ACT Therapy in California

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, known as ACT, helps people stop struggling against difficult thoughts and feelings and start building a life guided by their values.

The Meadowglade offers ACT therapy in California as part of our comprehensive mental health treatment programs, delivered on a private 24-acre estate in Moorpark by an experienced clinical team.

If you are ready to learn a new form of mental health therapy, call us today at 888-272-2062.

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What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)?

ACT is an evidence-based form of psychotherapy that combines mindfulness practices with behavior change strategies. The name reflects its two central movements: accepting the thoughts and emotions that show up, and committing to actions that align with your values.

Many people spend enormous energy trying to control or avoid painful feelings. ACT takes a different path. It teaches psychological flexibility, which is the ability to stay present with discomfort while still moving toward what matters to you. Symptoms often lessen as a result, and life gets bigger in the process.

The 6 Core Processes of ACT

ACT builds psychological flexibility through six interconnected skills:

Acceptance: Making room for difficult thoughts and emotions instead of fighting them, which reduces the added suffering that struggle creates.
Cognitive Defusion: Learning to observe thoughts as passing mental events rather than absolute truths that must be obeyed.
Present-Moment Awareness: Using mindfulness to stay grounded in what is happening now rather than replaying the past or rehearsing the future.
Self-as-Context: Connecting with the steady, observing part of yourself that exists beyond any thought, feeling, or label.
Values Clarification: Identifying what matters most to you, whether that is family, creativity, health, or connection, so your life has a clear direction.
Committed Action: Taking concrete, values-guided steps even when discomfort shows up along the way.

Your therapist weaves these processes together across sessions, so each skill reinforces the others.

How ACT Compares to CBT

ACT grew out of the cognitive behavioral tradition, and the two approaches share common ground. Both are structured, skills-based, and supported by decades of research. The difference lies in how each handles difficult thoughts. Cognitive behavioral therapy works to identify and change distorted thinking patterns. ACT changes your relationship to those thoughts, so they lose their grip whether or not their content changes.

Many clients benefit from both approaches. At The Meadowglade, your treatment plan can draw on ACT, CBT, and dialectical behavioral therapy together, matched to how your mind works and what you want from treatment.

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What Conditions Can ACT Therapy Treat?

ACT has strong research support across a wide range of mental health conditions. At The Meadowglade, we use ACT to treat anxiety disorders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and trauma-related conditions. It is also a valuable approach in eating disorder treatment, where learning to tolerate uncomfortable thoughts about food and body image supports lasting recovery.

ACT is especially helpful for people who have tried to think their way out of a condition and found themselves stuck. Its emphasis on workability, meaning what actually helps you live well, offers a fresh starting point.

You Are Not Alone. You Deserve To Get Help.

The Meadowglade is an industry leader in mental health treatment. Our team of top medical experts specialize in dual diagnosis treatment and are committed to ensuring that each patient is treated as an individual. Call us today, we’re available 24/7.

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What to Expect During ACT Therapy Sessions

ACT sessions are active and collaborative. Your therapist will use conversation, mindfulness exercises, and metaphors that make abstract ideas concrete and memorable. You might practice noticing thoughts as they arise, explore what you truly value, or map out specific actions to take between sessions.

Expect to participate rather than simply talk. ACT is experiential by design, because psychological flexibility is a skill you build through practice. Over time, clients often notice they can feel anxiety or sadness and still show up fully for their lives.

How Effective Is ACT Therapy?

ACT is recognized as an empirically supported treatment by the American Psychological Association, with hundreds of clinical trials demonstrating its effectiveness for conditions including anxiety, depression, and chronic stress. Research shows that gains from ACT tend to hold up well over time, because clients leave treatment with durable skills rather than temporary relief.

ACT Therapy at The Meadowglade

At The Meadowglade, ACT is integrated into a whole-person model of care. Your individualized treatment plan may combine ACT with individual psychotherapy, group therapy, psychiatric care, and holistic therapies that support the mindfulness skills at the heart of ACT.

Our setting deepens the work. Present-moment awareness comes more naturally in our gardens, orchards, and quiet outdoor spaces than it does in a busy clinic, and values often become clearer when daily noise falls away. Every element of our campus was designed to support the kind of reflection ACT asks of you.

Levels of Care That Include ACT Therapy in California

ACT is available across our full continuum of care, so you can access it at the level of support that fits your needs:

Residential Treatment: Immersive, around-the-clock care where ACT skills are practiced throughout daily life on campus.
Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): Structured daytime programming that includes ACT-based individual and group work.
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): Several sessions per week that let you apply ACT skills in real time at work, school, and home.
Outpatient Treatment: Ongoing ACT therapy that sustains your progress over the long term.

Clients come to us from across California, and our admissions team can help arrange travel and pick-up for those coming from outside the area.

Does Insurance Cover ACT Therapy?

Insurance typically covers clinical treatment and programming at The Meadowglade, including ACT therapy. We are an in-network provider for Blue Shield of California, TRICARE, and TriWest, and we accept most major insurance carriers.

Verify your insurance online in minutes, or call (888) 272-2062 and our team will check your benefits for you.

Why Choose The Meadowglade for ACT Therapy in California

The Meadowglade is a CARF-accredited mental health facility offering a rare combination of clinical depth and restorative setting. Our therapists bring extensive training in ACT and related evidence-based modalities, and our full continuum of care means your treatment adapts as your needs change.

Here, ACT is practiced in an environment built for exactly the kind of presence and reflection it teaches.

Start ACT Therapy in California Today

A meaningful life does not require winning the battle against every difficult thought. It requires knowing what matters to you and moving toward it, and ACT gives you the tools to do both.

Call The Meadowglade at 888-272-2062 or contact our admissions team to begin ACT therapy in California today.

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Our Mental Health Specialists

At The Meadowglade, our team of compassionate and experienced mental health professionals is dedicated to providing comprehensive mental health treatment in Los Angeles. Our multidisciplinary team works collaboratively to offer personalized care tailored to each individual’s needs.