ACT Therapy

in Portland, OR

What Is ACT?

Have you spent years trying to control, fix, or get rid of the painful stuff you’re struggling with? What if there was a different way forward?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT, pronounced like the word “act”) is an evidence-based therapy that helps you build a rich, meaningful life even when you’re carrying anxiety, stress, grief, trauma, self-doubt, or old patterns that keep pulling you off course. ACT is grounded in the assumption that the painful thoughts and feelings you may be struggling with aren’t a sign that you’re broken or that you’re doing it wrong; it means that you’re human. The goal isn’t to try to “fix” you. The aim is to help you develop a new relationship with your painful thoughts and feelings, so they have less power to run your life.

What makes ACT truly distinctive as an acceptance-based therapy is its dual focus on acceptance and action. ACT is not standard talk therapy. ACT is an active, collaborative approach to psychotherapy in which you’ll learn concrete practical skills to help you experience the difficult thoughts and feelings that are an inevitable part of being human without getting tangled up in them. When you’re not fighting the losing fight against your thoughts and feelings, you are freed up to focus on what truly matters.

ACT helps with a wide range of concerns, including:

Anxiety and worry
Depression and low mood
Chronic pain
Stress and burnout
Relationship difficulties
Life transitions
Shame and self-criticism
Substance use
Trauma and PTSD

How ACT Works

ACT is grounded in decades of scientific research into how language and cognition affect human suffering. ACT’s main focus is on helping people increase their psychological flexibility, that is, the ability to stay connected to the present moment and choose your actions based on what matters, even when your mind is loud or your emotions are intense.

As an acceptance-based therapy, ACT is active, practical, and tailored to you. Through practical exercises, metaphors, and experiential techniques, you’ll learn to observe your inner world with curiosity rather than judgment and create space between you and your thoughts so you can respond to life based on what matters rather than reacting from fear or pain. This isn’t about forcing positivity or pretending things don’t hurt. It’s about building the capacity to carry what’s hard while still moving toward what’s important. Sessions often include guided exercises, mindful attention practices, and real-world experiments you can try between sessions.

We’ll work collaboratively with you to identify what’s keeping you stuck, clarify what kind of life you want to build, and develop the specific skills that will help you move forward. The focus is always on your values, your goals, and what a meaningful life looks like for you, making this a deeply individual journey even within an evidence-based framework.

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What You'll Learn in ACT

In ACT, you’ll learn tools to respond differently to difficult thoughts and challenging feelings. Instead of getting stuck in mental loops or trying to argue your mind into silence, ACT helps you create enough space that you can choose your next step with intention. You’ll also learn concrete skills to help you relate to emotions in a more workable way. You’ll practice making room for anxiety, grief, anger, or sadness without letting them dictate your decisions. Over time, this can build resilience and confidence: not because hard feelings disappear, but because you discover you can handle them and still live your life.

Finally, you’ll clarify what’s most important to you, your values and translate them into real, daily action. Many people come to therapy knowing what they don’t want (more anxiety, more loneliness, more pain) but haven’t spent time identifying what they do want to create and who they want to be. ACT will help you clarify your values and use them as a compass for decision-making and action.

Perhaps most importantly, you’ll learn to take committed action—to make behavioral changes, large and small, that move you toward the life you want even when it’s uncomfortable. ACT recognizes that meaningful change requires actually doing things differently, not just thinking or feeling differently. Your therapist will help you identify specific, realistic steps you can take and will support you in making changes in the areas that mean the most to you. Many clients find that as they do, they not only cope better, but also feel more grounded, more connected, and that they like themselves and their lives more. The goal is building a life worth living, one step at a time.

Why Choose Portland Psychotherapy for ACT Therapy?

At Portland Psychotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is our specialty and we’re fortunate to have some of the world’s leading experts in acceptance and commitment therapy on our team. Our staff includes researchers who have contributed to the scientific foundation of ACT, authors who have written some of the foundational texts in ACT, trainers who teach other therapists around the globe, and clinicians who have been practicing and refining this approach for decades. This depth of expertise means you’re learning from people who don’t just use ACT—they’ve helped shape it.

Yet we also know that expertise means nothing without genuine human connection, so we’re committed to providing ACT in a way that honors both the science and your individual humanity. For some clients, we also draw on focused acceptance and commitment therapy—a more targeted form designed for specific challenges or shorter treatment timelines. We understand that you’re the expert on your own life, and therapy works best when it’s a genuine collaboration between two people working together toward your goals. We bring evidence-based expertise; you bring your unique experiences, strengths, and wisdom about what matters to you. Our decades of experience have taught us that the most powerful therapy happens when deep knowledge meets deep listening.

We recognize that people come to therapy carrying all kinds of struggles: mental health challenges, yes, but also grief, life transitions, identity questions, relationship pain, chronic illness, and the simple weight of being human in difficult times. Whatever brings you here, you’ll be met with compassion, not judgment. Our practice is designed to be a safe, inclusive space where you can show up authentically. We’re committed to cultural humility and understand that values, goals, and what constitutes a meaningful life vary across cultures, identities, and experiences. We work hard to ensure our practice is welcoming and affirming for people of all backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences. Your ACT therapy will be tailored not just to your symptoms or struggles, but to who you are as a whole person—your context, your values, your strengths, and your vision for your life.

We believe deeply that a meaningful, well-lived life is available to everyone, regardless of what painful experiences come your way. You don’t have to wait until you feel better, think better, or have it all figured out to start living in alignment with what matters. That journey can begin now, and we’d be honored to walk alongside you as you take those steps.

Our Unique Scientist Practitioner Approach

What sets Portland Psychotherapy apart is our commitment to the scientist-practitioner model. Our unique business model means that the revenue from our clinical services funds ongoing research, keeping us at the forefront of evidence-based treatment. When you work with us, you benefit from therapists who are exceptionally well-trained and who stay current on what research says actually works.

At Portland Psychotherapy, our ACT psychotherapy is:

Evidence-Based

Grounded in over 1000 randomized controlled trials and decades of research on behavioral principles.

Personalized

Tailored to your unique concerns, values, and background.

Compassionate

Delivered by therapists who understand struggling doesn’t mean you’re broken; it means you’re human.

Inclusive

Affirming and welcoming to all identities, including LGBTQIA2S+ individuals and those in our BIPOC communities.

We also offer acceptance and commitment coaching approaches for those seeking personal growth outside of a clinical context, as well as training for professionals who want to deepen their own ACT practice.

Portland Psychotherapy

Get Started with ACT Therapy in Portland

If you’re ready to stop struggling with difficult thoughts and feelings and start building a life that matters to you, we’re here to help. Portland Psychotherapy offers free phone consultations so you can learn more about this approach, understand how it might address your specific concerns, and find the right clinician for you.

Our office is conveniently located in Portland, Oregon, and we offer both in-person and telehealth sessions to meet your needs.

Ready to take the first step? Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and learn how an experienced ACT therapist can support you in creating a more meaningful, values-driven life.

3719 N Williams Ave,
Portland, OR 97227