For example, if connection matters to you but worry keeps you from contacting a friend, we might explore a manageable step. The aim is a choice that fits your life, not pressure to ignore your limits.

How we might use ACT together

We might look at a recent situation, consider what your mind was telling you, and ask whether your response helped you move towards what matters. Conversation, brief exercises, or between-session experiments may be useful; we decide together.

We can draw on ACT alongside EMDR, IFS-informed therapy, or somatic-informed work, depending on what you’d like help with.

My training and approach

I’ve trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with the Association for Psychological Therapies (APT), and in ACT for Depression and Anxiety Disorders with Dr. Russ Harris, Psychwire. You’ll find both courses in my full training record.

See my complete professional training record.

Further background: Association for Contextual Behavioral Science: ACT processes (opens in a new tab).