This book is the most practical clinical guide on Acceptance and Commit­ ment Therapy (ACT said as one word, not as initials) yet available. It is designed to show how the ACT model and techniques apply to various disorders, settings, and delivery options. The authors of these chapters are experts in applying ACT in these various areas, and it is intriguing how the same core principles of ACT are given a nip here and a tuck there to fit it to so many issues. The purpose of this book, in part, is to emboldened researchers and clinicians to begin to apply ACT wherever it seems to fit. The chapters in the book demonstrate that ACT may be a useful treat­ ment approach for a very wide range of clinical problems. Already there are controlled data in many of these areas, and soon that database will be much larger. The theory underlying ACT (Relational Frame Theory or "RFT"-and yes, here you say the initials) makes a powerful claim: psy­ chopathology is, to a significant degree, built into human language. Fur­ ther, it suggests ways to diminish destructive language-based functions and ways of augmenting helpful ones. To the extent that this model is cor­ rect, ACT should apply to a very wide variety of behavioral issues because of the centrality of language and cognition in human functioning.

Long awaited, here is the first book to apply the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model and its powerful techniques to a broad range of disorders and clinical settings. An innovative and groundbreaking approach, ACT cuts across the traditional categories of experiential, analytic, behavioral and cognitive therapies to utilize concepts of mindfulness and acceptance and the view that language is at the core of many psychological disorders. With the help of 26 expert contributors, ACT architects Hayes and Strosahl have expanded on their previous texts to give readers an elegant source of ideas for using this language/cognition-based method.

     ?  A concise overview of the theory, core processes, and key therapeutic messages of ACT, plus a framework for case conceptualization using ACT.
     ?  Techniques for using ACT to treat common behavior problems, including affective disorders, anxiety disorders, PTSD, and substance abuse/addiction. Chapters are included on clients with multiple problems and the severely mentally ill.
     ?  Uses of ACT for stress relief, for chronic pain management, and in inpatient medical settings.
     ?  Special chapters on children and families, and ACT with groups.

Modeling the psychological flexibility that is so crucial to treatment, chapters illustrate ACT's adaptability to client problems as they arise, and its built-in strategies for cutting through impasses. Further, the book cogently differentiates ACT from related modes of therapy.

This user-friendly volume will be a welcome guide for practitioners and students alike. It offers both a cogent theoretical model and a clinical guide for all professionals who treat mental health problems, regardless of theoretical orientation.

"ACT opened the door to more fascinating discoveries about human beings, language, and psychopathology in general. Within these discoveries also lie the treatment technologies comprising ACT that are competently presented in this book, A Practical Guide to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. . .As the authors describe, this book is the first practical guide that highlights the ACT approach for numerous disorders and presents it in detail. . .The innovative conceptualization of psychopathology, presented in ACT, may appeal to practioners because it provides answers and alternatives to relapse and the difficulties some clients present with being unable to gain control of their symptoms. Practioners may also like the technology and the metaphors used in ACT. . .In each chapter presenting ACT for a different group of disorders, the authors skillfully present a formulation of the disorder based on the ACT principles and then describe the ACT approach for the specific disorder or group of disorders. . .  "

By Maria Karekla & Marianna Charilaou, PsycCRITIQUES, American Psychological Association, Volume 50, Number 52.