ABSTRACT
The nature of the Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) model means that ACT practitioners are often required to turn towards and stay with difficult emotions within a session. However, staying with emotion should not be a rule that is always followed in an inflexible way. Such decisions need to be based on a formulation of the client’s issues with a view to ensuring that it is helpful. Staying with difficult emotion allows for practice and modelling opportunities that are live in the moment. By asking a client to sit with something that is painful, the therapist conveys a message that the emotion is not harmful or a threat and that the client can handle it. This also models a stance of acceptance and curiosity so that the client can begin to see how they can have a different relationship with the feeling.
