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Acceptance and Commitment Training Within the Scope of Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis

Behavior Analysis in Practice volume 15, pages 11–32 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a contemporary behavior-analytic approach to intervening on verbal behavior for the purposes of bringing about socially meaningful overt behavior change. Although originally developed as a behavior-analytic approach to psychotherapy, the conceptual functional analyses and procedures that form the core of ACT have been disseminated broadly outside of clinical psychology, including within the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). This article discusses the use of ACT within mainstream ABA practice and provides preliminary conceptual functional analyses and practical guidelines for incorporating ACT within the scope of practice of applied behavior analysts.

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Author Note

The authors would like to thank Drs. Evelyn Gould, Emily Sandoz, Steven C. Hayes, and Courtney Tarbox for their contributions throughout the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jonathan Tarbox & Megan Aclan

  2. School of Behavior Analysis, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA

    Thomas G. Szabo

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  1. Jonathan Tarbox
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Correspondence to Jonathan Tarbox.

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Tarbox, J., Szabo, T.G. & Aclan, M. Acceptance and Commitment Training Within the Scope of Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis. Behav Analysis Practice 15, 11–32 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00466-3

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Keywords

  • Acceptance and commitment therapy
  • Acceptance and commitment training
  • Scope of practice
  • Applied behavior analysis