ACT isn’t just for the therapy room; its principles and guidance are scattered through our everyday lives and cultures. Relatable examples and metaphors can be so helpful in communicating the essence of what we mean in therapy when we talk about acceptance, defusion, and values-based living.
As self-certified ACT nerds we are always excited when we hear the core processes quoted or concepts referenced in our favourite film franchises by the characters, here’s just a few examples that sprung to mind…
Examples of acceptance
- “Let it go. Let it go. Can’t hold it back anymore.” — Elsa: Frozen
- “You can either run from it or learn from it.” — Rafiki: The Lion King
- “Get busy living or get busy dying.” — Red: The Shawshank redemption
- “I’m gonna take all this negativity and use it as fuel, and I’m gonna find a silver lining. That’s what I’m gonna do.” — Pat Solitano: Silver Linings Playbook
Examples of defusion
- “Your focus determines your reality.” — Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
- “Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead, only try to realise the truth… there is no spoon.” — Spoon Boy: The Matrix
- “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.” — Captain Jack Sparrow: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- “After a while, you learn to ignore the names people call you and just trust who you are.” — Shrek: Shrek the Third
Examples of present moment awareness and mindfulness
- “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” — Ferris Bueller: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” — John Keating: Dead Poets society
- “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” — Oogway: Kung Fu Panda
- “Just keep swimming.” — Dory, Finding Nemo
Examples of committed action
- “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” — Bruce Wayne: Batman Begins
- “Do or do not. There is no try.” — Yoda, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
- “You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you, you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.” — Chris Gardner: The Pursuit of Happyness
- “If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff.” — Remy: Ratatouille
- “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” — Rocky Balboa: Rocky
Examples of values
- “The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” — The Emperor: Mulan
- “The only thing we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” — Gandalf: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” — William Shakespeare: Hamlet
Examples of self as context
- “It’s not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.” — Dumbledore: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- “What we do echoes in eternity.” — Maximus: Gladiator
- “I’m always going to be me.” Moana: Moana
- “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — Christopher Robin: Winnie the Pooh
Examples showing creative hopelessness
- “It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.” — Tyler Durden: Fight Club
- “You want out of the hole, first you got to put down the shovel” — Rick Dicker: Incredibles 2
And we even managed to find an example from the Jedi Grand Master Yoda himself that we think could be used to demonstrate the importance of towards and away moves as part of ACT matrix discussions.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” — Yoda, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Making ACT concepts more relatable and personalised to a clients interests can really help build rapport and relationship plus it make them more memorable. If you can think of any more examples, we’d love to add them to our list! Drop us a message on our social channels or tag us in any quotes/references that you use.