Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach
Promoting health behavior change presents an important challenge to theory and research in the field of health psychology. In this paper, we introduce a context-driven approach, the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model which is built on Relational Frame Theory. The ACT-based intervention ai...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02350/full |
| _version_ | 1818553525312946176 |
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| author | Chun-Qing Zhang Emily Leeming Patrick Smith Pak-Kwong Chung Martin S. Hagger Martin S. Hagger Steven C. Hayes |
| author_facet | Chun-Qing Zhang Emily Leeming Patrick Smith Pak-Kwong Chung Martin S. Hagger Martin S. Hagger Steven C. Hayes |
| author_sort | Chun-Qing Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Promoting health behavior change presents an important challenge to theory and research in the field of health psychology. In this paper, we introduce a context-driven approach, the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model which is built on Relational Frame Theory. The ACT-based intervention aims to promote individuals’ new health behavior patterns through the improvement of the key construct of psychological flexibility, which is defined as the ability to contact the present moment more fully with acceptance and mindfulness as a conscious human being. Building on the psychological flexibility model, implemented through the six core ACT processes, individuals improve maintenance of long term health behavior change through committed acts in service of chosen values while acknowledging and accepting the existence of contrary thoughts, rules, and emotions as part of themselves but not determinant of their behaviors. Taking advantage of this context-driven approach of health behavior change, we recommend researchers and practitioners to design their health behavior change intervention programs based on ACT. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:26:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-af72865e785344128b56869dd747bfe1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:26:55Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-af72865e785344128b56869dd747bfe12022-12-22T00:29:00ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782018-01-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.02350317897Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven ApproachChun-Qing Zhang0Emily Leeming1Patrick Smith2Pak-Kwong Chung3Martin S. Hagger4Martin S. Hagger5Steven C. Hayes6Department of Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong KongDepartment of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, United StatesDepartment of Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong KongSchool of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, AustraliaDepartment of Sport Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, FinlandDepartment of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, United StatesPromoting health behavior change presents an important challenge to theory and research in the field of health psychology. In this paper, we introduce a context-driven approach, the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model which is built on Relational Frame Theory. The ACT-based intervention aims to promote individuals’ new health behavior patterns through the improvement of the key construct of psychological flexibility, which is defined as the ability to contact the present moment more fully with acceptance and mindfulness as a conscious human being. Building on the psychological flexibility model, implemented through the six core ACT processes, individuals improve maintenance of long term health behavior change through committed acts in service of chosen values while acknowledging and accepting the existence of contrary thoughts, rules, and emotions as part of themselves but not determinant of their behaviors. Taking advantage of this context-driven approach of health behavior change, we recommend researchers and practitioners to design their health behavior change intervention programs based on ACT.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02350/fullACTbehavior changebehavior maintenancepsychological flexibilityrelational frame theory |
| spellingShingle | Chun-Qing Zhang Emily Leeming Patrick Smith Pak-Kwong Chung Martin S. Hagger Martin S. Hagger Steven C. Hayes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach Frontiers in Psychology ACT behavior change behavior maintenance psychological flexibility relational frame theory |
| title | Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach |
| title_full | Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach |
| title_fullStr | Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach |
| title_short | Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach |
| title_sort | acceptance and commitment therapy for health behavior change a contextually driven approach |
| topic | ACT behavior change behavior maintenance psychological flexibility relational frame theory |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02350/full |
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