ABSTRACT
The concept of values in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) has the potential to be quite seductive for both practitioner and client alike. Contacting a model of psychotherapy that explicitly seeks to elicit the client’s strengths and connect with ideas that are fundamentally meaningful can be a powerful experience for both parties. A metaphor often used to describe the most functional way to stand in respect of one’s values is that of holding a pen. A pen is an incredibly useful tool in many different contexts, and the amount of pressure one needs to apply to a pen to make it functional is very little. Retaining the freedom to choose towards and away moves, and then tracking the consequences of both classes of behaviour increasingly become the focus of therapy and between-session practice as the client’s journey with ACT progresses.
