ABSTRACT
The word ``acceptance'' conjures up a variety of connotations: resignation, grim persistence, ``grinning and bearing it'', ``pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps'', and so on. A running theme in ACT involves the notion that words cannot capture the full depth and breadth of direct experience. It may thus come as no surprise that these connotations do not capture the essence of what is meant by acceptance from an ACT perspective. Often, the term willingness is used to circumvent such connotations. Acceptance in ACT is not about wanting aversive emotions and experiences, not about simply tolerating it, not about ``soldiering on''. Rather, it involves a willingness to experience those distressing emotions and experiences that are encountered in the process of behaving consistently with one's values. Acceptance (or willingness) is thus the polar opposite of experiential avoidance, a key ingredient of psychological in¯exibility.
