How to Practice Willingness and Acceptance in ACT for PTSD

So, you’ve introduced the concept of willingness and acceptance. But my guess is that it’s probably still not entirely clear to your client what it is that you mean when you say “being willing.” So, I might start with a metaphor with the client next. So I understand that I’ve been talking about this term willingness and talking about acceptance, but I know it may not be entirely clear what it is I’ve been referring to, like what you’re actually supposed to do.

So you know, it’s sort of one of these things where it’s hard to describe in words—like words don’t do the action justice. It’s like if I were trying to teach you how to hit a baseball, for example. I might say, “Stand with your body perpendicular to the ball. Square your hips, bend your knees. Hold your bat like so. Pull your arms back and keep your eye on the ball. And when it crosses your field of vision, swing and make contact with the ball.” And I could go into way more detail than that. I could give lots and lots of verbal details about how to hit a baseball.

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

And you know what? How do you actually learn how to hit a baseball? By hitting a baseball and by doing it badly. And by trying to take the instruction and turning it into physical actions. But over time, really, the way that you’re going to learn how to hit a baseball is by doing it over and over.

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.