ACT Practitioner's Guide to the Science of Compassion

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is proven effective in the treatment of an array of disorders, including addiction, depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders and more. Evidence shows that mindfulness and acceptance exercises help clients connect with the moment, uncover their true values, and commit to positive change. But did you know that compassion-based exercises can also greatly increase clients’ psychological flexibility?

More and more therapists are finding that the act of compassion-both towards oneself and towards others-can leas to greater emotional and physical well-being, increased distress tolerance, and a broader range of effective responses to stressful situations. The best part of compassion-based exercises is that they can be easily integrated in the flexible ACT model.

An important addition to any ACT professional’s library, The ACT Practitioner’s Guide to the Science of Compassion explores the emotionally healing benefits of compassion-based practices when applied to traditional acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). This book offers case conceptulisation, assessments, and direct clinical applications that integrate ACT, functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP), and the science of compassion to enchance your clinical practice.

This is the first book on the market to provide an in-depth discussion of compassion in the context of ACT and other behavioral sciences. The integrative treatment model in this book provides powerful transdiagnostic tools and processes that will essentially build bridges across therapies. If you are ready for a new, easily integrated range of techniques that can be used for a variety of treatment applications, this guide will prove highly useful. And if you are looking to build on your previous experience with cognitive and behavioral therapies, this book will help you enhance your treatment sessions with clients and increase their psychological flexibility.