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Go beyond traditional talk therapy.

Acceptance Commitment Therapy in New York and New Jersey

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Are overthinking, anxiety, or perfectionism keeping you stuck instead of moving toward the life you want? Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an approach I often use with clients who struggle with anxiety, overthinking, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and feeling stuck in patterns that don’t align with the life they want to live.

Many of the people I work with spend a lot of time trying to control their thoughts, avoid uncomfortable feelings, or wait until they feel confident before taking action. ACT helps people learn how to stop fighting their thoughts and emotions and instead focus on building a life guided by their values, even when things feel uncomfortable.

What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

ACT is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy that focuses on acceptance, mindfulness, and taking action toward what matters most to you. Instead of trying to eliminate anxiety or control every thought, ACT teaches you how to develop psychological flexibility — the ability to experience difficult thoughts and emotions without letting them control your behavior.

What does ACT help with?

ACT may help you if you struggle with…

  • Overthinking

  • Anxiety

  • Perfectionism

  • People pleasing

  • OCD tendencies

  • Burnout

  • Avoidance

  • Decision making difficulty

  • Fear of failure

  • Fear of uncertainty

  • Low self-confidence

  • Feeling stuck

  • Difficulty setting boundaries

  • Living according to others’ expectations instead of your own values

Core ACT Concepts…

Acceptance

Learning to allow uncomfortable thoughts and emotions to exist without trying to get rid of them.

Cognitive defusion

Learning to step back from your thoughts instead of automatically believing them.

Values

Identifying what actually matters to you and what kind of life you want to live.

Committed action

Taking steps toward your values even when you feel anxious, uncertain, or uncomfortable.

How I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in therapy…

  • A big part of ACT is identifying what actually matters to you — not what you think you should want, not what other people expect, but what you genuinely care about.

    We might explore questions like:

    • What kind of person do you want to be?

    • What do you want your relationships to look like?

    • What matters most to you in your career?

    • What do you want your life to stand for?

    • If anxiety wasn’t in the way, how would you be living differently?

    Values help us create direction. Instead of making decisions based only on fear, anxiety, or avoiding discomfort, we begin making decisions based on what matters most to you.

  • Many people spend a lot of time trying to avoid uncomfortable feelings like anxiety, uncertainty, embarrassment, or fear of failure. Unfortunately, avoidance often makes anxiety stronger over time and shrinks your life.

    In ACT, we gradually work on becoming more willing to experience uncomfortable thoughts and feelings so they don’t control your behavior.

    This might look like:

    • Saying something even if you might be judged

    • Setting a boundary even if someone might be disappointed

    • Making a decision without complete certainty

    • Trying something imperfectly

    • Going to an event even if you feel anxious

    • Not seeking reassurance

    • Letting a thought exist without trying to solve it

    The goal is to build confidence in your ability to handle discomfort, rather than trying to eliminate discomfort completely.

  • ACT is very behavior-focused. We don’t just talk about what you should do — we work on actually changing behavior patterns.

    This might include:

    • Taking action instead of overthinking

    • Setting boundaries

    • Doing things imperfectly

    • Following through on decisions

    • Reducing reassurance seeking

    • Reducing avoidance

    • Trying new behaviors even when you feel anxious

    • Practicing doing things aligned with your values

    Confidence often comes from action, not from waiting to feel ready.

  • ACT includes mindfulness, but not in the sense of having to meditate for long periods of time.

    Mindfulness in ACT means learning how to:

    • Notice your thoughts without immediately believing them

    • Notice your emotions without immediately reacting

    • Stay present instead of getting lost in worry about the future

    • Step back from overthinking and rumination

    • Observe thoughts instead of getting stuck inside them

    This helps create space between your thoughts and your actions so your thoughts don’t automatically control your behavior.

  • Many people feel like they need to feel confident, certain, motivated, or ready before they take action. ACT teaches the opposite.

    In ACT, we work on learning how to take action even when you feel anxious, uncertain, or uncomfortable, especially if the action moves you toward the kind of life you want to build.

    Instead of:

    “I’ll do it when I feel ready.”

    We work toward:

    “I can do this even if I feel anxious.”

    This is often where people start to build real confidence and self-trust.

  • One of the main goals of ACT is something called psychological flexibility, which means:

    • Being able to experience difficult thoughts and emotions

    • Not getting stuck in overthinking

    • Not avoiding everything that feels uncomfortable

    • Being able to adapt when things don’t go as planned

    • Making decisions based on values instead of fear

    • Continuing to move forward even when things feel uncertain

    Psychological flexibility is strongly associated with lower anxiety, higher life satisfaction, and better emotional resilience.

Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) the right fit for you?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps you develop a healthier relationship with your thoughts and emotions.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based approach that helps individuals develop psychological flexibility—the ability to respond to difficult thoughts and emotions in a healthier, more adaptive way. Instead of trying to eliminate anxiety or control every thought, ACT helps you learn how to notice these internal experiences without becoming stuck in them. Over time, this can help reduce the impact that anxious thoughts, self-criticism, and overthinking have on your daily life.

ACT may be a good fit if you find yourself caught in patterns of anxiety, chronic overthinking, perfectionism, or self-doubt. Many people who seek ACT feel exhausted by trying to control their thoughts or constantly analyze their decisions. Rather than focusing on eliminating discomfort, ACT helps you build the skills to tolerate uncertainty, reconnect with your values, and move toward a life that feels more meaningful and aligned with what matters most to you.

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What you’ll gain

With Acceptance Commitment Therapy, you can begin to…

  • Step back from anxious thoughts instead of getting stuck in overthinking and mental loops

  • Feel less controlled by anxiety, self-doubt and uncomfortable emotions

  • Reduce perfectionism and harsh self-criticism

  • Make decisions with more confidence, even when there is uncertainty

  • Stop waiting to feel ready and start taking action toward what matters

  • Reduce avoidance and build confidence by doing difficult things

  • Set boundaries and make choices based on what matters to you, not just what reduces anxiety

  • Reconnect with your values and build a life that feels more meaningful and aligned with who you want to be

  • Develop more self-trust and emotional resilience

Get in touch

Change is possible.

Click this link to schedule a free, confidential consultation. During our conversation, we’ll talk about what has been feeling difficult lately—whether that’s anxiety, overthinking, perfectionism, or feeling stuck in your thoughts—and explore how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be able to help. Together, we can begin working toward helping you step out of those patterns and move forward with greater clarity, confidence, and connection to what matters most to you.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

  • Both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focus on how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are connected. The main difference is how they approach thoughts.

    CBT often focuses on identifying and challenging unhelpful thoughts and replacing them with more realistic ones. ACT focuses more on changing your relationship with your thoughts rather than trying to eliminate them. In ACT, we work on learning how to notice thoughts without getting stuck in them, tolerate uncomfortable emotions, and take action toward what matters to you even when anxiety or self-doubt are present.

    Both approaches are effective and are often used together depending on what we are working on.

  • Yes. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based therapy that has been shown to be effective for anxiety, depression, stress, OCD, burnout, and many other concerns.

    ACT is based on decades of psychological research and focuses on building psychological flexibility, which is strongly associated with better mental health, resilience, and life satisfaction.

  • Yes, ACT is very helpful for anxiety. Instead of trying to completely eliminate anxiety, ACT helps you change how you respond to anxious thoughts and feelings so they don’t control your behavior or decisions.

    Many people with anxiety spend a lot of time trying to avoid uncomfortable feelings, overthinking decisions, seeking reassurance, or waiting until they feel confident before taking action. ACT helps you learn how to tolerate uncertainty, reduce avoidance, and take action toward what matters to you even when anxiety is present.

    Over time, this often leads to less anxiety, more confidence, and more flexibility in how you respond to difficult situations.

  • ACT is somewhat structured, but sessions still feel like conversations. We often focus on identifying patterns, discussing values, learning new ways to respond to thoughts and emotions, and planning behavioral changes.

    ACT is usually more active and goal-oriented than just talking about your week, but it is also flexible and tailored to each individual.

  • Yes, ACT includes mindfulness, but not in the sense of having to meditate for long periods of time unless you want to. Mindfulness in ACT usually involves learning how to notice your thoughts, emotions, and reactions in the present moment without immediately trying to change or escape them.

    This helps create space between your thoughts and your actions so your thoughts don’t automatically control your behavior.

  • Yes. I often combine ACT with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), and EMDR depending on what we are working on.

    Different approaches are helpful for different situations, so therapy is tailored to each individual rather than using only one approach. Many clients benefit from a combination of approaches that address thoughts, beliefs, emotions, behavior patterns, and past experiences.

Contact me

Ready for Acceptance & Commitment Therapy in NYC?

Take the first step toward creating the life you truly want. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with me—I’ll answer your questions and you can decide if I’m the right therapist for you.

acceptance

willingness

values

psychological flexibility

present moment

diffusion

self-compassion

courage

uncertainty

discomfort

committed action

meaningful life

direction

self-trust

intentional living

acceptance willingness values psychological flexibility present moment diffusion self-compassion courage uncertainty discomfort committed action meaningful life direction self-trust intentional living