The Research Journey of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

With a Foreword by Steven C. Hayes.

In 1986 the first research study investigating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was published. It aimed to determine if an early conceptualization of the ACT model could be used to treat depression. Since this seminal study, further investigations have been conducted across every imaginable psychological issue and the rate at which this research has emerged is impressive. This book describes the research journey that ACT has taken in the past 30 years. It also suggests, in light of the progress that has already been made, how ACT research should move forward in the coming decades.

Dr. Nic Hooper is a Lecturer of Psychology at the University of the West of England (UWE), UK. He has published a number of empirical papers investigating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Relational Frame Theory (RFT), he speaks widely about ACT in the form of conference presentations and workshops, and he writes a popular blog (http://nichooper.com/blog).

Dr. Andreas Larsson is a licensed clinical psychologist at his private practice in Stockholm, Sweden and Karolinska Institutet, Dpt of Clinical Neuroscience & Centre for Psychiatry Research and Education, Stockholm County Council. He also conducts research in collaboration with various institutions in Sweden and Europe, and he has facilitated a number of ACT/RFT workshops for both the general public and professionals.

Foreword; Steven C. Hayes

Prologue

PART I

1. The Need

2. The Three Waves

3. The History of ACT

4. Contextual Behavioural Science

5. The Importance of Empirical Research

PART II

6. Depression

7. Anxiety Disorders

8. Serious Mental Illnesses

9. Substance Abues

10. Smoking Cessation

11. Eating Behaviour

12. Pain

13. Other Health Conditions

14. Work

15. The ACT Variety

PART III

16. The Statistics

17. Conclusion