A pragmatic truth

Functional contextualism, which includes the theory and practice of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, takes a different view of truth in which ‘what works’ is the central criterion of truth. Cognitive therapists using the model with their clients will likely seek a correspondence between the inputs, processes, and outputs described by it and the lived experience of their client. If there is a good fit between the model and the lived experience, the model might be seen as a ‘true’ description. Instead of seeking objective correspondence between behaviour and verbal descriptions of it, the purpose of functional contextualism is pragmatic, in the sense of seeking to help people make more informed choices about their behaviour, such that it becomes more functional. Within functional contextualism, truth is defined more closely by what is shown to be effective and in the best interests of the individual in question.