Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for GI issues is a treatment that aims to help you live a good life with GI symptoms by learning to:
Notice and cope with thoughts and feelings about your GI symptoms.
It is natural to have difficult thoughts and feelings about your GI condition.
Many people will try to do things to decrease these difficult thoughts and feelings:
- Avoiding social activities and outings
- Using unhealthy coping mechanisms like smoking, drinking, or eating to temporarily lessen negative feelings
While it may feel better to use these avoidance strategies in the moment, avoidance keeps you stuck and disconnected from what you care about.
By using mindfulness and an approach called defusion, you can change how you relate to your negative thoughts and feelings so that they have less power over you.
Click here to read more about defusion.
Accept some continued GI symptoms
Constantly trying to fix your GI issues can consume your life. For many conditions, you can get stuck putting a huge amount of time and effort into finding a “cure” for a condition that may require lifelong management. In ACT, rather than waiting for an elusive “cure” we work towards living a good life with your GI condition.
Live a full and meaningful life (even with your GI condition!)
Managing GI issues often takes you away from the things that are important to you. Maybe you have stopped going out with friends and family, given up a hobby, or haven’t been able to work to your full potential.
When you are constantly focused on avoiding GI issues and negative emotions you can lose sight of who you are and what is important to you.
Identifying what matters to you and committing to taking action toward your values will increase life satisfaction even if this looks different than before you had GI issues.
In ACT the ultimate goal is to live a full, meaningful life.