This systematic review explores the impact of workplace acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) interventions on the subprocesses of psychological flexibility. The focus is on six key subprocesses: contact with the present moment, acceptance, defusion, self-as-context, values, and committed action. The review synthesises findings from 30 workplace ACT trials to evaluate how effectively these interventions target specific subprocesses, particularly in improving mental health and workplace well-being.
Key findings
- Defusion: Strong evidence shows that workplace ACT interventions significantly improve defusion, helping individuals to “step back” from unhelpful thoughts. This subprocess was the most consistently targeted and effective across the studies.
- Contact with the present moment: Moderate evidence suggests that ACT enhances present moment awareness, particularly the ability to observe bodily sensations and emotions. However, effects on attentional focus and reduced mind wandering were less consistent.
- Acceptance: Moderate evidence supports ACT’s ability to foster greater acceptance of difficult emotions and experiences, though these effects often emerged over longer follow-up periods.
- Values and committed action: Evidence was weaker and inconsistent. While some studies showed improvements in values-driven behaviour, challenges in measurement tools limited clarity.
- The findings also highlight that specific subprocesses, such as defusion and acceptance, often mediate ACT’s positive effects on mental health and burnout.
Practice recommendations
- Workplace ACT interventions should prioritise cultivating defusion and acceptance, as these subprocesses appear to have the most substantial and long-term impact on mental health and well-being. Techniques such as cognitive defusion exercises, values clarification, and metaphors may enhance effectiveness.
- To maximise benefits, ACT programmes should include practices targeting multiple psychological flexibility subprocesses, rather than focusing solely on present moment awareness.
- Programme duration should be sufficient to allow for long-term changes, with evidence suggesting that interventions spread over multiple weeks are more effective than shorter, single-session formats.
- Future workplace ACT initiatives should adopt multidimensional measures of psychological flexibility to better capture changes across subprocesses and refine intervention strategies.
Reference
Rad, Y., Prudenzi, A., Zernerova, L., Gerson, J., & Flaxman, P. E. (2025). Effects of workplace acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) programs on psychological flexibility’s subprocesses: A systematic review. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 37, 100915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2025.100915
