ACT and Neurodivergence
- Very Helpful Chats
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Welcome back to our therapeutic approaches series!
Last time, we looked at CBT (linked here!), this time, we're turning to another widely used and evidence-based approach: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT (usually pronounced as one word, "act," rather than the letters).
What Is ACT?
The Basic Idea Behind ACT
What ACT Actually Looks Like in Practice
Who Can ACT Help?
ACT and Neurodivergence
What Is ACT?
ACT was developed by Dr Steven C. Hayes in the 1980s and shifts the focus from eliminating or "fixing" unwanted thoughts and feelings, to accepting them, to remove the fight with them, while building a life guided by what actually matters to them.
It combines acceptance strategies with behaviour change, with one central aim, helping people align their actions with their personal values so they can live a more fulfilling life.
The Basic Idea Behind ACT
A lot of us spend significant energy trying to avoid or suppress uncomfortable thoughts and emotions, whether that be pushing away anxiety, distracting from sadness, or arguing with our own minds. ACT is built on the idea that this struggle often backfires, and can actually lower quality of life rather than improve it.
Instead of asking "how do we get rid of this feeling," ACT asks "how do we make room for this feeling, and still move toward the life we want?" This shift, from control and avoidance toward acceptance and values-driven action, is what's known as building psychological flexibility. The more psychologically flexible someone becomes, the easier it is to adapt to life's inevitable challenges while still pursuing things that feel meaningful.
Unlike some other theraputic approaches, ACT isn't primarily focused on reducing symptoms. It's focused on helping people live meaningfully, even alongside difficult thoughts and feelings.
What ACT Actually Looks Like in Practice
ACT tends to draw on a few core processes:
Acceptance - making room for difficult thoughts and feelings, rather than fighting or suppressing them
Mindfulness – observing thoughts and sensations as they are, without judgment
Values clarification – identifying what genuinely matters to you, as a compass for decision-making
Committed action – taking concrete steps toward your values, even when it's uncomfortable
Together, these build the psychological flexibility ACT is aiming for, the ability to stay present, hold space for difficult internal experiences, and still choose actions aligned with what matters to you.
Who Can ACT Help?
ACT is suitable for a wide variety of mental health concerns, and tends to be especially helpful for people who find themselves avoiding or suppressing negative emotions in ways that end up shrinking their life rather than protecting it.
ACT and Neurodivergence
Research specifically looking at ACT for neurodivergent people is still emerging, but early findings are encouraging. A 2022 study found that autistic adults who took part in ACT showed meaningful improvements across a range of measures, including perceived stress and quality of life.
There are a few reasons ACT tends to resonate well with neurodivergent clients.
Firstly, it encourages embracing neurodivergence. ACT is built around accepting one's internal experience as it is, which extends naturally to accepting one's neurology as a valid part of identity. Rather than treating traits like emotional intensity, perfectionism, or feeling "stuck" as things to eliminate, ACT helps people respond to these patterns more adaptively, reducing self-judgment and building genuine self-compassion along the way.
Secondly, many neurodivergent people navigate intense sensory input or find emotional regulation genuinely difficult. ACT's mindfulness approach support observing and accepting these experiences without judgment or the added struggle of trying to avoid them.
Thirdly, for people who've faced stigma or trauma related to being neurodivergent, there often hasn't been much space to explore what they actually value, separate from what others expected of them. ACT creates room for that exploration, and helps translate those values into everyday choices and goals.
Fourthly, being present, accepting difficult experiences, and still acting in line with one's values is a skill set that can genuinely support neurodivergent people in adapting to changing circumstances and building resilience over time.
And, lastly (honestly, this list could keep going, but we had to stop somewhere), executive function difficulties, sensory sensitivities, and other neurodivergent-specific challenges can make typical goal-setting approaches just plain not work. ACT's focus on clarifying goals and problem-solving around genuine obstacles makes it a practical fit for these kinds of real, lived challenges.
Finding the Right Approach for You
Like CBT, ACT is one evidence-based approach among several, and it won't be the right fit for everyone. At Very Helpful Chats, our clinicians draw from a range of evidence-based modalities and tailor their approach to your individual needs and goals, rather than fitting you into a single framework.
If ACT's focus on acceptance and values-driven living sounds like it might resonate with you, that's exactly the kind of thing worth talking through with a clinician.
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