Acceptance
Making room for feelings, not fighting them
Try: where do you feel it in your body?
Defusion
Seeing thoughts as thoughts, not facts
Try: "I'm having the thought that…"
Present moment
Flexible contact with what is here now
Try: name five things you can see
Self-as-context
The observing self behind each experience
Try: notice who is doing the noticing
Values
Chosen directions that give life meaning
Try: what do you want to stand for?
Committed action
Values-guided steps, even with discomfort
Try: one small step this week
Experiential avoidance
Trying to escape unwanted inner experience
Looks like: distraction, numbing, avoiding
Cognitive fusion
Thoughts taken as literal truth
Sounds like: "I'm useless" felt as fact
Past and future focus
Lost in rumination or worry
Sounds like: "If only…", "What if…"
Attachment to self-story
Rigid stories about who I am
Sounds like: "I'm just not that kind of person"
Unclear values
Disconnected from what matters
Looks like: drifting, or living by others' rules
Unworkable action
Impulsivity, inaction or avoidance
Looks like: the same pattern, the same cost
ACT hexaflex cards: processes and questions
Psychological flexibilityPsychological inflexibility
Based on Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson (2012), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, 2nd ed.
What are you avoiding?
Acceptance: name the unwanted experience
What would you be willing to feel?
Acceptance: willingness, not liking
Is this thought helpful?
Defusion: workability over truth
What is your mind telling you?
Defusion: notice the story
What do you notice right now?
Present moment: the five senses
Where are you right now?
Present moment: here, or elsewhere?
Who is noticing this?
Self-as-context: the observer
Is this the whole of you?
Self-as-context: larger than the story
What matters to you here?
Values: the deeper why
Who do you want to be in this?
Values: qualities of action
What small step could you take?
Committed action: the next small step
What gets in the way?
Committed action: plan for barriers
ACT hexaflex cards: processes and questions: Questions for psychological flexibility
Based on Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson (2012), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, 2nd ed.
More free printables
Threat system
Drive system
Soothing systemCompassion-focused therapy cards
Vulnerable child
Angry child
Impulsive childSchema therapy modes cards
PartnershipAcceptance
CompassionMotivational interviewing cards: OARS and change talk
Safety (self)
Safety (others)
Trust (self)CPT stuck point themes and questions