Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in Denver

Life involves pain. That's not a bug, it's a feature. Paul Wozniak, LPC, incorporates ACT because fighting against difficult emotions, trying to control what can't be controlled, or avoiding discomfort often creates more suffering than the original pain.

ACT supports psychological flexibility—learning when to change what you can and accept what you can't, while staying committed to what matters most to you.

Many people want to eliminate anxiety, suppress unwanted thoughts, and avoid painful feelings. ACT offers a different path: make room for discomfort while moving toward your values.

What is ACT?

Acceptance and commitment therapy is an evidence-based approach that combines mindfulness strategies with behavior change techniques. Rather than focusing primarily on reducing symptoms (though symptoms often improve as a byproduct), ACT focuses on increasing psychological flexibility—your ability to be present with your experiences, choose your actions based on your values, and persist in meaningful directions even when it's hard.

ACT recognizes that trying to control or eliminate difficult internal experiences (thoughts, emotions, sensations, memories) is often impossible and frequently backfires, creating a struggle that adds suffering to pain.

Paul uses ACT techniques like mindfulness exercises, values exploration, metaphors, and experiential exercises to help you develop these skills. Instead of asking "How do I get rid of this anxiety?" ACT asks "What do I want my life to stand for, and how can I move in that direction even with this anxiety present?"

This shift from control to values-based action can be profoundly liberating for people who've spent years trying to fix themselves or waiting to feel better before living their lives.

The approach has six core processes:

1. Acceptance: Making room for painful experiences rather than fighting them

2. Cognitive defusion: Seeing thoughts as thoughts rather than facts

3. Present moment awareness: Connecting with the here and now

4. Self-as-context: Recognizing you are not your thoughts or feelings

5. Values clarification: Identifying what truly matters to you

6. Committed action: Taking steps toward your values even when it's uncomfortable.