Mindfulness is a key component of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ACT for anxiety management, though it is not used in the same way as in some other therapies. In ACT, mindfulness is a way of relating to internal experiences that helps people to be less distressed by them. It is a process of paying attention to the present moment with openness and curiosity about what you are experiencing, including thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, memories and urges.
Here are some of the ways that mindfulness relates to anxiety management in ACT:
- Acceptance: Mindfulness promotes acceptance of anxious thoughts and feelings, rather than trying to control or suppress them. By observing these experiences without judgment, individuals can begin to see them as temporary events that do not need to dictate their actions. ACT uses acceptance and mindfulness processes to help people become less caught up in battling their own thoughts and emotions.
- Defusion: Mindfulness helps people to “defuse” from their thoughts, meaning that they are able to see them as just words or mental events, rather than as absolute truths. This can reduce the power that anxious thoughts have on behaviour. Mindfulness can help people notice the process of thinking, evaluating, and feeling, not just the products of these activities.
- Present Moment Awareness: Mindfulness brings people back to the present moment, reducing the tendency to dwell on past events or worry about the future. Anxiety often involves living in the head, caught up in worries about what might happen in the future or ruminating about the past. Mindfulness helps people focus on what’s real rather than on anxious, racing thoughts.
- Psychological Flexibility: By practicing mindfulness, people can increase their psychological flexibility, which means they are better able to be open to their present experiences, shift their attention to where it is needed, and develop habits that move their lives in the direction of their values. Mindfulness helps people to be present and focused on the task at hand, rather than on anxious thoughts.
- Not a control strategy: It’s crucial that mindfulness is not used as a way to control or manage anxiety, which would reinforce the old pattern of experiential avoidance. The goal is not to get rid of anxiety, but to understand its function. If mindfulness is used to get rid of anxiety, it may reinforce avoidance. Instead, mindfulness should be used as a tool to help people experience their anxiety without trying to fix it.
- Experiential exercises: Mindfulness is often incorporated into experiential exercises in ACT, where clients are encouraged to notice and experience their anxiety without judgement, making space for it as it is, so that they can move forward with their lives. The goal is to feel better (become better at feeling) rather than to feel less anxiety.
- Mindfulness and values: Mindfulness can help people become more aware of their values, and make choices that are aligned with them, rather than being driven by anxiety. Mindfulness promotes taking action toward the things people care about, not just the things that temporarily make them less anxious.
In summary, mindfulness in ACT is not about achieving a state of calm or relaxation, but about developing a different relationship with anxiety and other difficult experiences. It’s about observing, accepting, and defusing from these experiences so that people can take action in the direction of their values and live a more fulfilling life.