Acceptance and Commitment Training Within the Scope of Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis

Tarbox et al. (2022) wrote a how-to paper. They asked: can ACT live inside ABA without breaking our own rules?

The team mapped every ACT part to familiar ABA units. They used Skinner’s verbal operants to show how acceptance and values talk can be measured like any other behavior.

The paper says yes—ACT fits. If you treat client words as verbal behavior, you can graph them, shape them, and write function-based treatment plans.

They give a starter list: do a verbal functional assessment, pick measurable values actions, and track them with simple counts or duration.

Bordieri (2022) published the same year with the same message. He reviewed piles of studies and says acceptance is already evidence-based. Together the two papers act like a green light from separate lanes.

Ragulan et al. (2023) took the idea for a test drive. Four behavioral techs went to one ACT workshop. Afterward their treatment integrity rose and burnout fell. The tiny study shows the target paper’s guidelines can travel from page to clinic floor.

Cordova (2001) did the groundwork long ago. That paper first turned acceptance into observable moves—like staying in seat when tasks get hard. Tarbox et al. (2022) widen the frame from single moves to the full ACT model.

You no longer need to choose between ACT language and ABA data. Use the paper’s cheat sheet to write ACT goals in VB-MAPP style or on an A-B-C chart. Start small: pick one client who quits tasks when thoughts get loud. Count how long they stay seated after a brief acceptance exercise. One graph can show if verbal behavior work belongs in your next treatment plan.