Can I do ACT therapy on my own?

You can practice some ACT skills on your own through workbooks, mindfulness exercises, journaling, or educational resources. However, working with a trained therapist can help you recognize blind spots and tailor therapy to your circumstances and goals.

Are there any downsides to ACT?

ACT asks you to approach thoughts, feelings, and situations that you may be accustomed to avoiding. This can feel uncomfortable, particularly at the beginning of therapy. Your therapist will never push you past what you can safely handle.

How long does ACT therapy take?

There is no single timeline for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Some people seek focused, shorter-term therapy for a specific issue, while others benefit from longer-term work involving several concerns or longstanding patterns.

Can ACT help with intrusive thoughts or OCD?

ACT is a highly effective form of therapy for OCD. It can help you respond differently to intrusive thoughts by reducing attempts to suppress, analyze, neutralize, or obtain certainty about them. You’ll learn to tolerate uncertainty, reduce compulsive responses, and return your attention to meaningful action.

How do I know whether ACT is right for me?

ACT may be helpful if you feel stuck in avoidance, worry, perfectionism, rumination, self-criticism, or efforts to control your emotions. It may also appeal to you if you want therapy to connect insight with concrete action.

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) in NYC

Make Space for Difficult Feelings Instead Of Letting Them Hijack Your Life

If you've spent a long time trying to get rid of anxiety, silence intrusive thoughts, or stop overthinking without much success, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can offer you a way forward. ACT therapy helps you take meaningful action and change how you respond to uncomfortable thoughts and feelings so you can build the future you want.

At Silver Therapy Group, our New York-based therapists use ACT within a warm, collaborative, and individualized approach to therapy. We help New Yorkers develop practical skills they can use during stressful workdays, relationship challenges, major transitions, moments of self-doubt, and whatever else life brings.

Our doctoral-level psychologists offer in-person Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Upper West Side, as well as virtual therapy for clients located throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

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What Is ACT Therapy and How Does It Work?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based form of therapy that combines mindfulness, acceptance, self-awareness, and intentional changes to your daily life.

Painful thoughts and emotions are a natural part of being human. Constantly avoiding or suppressing these experiences drains you of your energy so you have little left for the things that matter most to you.

ACT helps you develop a different relationship with uncomfortable experiences like grief, guilt, or uncertainty. Acceptance doesn’t mean letting yourself be hurt or having to be positive all the time. It’s about not giving up so you can live your best life.

During therapy, your therapist may help you:

Notice recurring thoughts without immediately believing them
Recognize avoidance patterns that may be limiting you in life
Build tolerance for uncertainty and uncomfortable emotions
Practice mindfulness so you can savor the present moment
Set manageable goals that align with your core values
Respond to setbacks with greater flexibility and self-compassion

Our clients often leave their ACT sessions feeling like their choices make a difference and confident that they can live a life in line with who they truly are. Their anxiety or self-doubt doesn’t stop them from pursuing the things important to them because they have the tools to face it head-on.

The Six Core Principles of ACT

The central goal of ACT is to build psychological flexibility. This means becoming more able to stay connected to the present, respond thoughtfully to difficult experiences, and choose actions that reflect your values. We do this work through six core principles.

1. Acceptance

Acceptance involves allowing thoughts, emotions, memories, and physical sensations to be present without automatically suppressing, escaping, or fighting them. You don’t have to like what happened, but you’ll practice creating enough space so that you feel free to make an intentional choice that reflects your values.

2. Cognitive Defusion

Many people believe that their thoughts are unquestionable facts. Cognitive defusion helps you step back from your thoughts and challenge them.

For example, if you are thinking, “I am going to fail,” ACT will give you the skills to be present with that thought so that it doesn’t control your next decisions.

Defusion can be especially helpful for self-criticism, perfectionistic rules, catastrophic predictions, intrusive thoughts, and repetitive worry.

3. Contact With the Present Moment

When you are caught up in regret, worry, or comparison, it can be difficult to engage fully with what is happening in the here and now. An ACT therapist will teach you mindfulness-based skills to reconnect with the present and get back into your body.

Present-moment awareness is not about remaining calm at all times. It is about noticing what is happening clearly enough to respond with intention.

4. Self-as-Context

ACT helps you recognize that you are more than any single thought, emotion, role, diagnosis, mistake, or life chapter. Your experiences are real, but they do not represent the entirety of who you are.

5. Values

Values are your North Star: the qualities and direction you want to embody in your life. Examples of core values include: connection, honesty, creativity, growth, compassion, family, courage, community, curiosity, or professional purpose.

ACT helps you identify what genuinely matters to you. Rather than living based on the avoidance of fear, obligation, or external expectations, your values will guide you toward a meaningful life.

6. Committed Action

Committed action means taking realistic steps toward your values, even when difficult thoughts or emotions show up. This may look like setting a boundary, reconnecting with someone, or making a decision without complete certainty. The goal is not to be perfect at these actions, but to return to your values when life becomes difficult.

Our Approach to ACT at Silver Therapy Group

Silver Therapy Group is a dedicated team of New York-based clinical psychologists. ACT is a flexible approach that may be incorporated into therapy for anxiety, depression, OCD, perfectionism, burnout, grief, chronic illness, or reproductive concerns like postpartum or infertility.

ACT sessions are active and help you explore what matters most to you. Your therapist will take time to understand your history, identity, current stressors, and personal goals.

Our approach is warm, focused, interactive, and collaborative. We want you to understand not only what you are experiencing, but also what you can begin doing differently. By working together, you can develop practical strategies that help you respond to difficult moments and move forward toward the life you want.

We may integrate ACT with other therapeutic approaches when helpful, like EFT, DBT, CBT, or psychodynamic therapy. We work with both individuals and couples throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

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We specialize in helping New Yorkers get out of their heads and back into their lives.

We specialize in helping New Yorkers who feel overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, or stuck in patterns that are no longer serving them.

If you constantly feel trapped in unhealthy patterns, or avoiding situations that make your life smaller, ACT may be a good fit for you. Our highly trained therapists are here to help you build a more meaningful life with steadiness, clarity, and self-compassion.

Meet Our Team

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Start ACT Therapy in NYC Today

Invest in the relationships, activities, and goals that give your life meaning. Silver Therapy Group offers in-person Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) at our Upper West Side office as well as virtual appointments throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. We welcome adults, adolescents, couples, and clients of all backgrounds, identities, and genders.

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Frequently Asked Questions About ACT

An ACT therapist helps you recognize how thoughts, emotions, and habitual behaviors may be affecting your life. Your therapist helps you tolerate difficult thoughts and emotions, clarify your values, and practice meaningful new behaviors. Sessions may include mindfulness exercises, metaphors, values exploration, problem-solving, behavioral practice, and conversations about how you want to respond to real-life situations.

We are a private practice and out-of-network providers, which means we do not accept any insurance directly. However, we make the out-of-network reimbursement process as simple as possible by providing weekly invoices to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. Individuals who have out-of-network mental health benefits often find that their insurance company will reimburse between 30-90% of the therapy fee. If you are unsure of your out-of-network benefits and would like assistance, we would be happy to help.

Silver Therapy Group