ABSTRACT
Since approaching a professional for psychological help can often be a very daunting experience, one of the first tasks of an Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) practitioner is to promote a sense of safety. There is an inherent power imbalance in therapeutic encounters insofar as clients can often cast practitioners in the expert role, seeing themselves as inferior within a comparative frame of reference. ACT is a model of human function and its principles and processes apply equally to clients and practitioners. Clearly, within the practice of ACT each party has a different role, and professional boundaries are important for containment and safety – and there is something to be said for making moves towards sharing a sense of common humanity. A practitioner demonstrating the willingness to contact the same experiences that they invite their clients to experience is using a powerful form of modelling.
