Anywho, this week I took a small break from researching and focused on writing the introduction for my systematic review (although I must admit that I did do a bit of researching to fact check my words mostly)
I will include my introduction between some gifs so please comment any suggestions which you might have on how I could make it better (even if your advice has to do with sentence placement or word choice please include any criticisms!)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a Cognitive-Behavior Therapy focusing on acceptance and mindfulness so as to improve the quality of life of individuals suffering from various conditions. While it can be implemented in treatments for many conditions, it has been particularly successful in the improving quality of life of people with depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. The therapy has roots in peaceful teachings such as buddhism, yoga, and meditation as well as taking part in the third wave of cognitive-behavior therapies. Commonly seen as being based in Relational Frame Theory (RFT) - a contextual theory linking language to cognition, naming both pillars of society - ACT emphasizes the importance of psychological flexibility and the dangers of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion. Through ACT, facing difficult subjects and overcoming obstacles is possible, paving the way toward manageable physical and emotional pain. ACT does not promise to serve as a cure for all pains but instead serves as a means to continue living a life worth living, one where personal values and dreams are sought and cherished rather than shunned, overshadowed by existing negatives.
ACT along with RFT and Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) leads the third wave of psychotherapy. This wave incorporates aspects of the two prior waves; in the case of ACT, this primarily means the theories of Sigmund Freud (first wave), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) (second wave), and B.F. Skinner (second wave). Freud’s theories place much value on acceptance and insight. CBT attempts to change external responses through internal change. Skinner’s theory of Radical Behaviorism emphasizes the impact of experience in the nature vs. nurture conflict. As a whole, ACT is differentiated from the first wave of psychotherapy due to its reliance on the clinician’s lead and from the second wave due to its reliance on the patient’s insight. In order for counseling to function, neither participant must take complete control. Instead, both must participate, the patient telling his/her truthful thoughts and emotions while the clinician leads the patient towards realizations and useful insight.
This paper will discuss the neurological underpinnings of ACT and how the therapy allows for neural pathways to be remolded. In order for this to be properly understood, knowing the psychological underpinnings of the therapy is paramount. Fully knowing and understanding the therapy may enable its successful attributes to be replicated and integrated into other therapies. Through an in-depth analysis of ACT, the therapy may be bettered and utilized to its fullest potential. It already has the potential to help millions of people; now, what must be done is to unlock this potential to the extent where any number of variations would aid any number of conditions and any number of people.
The results section will include three subsections: psychological underpinnings, neurobiological underpinnings, and transition phase. The psychological underpinnings subsection will discuss the peaceful teachings which inspired ACT and relational frame therapy. This will serve as an explanation for how ACT was conceived. The neurobiological underpinnings subsection will discuss neural receptors, neural patterns, genetics, and specific disorders. This will serve as an explanation for the brain before it is reshaped. The transition phase will discuss how the psychological aspects of ACT affect the neurobiological aspects, leading to changes in neural pathways. This will serve as a link between the two aforementioned subsections, as an explanation for how the philosophy behind the therapy caused physical change.
P.S. I am aware that some spacing and sizing is off but I have no idea how to fix it (when I copy and pasted my intro from a google doc to here the formatting got a little off)
I have decided to fix the lack of a triad:
