Create Your Own ACT Toolkit

Create Your Own ‘ACT Toolkit’

It’s easy for ACT newcomers to get overwhelmed by the huge array of interventions at their disposal. After all, if you read two or three textbooks on ACT, you’ll find dozens of different tools, techniques, metaphors, experiential exercises or worksheets for each of the six core processes. That’s why Kirk Strosahl, one of the pioneers of ACT, makes the following suggestion: for each of the six core processes, pick 3 main interventions, and use them over and over until you are really familiar with them. This will then give you a core set of 18 interventions that can be mixed and matched, adapted and co-opted for a myriad of different issues: your very own personalised ACT Toolkit.

Below, I’ve given you my personal tool kit, not to proclaim that it is ‘right’ or ‘better’ than anyone else’s, but purely to provide an example.

My 3 Favourite Interventions for Each Core Process

DEFUSION / The ‘Story Teller’ Mind / Getting hooked and unhooking yourself / Thoughts on cards
ACCEPTANCE / The struggle switch / Observe/breathe/ expand / Compassionate hand
(lay a hand on the feeling, hold it gently)
CONTACT WITH THE PRESENT MOMENT / Hands as thoughts / Mindfulness of the breath / Dropping anchor (in an emotional storm)
SELF-AS-CONTEXT / Stage show metaphor / Documentary of Africa / Thinking self and observing self
VALUES / Life Compass / 80th birthday / What do you want to stand for (in the face of this reality gap)?
COMMITTED ACTION / 1000 mile journey: what’s the tiniest easiest step? / Brief bull’s eye / Magic wand

Now copy and paste the blank form below into a word document, and then fill it in to clarify your own favourite metaphors, experiential exercises, or worksheets for the six core processes. For the next few months, see if you can largely limit your practice to playing around with these 18 interventions, until they are so familiar to you, they come naturally and fluidly. Once you have done this, feel free to add new techniques to your repertoire, one at a time, and see how they work and how you like them. The lovely thing with ACT is there is no need for you to ever get bored with any given tool or technique, as there are a huge number of alternatives available. And remember – as you do this, have some fun with it!

My 3 Favourite Techniques for Each Core Process

DEFUSION
ACCEPTANCE
CONTACT WITH THE PRESENT MOMENT
SELF-AS-CONTEXT
VALUES
COMMITTED ACTION