ACT: Defusion (ACE)

by Allison DePalma, MA, BCBA

Price: 300 points or $3 USD

Subjects: selfAwareness,selfManagement,responsibleDecisionMaking,emotionalAndBehavioralSkills

Grades: 0

Description: IMPORTANT NOTE: It is important that the teacher conducting this exercise has some experience with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy before running through it with a client. Be sure to read ACT Made Simple: An Easy-To Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy before running this deck with a client. Citation provided below for reference: Harris, Russ. "ACT Made Simple: An Easy-To Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy". Second Edition, 2019 The following deck provides a brief breakdown of ACT's steps for defusion, specifically the ACE format. That is, when we feel "hooked" by a negative thought or feeling, we can defuse by... (a) Acknowledging the thought (b) Coming into our body by getting in tune with our senses (c) Engaging with the world around us through mindful action There are three open-ended application questions near the end of the deck. These can be answered via discussion with the teacher, or typed. The goal of defusion is to help clients better navigate negative thoughts and feelings by creating distance between themselves and the thought / feeling. By the end of the activity, the client should be able to identify the three steps of ACE, identify these steps when presented examples of others, and finally, apply it to themselves.