ACT Therapists Available Throughout Long Island for Adults, Teens, and Couples
If you’ve been in therapy before, you may have learned strategies to challenge negative thoughts, reduce anxiety, or change unhelpful behaviors. These approaches can be incredibly effective – but sometimes, they’re not enough. Sometimes, the harder you try to control or eliminate uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, the more stuck you become.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) takes a different approach. Rather than teaching you to fight against difficult emotions or try to “fix” your thoughts, ACT helps you develop a new relationship with your internal experiences. It teaches you how to make room for discomfort while still moving toward the life you want to live.
Long Island Counseling has therapists trained in ACT throughout Long Island, ready to help you break free from patterns of avoidance and struggle, and start living in alignment with what truly matters to you.
Get connected today to an ACT therapist who can help you move forward. Call (516) 882-4544 or reach out through our online form and we’ll connect with you to talk about next steps. We have offices in Melville, East Meadow, Rockville Centre, and Huntington, NY with therapists at each location ready to support your mental health needs.
What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is an evidence-based approach that focuses on psychological flexibility – the ability to stay present, accept your thoughts and feelings without judgment, and take action based on your values even when it’s difficult.
ACT is built on six core processes:
- Acceptance – Learning to allow thoughts, feelings, and sensations to be present without trying to suppress, avoid, or control them.
- Cognitive Defusion – Changing your relationship with your thoughts so they have less power over you. Instead of believing every thought or treating it as reality, you learn to see thoughts as just mental events.
- Present Moment Awareness – Practicing mindfulness to stay connected to what’s happening right now, rather than getting lost in worries about the future or regrets about the past.
- Self-as-Context – Recognizing that you are more than your thoughts, feelings, or experiences. You are the observer of these experiences, not defined by them.
- Values – Identifying what truly matters to you – what you want your life to be about – and using those values as a compass for your actions.
- Committed Action – Taking concrete steps toward living according to your values, even when it’s uncomfortable or anxiety-provoking.
Together, these processes help you stop fighting against your internal experiences and start building a life that feels meaningful and aligned with who you want to be.
The Link Between Struggle and Avoidance
One of the core insights of ACT is that much of human suffering comes not from pain itself, but from our attempts to avoid or escape pain. This is called experiential avoidance, and it shows up in countless ways:
- Avoiding social situations because you’re anxious
- Using substances to numb uncomfortable emotions
- Procrastinating on important tasks because you’re afraid of failure
- Staying in unfulfilling relationships because you’re afraid of being alone
- Refusing to pursue goals or dreams because you’re worried about what others will think
In each of these examples, the avoidance makes sense in the short term – it reduces discomfort temporarily. But over time, avoidance shrinks your life. You miss out on relationships, opportunities, and experiences because you’re trying to protect yourself from feelings that, while uncomfortable, are actually survivable.
ACT helps you recognize these patterns and teaches you a different way forward: instead of avoiding discomfort, you learn to make room for it while still taking action toward what matters.
Who Can Benefit from ACT?
ACT is a flexible approach that can be helpful for a wide range of concerns. Research supports its use for:
- Anxiety and Panic Disorders – ACT helps you stop trying to eliminate anxiety (which often makes it worse) and instead teaches you to move forward even when anxiety is present.
- Depression – Rather than waiting until you “feel better” to start living, ACT helps you take meaningful action even when motivation is low.
- Chronic Pain – ACT is one of the most effective psychological approaches for chronic pain, helping people live full lives even in the presence of physical discomfort.
- OCD – ACT helps you stop engaging in compulsions to reduce anxiety, and instead teaches you to tolerate uncertainty and discomfort.
- Trauma and PTSD – ACT can help you process difficult emotions and move toward healing without being controlled by fear or avoidance.
- Relationship Problems – ACT helps you identify what kind of partner, parent, or friend you want to be, and take action in line with those values even when relationships are difficult.
- Life Transitions and Existential Concerns – If you’re struggling with questions about meaning, purpose, or direction, ACT can help you clarify your values and build a life that feels authentic.
ACT is also effective for people who feel “stuck” – those who have tried other forms of therapy and found them helpful to a point, but still feel like something is missing.
What ACT Therapy Looks Like
ACT therapy is active and experiential. Rather than spending entire sessions talking about problems, your therapist will guide you through exercises, metaphors, and practices designed to help you experience psychological flexibility in real time.
A typical ACT session might include:
- Values Clarification Exercises – Exploring what truly matters to you in different areas of your life (relationships, work, personal growth, community) and identifying where you may have drifted away from those values.
- Mindfulness Practices – Learning to observe your thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them. These practices are often brief and integrated into therapy rather than requiring a separate meditation practice.
- Defusion Techniques – Experimenting with ways to distance yourself from unhelpful thoughts. For example, instead of thinking “I’m a failure,” you might practice saying “I’m having the thought that I’m a failure” – a small shift that creates space between you and the thought.
- Committed Action Planning – Identifying specific, concrete steps you can take toward your values, even if those steps are uncomfortable. Your therapist will help you break down goals into manageable actions and troubleshoot barriers.
- Exposure to Discomfort – Gradually practicing being with difficult emotions, sensations, or thoughts in a safe environment, so you learn that you can tolerate discomfort without needing to escape it.
ACT therapists don’t tell you what your values should be or what actions you should take. Instead, they help you discover what matters to you and support you in making choices that align with those values.
How ACT is Different from Other Therapies
If you’ve been in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or other traditional therapies, you may notice some key differences with ACT:
- ACT Doesn’t Focus on Changing Thoughts – While CBT teaches you to challenge and replace negative thoughts, ACT teaches you to change your relationship with thoughts so they don’t control your behavior.
- ACT Embraces Discomfort – Many therapies aim to reduce symptoms like anxiety or sadness. ACT acknowledges that discomfort is part of life and focuses instead on helping you live well even when discomfort is present.
- ACT is Values-Driven – Rather than setting goals based on symptom reduction (e.g., “reduce my anxiety by 50%”), ACT helps you set goals based on what you care about (e.g., “be more present with my children” or “pursue a career that aligns with my passions”).
- ACT Uses Metaphors and Experiential Learning – ACT therapists often use stories, metaphors, and in-session exercises to help concepts come alive, rather than relying solely on discussion and analysis.
Both CBT and ACT are evidence-based and effective – they simply take different paths. For some people, ACT resonates more deeply, especially if they’ve found that trying to control or eliminate uncomfortable thoughts and feelings hasn’t worked.
ACT for Teens and Young Adults
ACT can be particularly powerful for adolescents and young adults, who are often navigating intense pressure to perform, fit in, or meet expectations from parents, schools, and peers.
Teens benefit from ACT because it:
- Validates their struggles without trying to “fix” them – ACT acknowledges that life can be hard and that difficult emotions are normal, rather than treating teens as though something is wrong with them.
- Helps them clarify their own values – Many teens feel like they’re living someone else’s life or chasing goals that don’t actually matter to them. ACT helps them identify what they care about, separate from what others expect.
- Teaches practical skills – Defusion and mindfulness techniques give teens tools they can use in real time when they’re feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stuck.
Our ACT therapists who work with teens understand how to adapt the approach to be developmentally appropriate and engaging for younger clients.
Why Choose LIC for ACT?
Long Island Counseling has therapists trained specifically in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which means you’re working with someone who understands the model deeply and can apply it effectively.
Here’s what sets us apart:
- Specialized ACT Training – Our therapists have completed advanced training in ACT and use it as a primary approach in their practice. We’re not just borrowing a few techniques – we understand the philosophy and science behind the model.
- Individualized Approach – While ACT has a clear framework, we tailor it to your specific struggles, values, and goals. Your therapy will be unique to you.
- Multiple Locations and Telehealth – We have offices throughout Long Island and offer remote therapy, making it easy to access ACT therapy in a way that works for your life.
- Collaborative and Non-Judgmental – ACT is built on collaboration and respect for your autonomy. We won’t tell you what to do or judge your choices – we’ll help you find your own path forward.
If you’ve been struggling with anxiety, depression, chronic pain, or simply feeling stuck – and if trying to control or eliminate your discomfort hasn’t worked – ACT may offer a different path forward.
You don’t have to wait until your thoughts are “better” or your feelings are “fixed” to start living a meaningful life. With ACT, you can learn to make room for discomfort, let go of the struggle, and take action toward what truly matters to you.
If you’re ready to explore whether ACT is right for you, please reach out to Long Island Counseling Services today. Let’s start a conversation about how we can help you move toward the life you want to live.