Which statement best describes the difference between cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in psychosocial wellbeing interventions?

• A. CBT targets changing maladaptive thoughts and behaviors; ACT emphasizes acceptance, values-driven action, and cognitive defusion to increase psychological flexibility.
• B. CBT emphasizes acceptance, values-driven action, and cognitive defusion; ACT targets changing maladaptive thoughts and behaviors.
• C. CBT is primarily about dream analysis; ACT relies on exposure therapy.
• D. CBT ignores thoughts; ACT focuses on symptom suppression.

Answer: (A)

The difference is in how each approach handles thoughts and actions to improve wellbeing. Cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on changing the content of thoughts and the related behaviors to reduce distress—identifying distorted beliefs, challenging them, and testing them through behavioral strategies and exposure to help lessen symptoms and improve functioning. Acceptance and commitment therapy, on the other hand, treats thoughts as activities of the mind rather than literal truths. It uses acceptance, mindfulness, cognitive defusion (seeing thoughts as thoughts, not facts), and a focus on personal values to guide committed action, aiming to increase psychological flexibility so a person can act in line with what matters even when distress is present.

This framing explains why ACT emphasizes acceptance, values-driven action, and cognitive defusion, while CBT targets altering maladaptive thoughts and behaviors. Dream analysis or symptom suppression aren’t central to ACT or CBT, respectively, which is why those alternatives don’t fit.