Effectiveness of Acceptance of Commitment Therapy On the Relationship Quality of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Abstract

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a popular treatment developed by Steven C. Hayes to help individuals overcome their obsessive and unwanted thoughts by teaching them to be aware of those and to engage in a replacement behavior. The current study looks at the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on 2 parents of children diagnosed with Autism (ASD). Two pairs of parents were included in this research. The parents received ACT training over the duration of 3 months. All of the parents showed a decrease in their engagement of negative and unwanted thoughts after implementing ACT techniques. Parents 2 and 3 did not engage in thoughts during the last week of treatment. While parents 1 and 4 were able to reduce the frequency of unwanted thoughts by at least 80% when compared to baseline. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy shows be an effective treatment for parents of children on the Autism Spectrum.