In plain language
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is now recognized worldwide as an evidence-based treatment, endorsed by bodies such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. But the authors of this paper argue that ACT is still maturing. Written for a special issue on process-based therapy (PBT), the paper asks: what happens to ACT when it is viewed through the PBT lens and its organizing framework, the extended evolutionary meta-model (EEMM)?
The authors show how ACT's roots in functional contextualism, behavior analysis, relational frame theory, and evolutionary science naturally lead to a process-based re-envisioning of the therapy. Rather than delivering ACT as a fixed protocol built around the six psychological flexibility processes, PBT-infused ACT starts with an individualized functional analysis of the processes maintaining each client's problems and tailors intervention accordingly. This gives clinicians much wider latitude while keeping ACT's foundational principles intact.
Importantly, the PBT framework lets ACT incorporate therapeutic elements not traditionally part of it — including cognitive reappraisal, interpersonal therapy dynamics, physiological downregulation, and the principle of nonattachment (letting go of mental clinging to experiences). The paper works through a case example showing how to conceptualize an ACT case using PBT methods, and sketches future directions for ACT as it continues to evolve within a process-based approach to evidence-based therapy.
Key findings
- ACT's own developmental arc — its focus on processes of change — has led to a new vision for evidence-based therapy itself: process-based therapy (PBT), organized by the extended evolutionary meta-model (EEMM).
- Viewing ACT through the EEMM transforms it into a more inclusive and flexible version of itself, giving clinicians wider berth in how they deliver ACT while maintaining its foundational principles.
- The PBT framework allows ACT to incorporate elements outside its traditional model, including cognitive reappraisal, interpersonal therapy dynamics, physiological downregulation, and nonattachment.
- Nonattachment is highlighted as a process that predicts positive development and can be integrated into ACT to help clients stop mentally clinging to experiences.
- A detailed case example illustrates how PBT methods can be used to conceptualize and treat an individual ACT case via individualized, network-based functional analysis rather than a one-size-fits-all protocol.
- The paper outlines future directions for ACT as it evolves inside PBT, noting that with nearly 450 meta-analyses and reviews behind it, ACT is well positioned to expand its scope of assessment, treatment, and case conceptualization.
How to cite
APA
Ong, C. W., Ciarrochi, J., Hofmann, S. G., Karekla, M., & Hayes, S. C. (2024). Through the extended evolutionary meta-model, and what ACT found there: ACT as a process-based therapy. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 32, 100734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2024.100734
BibTeX
@article{ong2024through,
author = {Ong, Clarissa W. and Ciarrochi, Joseph and Hofmann, Stefan G. and Karekla, Maria and Hayes, Steven C.},
title = {Through the extended evolutionary meta-model, and what ACT found there: ACT as a process-based therapy},
journal = {Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science},
year = {2024},
volume = {32},
pages = {100734},
doi = {10.1016/j.jcbs.2024.100734}
}
Related work
- All publications by Joseph Ciarrochi (searchable, with free PDFs)
- Process-Based Therapy & Idionomic Analysis
- Nonattachment research & practices (non-attachment.com)
Author: Joseph Ciarrochi (ORCID 0000-0003-0471-8100). Free copy hosted with permission for scholarly use. Please cite the published version via the DOI above.