Learning ACT, An Acceptance and Commitment Skills-Training Manual, written by three experts in this new and innovative type of therapy, Luoma, Hayes, and Walser, sets the standard for how psychotherapy books ought to be written. I have never read a book on how to do psychotherapy of any orientation that is as clear, comprehensive and helpful in teaching you how to do that particular brand of therapy. Learning Act is not a book that teaches you "about" ACT. It is a book that does exactly what the title tells you it does; it helps you learn to do ACT. It is a book for the clinician who is interested in experiential learning because it engages you and requires that you participate and practice the skills you have learned from it.

In a very methodical and systematic way, it breaks ACT down into its basic therapeutic processes and then proceeds to teach you how to do them. First you get some theory so you can understand the basic principles and concepts of the system. If you're not at all familiar with the behavior analytic terminology and concepts, you may strain a bit and may experience some puzzled moments, but as an ACT therapist might invite you to do, just go with it, allow yourself to feel some discomfort, and proceed with your intention to read this book. You will not regret it. You will be richly rewarded and you will have a good sense of its theoretical underpinnings. In fact, it may even stimulate your intellectual curiosity to do more reading and learn more about the theory itself, and the science that forms the strong foundation on which ACT rests. Next, it gives you descriptions of techniques, metaphors, stories. You get transcripts of actual therapist-client interactions and then, the best part of all, you get to play the part of the therapist. You are given clinical vignettes and are asked to respond to client comments and give a rationale for your responses. Finally, the authors offer two or three possible responses they themselves would make in those situations. So, you learn from reading, you practice by responding to clinical situations, and you get feedback by comparing your responses to those of the authors of the book. It is truly an experience working with this book. It's almost like going to a workshop to learn how to do ACT. It doesn't matter whether you are an experienced or inexperienced therapist. Novice clinicians are fortunate to have a book that takes them by the hand, tells them how to do it, and gives them an opportunity to practice what they've learned by responding in an ACT-consistent way to client comments made in an in-session clinical situation. Experienced clinicians who have never done ACT are fortunate to have a guide to help them navigate through the battle between ACT-consistent therapeutic behavior and the old and well-rehearsed responses and competing habits they learned from other therapeutic modalities that they may have been practicing for some time.

In the last few years, several excellent books have been written about ACT, all specializing in various topics such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, chronic pain, etc. And of course there is the first one written in 1999, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, the "bible" in the field. It was written by the founder and main force behind this new and innovative therapy, Steve Hayes, in collaboration with two other psychologists, Kirk Strosahl and Kelly Wilson, themselves very well known leaders, innovators and excellent practitioners of ACT. The Learning ACT book serves as a fine companion to the other more specialized books because it was written for the sole purpose of building basic skills in therapists who want to practice ACT.