Brief summary
A new study published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science has introduced the first-ever situational judgement test (SJT) for acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT); and the research used Contextual Consulting workshops as the real-world training setting.
Developed by Kathryn Jamison, David Curran, Ross White, and Victoria Samuel, the ACT Situational Judgement Test (ACT SJT) offers a practical way to assess how well practitioners apply ACT-consistent principles in realistic clinical situations.
The study showed that attending Contextual Consulting’s ACT workshops led to significant improvements in participants’ applied ACT knowledge, confirming that short, high-quality online training can meaningfully enhance therapists’ ability to think and respond in ACT-consistent ways.
About the ACT situational judgement test
The ACT SJT is a 10-item, scenario-based questionnaire that measures applied ACT knowledge, that is, how therapists might respond to real-world clinical situations in a way that aligns with ACT principles.
Each question presents a therapeutic scenario followed by three possible responses:
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one ACT-consistent response (scored 1),
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and two ACT-inconsistent responses (scored 0).
The total score out of 10 reflects how strongly ACT processes influence the respondent’s clinical decision-making.
Higher scores indicate that ACT principles (such as defusion, acceptance, and values-based action) guide the person’s responses.
Lower scores suggest that other therapeutic models (for example, traditional CBT or counselling approaches) may be more influential.
The test was developed through a Delphi consensus study with experienced ACT experts from around the world, ensuring that each item accurately represents key ACT processes across the Triflex model — Openness, Awareness, and Engagement.
Key findings from the study
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Significant learning gains: ACT SJT scores increased from an average of 5.38 before training to 7.29 after attending Contextual Consulting workshops (p < .001).
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Applicable to beginners: The SJT was particularly sensitive to knowledge gains among those new to ACT.
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Reliable and acceptable: The SJT demonstrated acceptable reliability and was rated highly for clarity and usability.
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Valid and practical: Pre-training SJT scores correlated strongly with participants’ prior ACT experience, suggesting good validity.
Why this matters
ACT training has often relied on self-report or conceptual tests. The ACT SJT provides a more behaviourally grounded measure, showing not only what practitioners know about ACT, but how they are likely to apply it in session.
The findings demonstrate that Contextual Consulting’s online workshops effectively build practical ACT competencies and can be reliably evaluated using this new measure.
Reference
Jamison, K., Curran, D., White, R., & Samuel, V. (2025). Applied knowledge of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Developing and assessing the utility of a Situational Judgement Test (SJT). Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 38, 100949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2025.100949