Acceptance and commitment therapy: Altering the verbal support for experiential avoidance.
ACT gives you a quick verbal tool to melt client avoidance so ABA can proceed.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Jarrold et al. (1994) wrote a how-to paper for clinicians.
They explained why adults dodge scary thoughts and feelings.
The authors mapped ACT moves that loosen the grip of those verbal traps.
What they found
The paper gives no numbers.
It only lays out the logic: change the talk, change the avoidance.
How this fits with other research
Andrews et al. (2021) later tested the idea.
They added ACT lessons to online parent training.
Parents of kids with autism used ABA skills better and felt less stress.
The 2021 study turns the 1994 theory into a real-world tool.
Hagopian et al. (2000) show most verbal-behavior papers back then were also theory, so C et al. fit the times.
Why it matters
You now have a ready script for adult clients who stall out.
Add brief ACT drills—name the thought, drop the struggle, move with values.
No extra staff, no new setting, just a five-minute pivot in your session.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behavior-analytically-based psychotherapy approach that attempts to undermine emotional avoidance and increase the capacity for behavior change. An overview of this approach is given, followed by several specific examples of the techniques used within ACT. In each instance the behavioral rationale of these techniques is described. A contemporary view of verbal relations provides the basis for new approaches to adult outpatient psychotherapy.
The Behavior analyst, 1994 · doi:10.1007/BF03392677