Pragmatism over truth

The philosophical stance of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is that there is no objective truth, and the focus is on helping the client in developing functional coherence. This involves noticing and tracking what choices work well for them; for example, which thoughts they allow to influence and shape their behaviour. Discussions about objective truth are problematic because often such truth can never really be established. Imagine that Art therapists experienced a terrifying fear of being struck by lightning. Art therapists would be encouraged to track the most helpful ways to respond when the thoughts showed up, thereby promoting functional coherence. In this way, ACT takes a much more pragmatic focus and emphasises the behavioural response to distressing thoughts, rather than any sense of their truth.