Explore Your Goals

In ACT, you’ll learn how to have a different relationship with your feelings so that they no longer have the power they once did. You’ll learn skills to help you accept the range of emotions you have, rather than be in a constant struggle with them. This will free you to take action and live a more meaningful life.

Many people with depression feel hopeless about the future. ACT helps people get unstuck from feelings of hopelessness and live a life of meaning and purpose. In ACT, you’ll clarify what you care about most. Then you’ll take steps to live your life according to what matters most to you. Hopefulness is found in living meaningfully.

Many people with depression also have feelings of anxiety. ACT is very effective in helping with these feelings along with feelings with depression. ACT teaches specific skills to help you be aware of your thoughts and feelings so that they no longer have a grip on you – or control how you live. You’ll learn skills like “mindfulness” and other strategies that will help you live more in the present moment and be centered and at peace with yourself.

In addition to sadness, irritability and anger can also be part of depression; although, we often don’t know they're there or understand these feelings. Just as we look underneath the hood of a car when it’s not working right, ACT helps you look underneath the “hood” of anger and irritability to understand these feelings. Many times, these emotions are related to unresolved feelings of hurt or pain. In ACT, compassion, understanding, and recognition are part of dealing with these emotions “under the hood.”

Problems with relationships often contribute to feelings of depression. ACT helps with creating meaningful and loving relationships by, first, assessing and clarifying your values. Once your values are more clearly defined, ACT assists you in exploring behaviors you can do to help you improve your relationships. This may include learning communication and listening skills or being willing to be more vulnerable in your relationships.

When people are depressed, their life just seems to go day to day, with little to look forward to from one day to the next. A key part of ACT involves helping you to engage in activities with more awareness and to choose activities in your life that are meaningful to you. Looking forward to what brings you a sense of purpose is an important goal of ACT!

In today’s world, stress is a common part of life. When stress piles up, it can make us feel overwhelmed and contribute to depression and anxiety. It can also keep us from making good decisions or taking positive actions. ACT teaches proven skills to help you to be more grounded. It focuses on learning how to be flexible both in responding to tough situations and to your own emotions. Learning how to be more flexible is an important part of ACT.

Feeling down about or disappointed in oneself is a common symptom of depression. ACT teaches new ways to treat yourself that involve being more accepting and compassionate. In ACT, you’ll learn skills to help you recognize and untangle yourself from self-criticism and blame. You’ll also work to clarify your values, including the kind of person you want to be and how you want your life to be defined. Then you’ll take steps to live your life according to these values. In doing so, you’ll uncover and allow more of your true self to guide your life.