MAKING CHANGE POSSIBLE
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Build the psychological flexibility to handle difficult thoughts and feelings differently, and keep moving towards the life you want.
What is ACT and what does psychological flexibility actually mean?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, is an evidence-based psychological therapy that helps you build psychological flexibility.
Psychological flexibility means being better able to respond when difficult thoughts, feelings or situations show up, rather than feeling pushed around by them. It helps you stay connected with what is happening, recognise that you have choices and take steps towards the life you want.
Many of us wait until we feel better before doing what matters. We try to stop overthinking, silence the inner critic or push uncomfortable feelings away. That may bring some temporary relief, but it can also leave you spending more and more of your life struggling with your own mind.
ACT offers another way forward. It doesn’t ask you to get rid of every difficult thought or force yourself to feel positive. It helps you relate to your experiences differently, so they have less influence over what you do next.
Acceptance is not giving up.
Acceptance in ACT doesn’t mean liking what is happening, pretending everything is fine or simply putting up with things.
It is sometimes easier to think of it as willingness: being willing to experience some discomfort when doing so allows you to take part in life, try something important or move forward.
When you spend less energy fighting every difficult thought or feeling, you have more freedom to choose what you do next. Those experiences may still show up, but they don’t have to make every decision for you.
That is psychological flexibility: responding to life as it is while continuing to build the life you want.
The skills that build psychological flexibility
ACT brings together six connected skills. You don’t need to learn the terminology or remember a model, we explore them through our work in ways that relate to your life.
- Come back to the present - notice what is happening here and now rather than becoming lost in worries, memories or predictions.
- Make room for difficult feelings - allow some discomfort to be there when fighting it would take you further away from the life you want.
- Unhook from unhelpful thoughts - recognise thoughts as something your mind is producing, rather than instructions you must follow or facts you must believe.
- See things from a wider perspective - notice your thoughts and feelings without letting one difficult moment define who you are.
- Know what is important to you - become clearer about how you want to live and the kind of person you want to be.
- Take action - begin making choices and taking steps in the direction you want to go, including when doubt, discomfort or difficult feelings come along too.
act therapy UK + midlands in person
Why psychological flexibility matters
Life will always include uncertainty, change, difficult emotions and times when things don’t always go to plan. Psychological flexibility helps you adapt to what is happening without automatically falling back into avoidance, overthinking or familiar habits that keep you stuck.
It can help you recover from setbacks, handle discomfort more effectively and keep taking part in your life – even when your mind is telling you to retreat, give up or wait until you feel ready.
Research has linked greater psychological flexibility with better mental health, wellbeing and day-to-day functioning. This isn’t about feeling positive all the time or handling everything perfectly. It is about having more choice in how you respond and what you do next.
act therapy warwickshire + online
ACT and the integrative approach.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy often provides the main framework for our work, helping us understand where you feel stuck and build the psychological flexibility to respond differently.
However, therapy isn’t one size fits all. Depending on what you need, I may also include mindfulness, behavioural strategies, coaching psychology or Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy.
Each approach has a clear purpose, and I’ll explain what we’re doing and why. This keeps our work focused, with each idea or technique chosen to help you understand what’s happening, practise new responses and make the changes you came for.
Acceptance and commitment therapy
How ACT can help you
AREAS I SPECIALISE IN
anxiety
Understand what keeps anxiety going, respond differently to anxious thoughts and feelings, and begin doing more of what anxiety has been getting in the way of.
stress
Make sense of the pressure you’re under, understand what may be adding to it and find ways to recover, switch off and feel more like yourself again.
sleep
Understand the thoughts, habits and responses that can turn sleep into a struggle, and begin building a healthier relationship with rest and sleep.
chronic pain
Understand why pain can persist, explore what can help things begin to change and give pain less say over how you live.
Not sure if your experience fits?
What you are experiencing may not fit neatly into one of these areas. ACT can also be helpful for:
- Perfectionism and self-criticism, especially when high standards have become exhausting rather than motivating.
- Habit change, including weight management and emotional eating.
- Young people and adolescents, where having practical tools rather than just talking about feelings can make a real difference.
- Difficult life transitions, including bereavement, relationship breakdown, career change and identity shifts.
- Imposter syndrome, self-doubt and low confidence.
- Public speaking and presentation confidence.
- Avoidance, procrastination and feeling stuck.
How we work together
act warwickshire + online
01
book a free consultation
A relaxed 30-minute call to tell me a little about what has brought you to therapy and what you’re hoping to change. You can ask questions and find out what the next steps would involve.
02
in-depth assessment
Your first full session is 90 minutes. We explore what you’ve been experiencing, the relevant parts of your history, how things are affecting your life and what you would like therapy to help you change.
03
a personalised plan
After your assessment, we agree what you would like to focus on and how we’ll work together. This gives our work direction while allowing us to review and adapt the plan as things change.
04
sessions to fit your life
We can meet online or in person in North Warwickshire, within easy reach of Tamworth, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Burton upon Trent. Between sessions, your private space in the Your Mind Works app keeps your practices, audios and resources together and easy to return to.
Kind Words
act online UK + midlands in person
Meet online or in person
Online therapy allows you to join from somewhere private and comfortable, without the time or travel involved in getting to an appointment. For many people, this makes sessions easier to fit around work, family and other commitments.
If you’d prefer to meet in person, sessions are available in North Warwickshire, within easy reach of Tamworth, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Burton upon Trent. Clients also travel from Swadlincote, Lichfield, Nuneaton, Atherstone and the surrounding Midlands.
Whichever you choose, you’ll receive the same time, attention and personalised support. If you’re unsure which would suit you best, we can talk it through during your free consultation.
Lucy Mundy
Your Mind Works
MSc, BSc (Hons) Psychology, HDipCBH, DipSMRB, GMBPsS, MNCIP (reg)
psychologist, integrative psychotherapist + coach
Psychology has been at the heart of my work for more than 25 years, helping people understand themselves, feel better and make changes that matter in their lives.
ACT fits closely with how I believe therapy works best. It doesn’t ask you to wait until every difficult thought or feeling has disappeared before living your life. Instead, it helps you understand how your mind works, respond differently and develop skills you can continue using for yourself.
My approach is warm, engaging and down to earth. I’ll explain psychological ideas clearly, without expecting you to learn a collection of ACT terms. My specialist training with Dr Russ Harris includes ACT for Anxiety & Depression Disorders and ACT for Adolescents. I also hold an MSc in Health Psychology and Graduate Membership of the British Psychological Society.
your mind works app
SUPPORT between sessions
You’ll have your own private space inside the Your Mind Works app, where your personalised resources, guided audios, ACT exercises, journal prompts and practices stay together and easy to find.
Between sessions, you can return to the ideas we’ve discussed, practise new skills and listen to any audios I’ve chosen or created for you. If it’s helpful, you can also share reflections before we meet, allowing us to use our session time more effectively.
The app is there to support the work we’re doing, not give you more to keep up with. Use what helps, when it helps.
You’ll also receive six months’ access to The Membership, with live member sessions, the growing Practice Library and more ways to look after your wellbeing and keep growing.
Our web-based app means you can easily access on any device with no app store download.
Additional resources, audios and more.
Schedule practices and exercises in your calendar
Your Personal Client Space
Join me for live group sessions inside The Membership
Library full of resources, mind tools, practices and audios.
Your Mind Works web-based app is available on all your devices. There’s nothing to download from an app store.
frequently asked questions about ACT
ACT can be helpful when difficult thoughts, feelings, sensations, or avoidance have started to shape your life more than you would like.
In my work, I often use ACT to support people with anxiety, stress, overthinking, low mood, self-doubt, sleep difficulties, chronic pain, long-term conditions, burnout, and life transitions.
ACT is not about trying to get rid of every difficult thought or feeling. It helps you build psychological flexibility, so you can respond with more awareness and choice, and take steps towards what matters to you.
ACT sits within the wider cognitive behavioural family of therapies, alongside approaches such as CBT, but it has a different emphasis.
ACT and CBT both explore how thoughts, feelings and behaviour influence one another, and there can be considerable overlap between them.
Some forms of CBT place more emphasis on examining or changing the content of thoughts. ACT often focuses on changing how you respond to thoughts, so you can recognise them without automatically treating them as facts or instructions.
ACT includes mindfulness, but they aren’t the same thing.
Mindfulness helps you notice what is happening with greater awareness. ACT connects that awareness with learning how to respond to thoughts and feelings, becoming clearer about how you want to live and taking action. It may include short mindfulness practices, but you won’t be expected to meditate throughout your sessions.
Not at all. You won’t need to learn the six ACT processes, remember unfamiliar terminology or study the theory.
I’ll introduce ideas clearly as they become helpful and show you how to use them in situations from your own life.
In-person sessions are available in North Warwickshire, within easy reach of Tamworth, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Burton upon Trent.
ACT is also available online across the UK, allowing you to join from a private space at home. We can discuss which option would suit you during your consultation.
Most people begin with six sessions: a 90-minute in-depth assessment followed by five 60-minute sessions. The package costs £600, payable in full or in two payments of £300.
Six sessions give us time to understand what is happening, begin working on it and review what is changing. Some people may benefit from further sessions, depending on what they need. We’ll discuss this before beginning and review it together as we go.
The package also includes personalised resources inside the Your Mind Works app and six months’ access to The Membership.
ACT can be adapted for young people who are experiencing anxiety, stress, low confidence, overthinking, pain, sleep difficulties or other challenges.
It can help them understand what is happening, respond differently to difficult thoughts and feelings and build skills they can use for themselves. I have specialist training in ACT for Adolescents and more than 15 years’ experience working with young people, including those with SEND.
Discover therapy
The first step is a conversation.
A free 30-minute consultation gives us a chance to talk about what has brought you to therapy and what you would like to change. You can ask questions, find out more about how I work and discuss what the next steps could look like.
Research and further reading
The following peer-reviewed research supports the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy across a range of presenting difficulties.
The ACT model
Hayes SC, Luoma JB, Bond FW, Masuda A, Lillis J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1-25. read here (PMID: 16300724)
Psychological flexibility and ACT as a model
Macri JA, Rogge RD. (2024). Examining domains of psychological flexibility and inflexibility as treatment mechanisms in ACT: A comprehensive systematic and meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 110, 102432. read here (PMID: 38615492)
Anxiety and depression
A-Tjak JGL et al. (2015). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinically relevant mental and physical health problems. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(1), 30-36. read here (PMID: 25547522)
López-Pinar C et al. (2025). Process of change and efficacy of ACT for anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Journal of Affective Disorders, 368, 633-644. read here (PMID: 39303882)
Zhao B et al. (2023). Effect of acceptance and commitment therapy for depressive disorders: a meta-analysis. Annals of General Psychiatry, 22(1), 34. read here (PMID: 37679716)
Chronic pain
Hughes LS et al. (2017). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for chronic pain: A systematic review and meta-analyses. Clinical Journal of Pain, 33(6), 552-568. read here (PMID: 27479642)
Martinez-Calderon J et al. (2024). ACT for chronic pain: An overview of systematic reviews with meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials. Journal of Pain, 25(3), 595-617. read here (PMID: 37748597)
Further reading
Harris, R. (2007). The Happiness Trap: Stop Struggling, Start Living. Exisle Publishing. Available at thehappinesstrap.com