The application of acceptance and commitment therapy to the treatment of adolescents with disruptive behaviours.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one of a 'new-wave'of \nacceptance-focused behaviour therapies. Proponents of ACT argue that it is worthy of the \nattention of those interested in behaviour change through psychotherapy, for four reasons. \n100 \nThe literature review discusses these reasons. First, ACT is based on the philosophy of \nfunctional contextualism, which, it is argued, is consistent with the natural analytic agenda Cý \nof clinicians. Second, ACI'offers a broadly applicable theory of psychopathology. The \ntheory holds that much psychopathology results from experiential avoidance- efforts by a \nperson to avoid, change, and/or otherwise control difficult private experiences (e. g., \nemotions, thoughts, memories, bodily sensations). ACT is a treatment for experiential \navoidance, in which clients are guided toward willing acceptance of private experiences, in \nthe pursuit of their values. Third, four empirical studies provide evidence for the \nusefulness of ACT as a treatment approach. This evidence is critically evaluated. Fourth, \nACT has been used to treat many different topographically defined psychological \nproblems and may be applicable to others. ACT is a promising treatment approach that \nrequires further empirical investigation. \nThe research study describes the application of ACT to the treatment of experiential \navoidance in two adolescents with disruptive behaviour problems (DBPs). There are a \nnumber of reasons to believe that experiential avoidance may be an important functional \nfactor in this population. It was hypothesised that treatment would result in clinically \nsignificant decreases in participants' (a) self-reported experiential avoidance, and (b) \nparent-reported frequencies of DBPs. Single-case experimental methodology was