ABSTRACT
Acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT) emphasises cultivating the flexible moving of attention that is pragmatic in the sense it serves effective responding with a view to taking valued action. This means strengthening the ability to make contact with the present moment in order to respond to the actual contingencies within the context. The term ‘contact with the present moment’ and mindfulness are commonly used interchangeably, due to the significant amount of overlap, there are some differences. Mindfulness is a broader construct and encompasses attitudinal qualities such as non-striving, acceptance, and non-judgement. It could be therefore said that as acceptance and defusion are brought together with present moment contact, this more closely maps on to the concept of mindfulness. ACT has more of an emphasis on values, which of course are incorporated with mindfulness, but less explicitly so.
