Is Acceptance and Commitment Training or Therapy (ACT) a Method that Applied Behavior Analysts Can and Should Use?

Abstract

The present article examines whether it is appropriate for applied behavior analysts to use Acceptance and Commitment Training or Therapy (ACT) as part of their professional practice. We approach this question by briefly examining the behavioral history of ACT and then considering ACT through the lens of the requirements of applied behavior analysis as specified by Baer, Wolf, and Risley in Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91–97 (1968). We believe that ACT meets all seven of their criteria and thus conclude that ACT can and should be used as a behavior analytic method. We briefly consider the need for applied behavior analysts to use ACT in a way that is consistent with their field, scope of practice, and their individual scope of competence.