The Department of Neuropsychology at Salford Royal runs an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Group, led by a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist and a Senior Assistant Psychologist.

What is ACT?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a mindfulness-based behavioural therapy that is aimed at helping you to take active steps towards building a rich, meaningful life.

It does this by helping you to develop psychological skills to be able to deal with painful thoughts and feelings in better ways, so that they have much less impact and influence on your life. Time is taken to clarify what is truly important and meaningful to you. Then, you can use this knowledge to guide, inspire and motivate yourself, to accept what is out of your personal control, while also committing to actions that lead to positive change.

We know from research that group-based ACT interventions has demonstrated improvements in a range of mental health conditions, which last beyond the group.

In relation to how this approach can help people living with neurological conditions, ACT can help people in terms of enhancing psychological adjustment, increasing psychological flexibility, and improving social functioning.

The Core Skills

1. Values Based Living: Discovering what really matters to you in order to set goals and take small, manageable steps towards these.
    
2. Mindfulness/being present: Being fully aware of what you are sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment.
    
3. Defusion: Distancing yourself from, and letting go of, unhelpful thoughts, beliefs and memories.
    
4. Acceptance: Making room for painful feelings, urges and sensations, and allowing them to come and go without a struggle.

ACT can help you to:
 

What is ACT like?

ACT does not focus on the content of distressing thoughts or attempting to change distressing thoughts (like standard CBT). We know that for people living with a long-term neurological condition, distressing thoughts about the future are often very realistic and not valid to change. Instead, ACT focuses on the way we relate to our thoughts, and the power we give the thoughts. This can be helpful if you have tried to change the way you think, but effects have not been long lasting. 
 

Feedback from previous group members:

Online Resources: ACT

Leaves on the Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yQX1y7zMAg

Mindful Breathing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfDTp2GogaQ

Click here to see a leaflet which has more information on the structure of the group, how the group is run, and how you can join the group.

Contact us:

You can email the department on: reftoneuropsych@nca.nhs.uk or telephone: 0161 206 4694