Preface

As part of my work with the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) basic science special interest group, I field questions about suggested readings. I replied to one recently that made me think more people may find my response helpful. I’ve provided the edited conversation below.

If you’re a student or professional eager to explore Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and its connection to behavioral principles, especially in the broader world beyond Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), the field of behavior analysis offers a wealth of resources that expand our understanding of ACT and its applications in various contexts. This post provides a selection of must-read articles and chapters that offer an accessible entry into these principles while connecting them to clinical practices outside of ABA. Whether you’re looking for foundational background or examples of practical application, these resources will help illuminate how behavioral concepts can be effectively integrated into settings beyond ABA applications.

The suggestions below assume that you have some foundational knowledge of ACT and operant and respondent behavioral principals. I was originally responding to a clinical psychologist. If you would like to learn more in order to make this list more useful to you, comment below, email me or schedule a call so we can put something together that builds your bridge.

Conversation

Question:

Do you know any articles that provide good background on ACT and behavioral principles? Any readings that cover behavioral principles that’s easier to digest or talk about how it can be applied in the general clinical world other than ABA?

Response:

Great question! These two articles and a related chapter come up right away:

• Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.06.006

  • Chapter Length Expansion of the above: Levin, M. E., Hayes, S. C., & Vilardaga, R. (2013). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Applying an iterative translational research strategy in behavior analysis. https://www.academia.edu/download/66498435/Acceptance_and_Commitment_Therapy_Applyi20210421-21070-w47uon.pdf

• Assaz, D. A., Roche, B., Kanter, J. W., & Oshiro, C. K. B. (2018). Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: What Are the Basic Processes of Change? Psychological Record, 68(4), 405–418. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-017-0254-z

And with a little searching I also surfaced this:

• Harte, C., Barnes-Holmes, D., de Rose, J. C., Perez, W. F., & de Almeida, J. H. (2023). Grappling with the Complexity of Behavioral Processes in Human Psychological Suffering: Some Potential Insights from Relational Frame Theory. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 46(1), 237–259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-022-00363-w

The following article was also recently discussed in an ACBS member led monthly meeting. It's a little less focused on the behavioral principles, but gives a digestible introduction of ACT through a more behavioral focus.

• McEnteggart, C. (2018). A Brief Tutorial on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as Seen Through the Lens of Derived Stimulus Relations. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 41(1), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-018-0149-6

The Harte and McEnteggart articles include discussions of their MDML/HDML/ROE-M/DAARE models and the IRAP method. Those portions don’t contribute to the question, but the main subjects of the respective papers give some pretty nice conceptualizations of ACT through behavioral principles. Sidenote: Colin Harte has also conducted and written up some interesting investigations into CFunc and CRel. This is tangentially related and a very under researched concept in our field.

The Hayes et al article at the top has been heavily cited (9275 citations as of writing) and searching those citations for "behavioral process" was how I found the Harte article and Levin chapter quickly. Regarding that chapter by Mike Levin, Steve Hayes, and Roger Vilardarga, the pages 462-468 seem to be the most relevant to the question. That chapter came from the APA Handbook of Behavior Analysis Vol II. The same book features a chapter by Paul Guinther and Michael Dougher titled "From Behavioral Research to Clinical Therapy." I couldn't find a copy of that chapter on the open internet, but you may be able to access it through a school affiliation or get a pre-print from one of the authors. Unfortunately, Dr Dougher passed away a few years ago so reaching out to him is no longer an option. Dr Dougher’s writings on Clinical Behavior Analysis are fantastic and situated squarely at the intersection of behavioral principals and ACT methods. The "Clinical Behavior Analysis" book he edited and was originally published by Context Press in 2000 is one of my favorites and is still available as an ebook or a rather expensive used hardcover.

I'm also a huge fan of anything by Niklas Torneke or Carmen Luciano. They both have maintained strong connections in their writing to behavioral principles while discussing ACT processes with typically developing populations.

And I can't write this post without mentioning Mastering the Clinical Conversation by Villatte, Villatte, & Hayes. While that book is ostensibly about applying Relational Frame Theory (RFT) to applied practice, they draw solid parallels to ACT concepts as part of their multiple exemplar method of making the concepts clear.