The ACT Approach
ACT is flexible and focuses on process. With some forms of therapy, there are set ideas about what must be done in different stages or sessions of treatment, but there is no specific protocol to follow with ACT.
Taking a flexible approach means meeting clients where they are and with what they bring into the room. You attend to the six core processes of ACT as they manifest in the treatment room and as clients describe what is happening in their lives.
Finding Support
You will find protocols in books and elsewhere, such as on the Contextual Behavioral website, outlining sessions. But those are guidelines, perhaps necessarily used with research so it could be tested and replicated. If you are newer to ACT, this can be a supportive resource, but the goal would still be to move toward away from protocols, being more flexible in the moment. It’s a bit like learning musical scales before playing jazz.