Assaz, Daniel A. and Tyndall, Ian and Oshiro, Claudia K.B. and Roche, Bryan (2023) A Process-Based Analysis of Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Behavior Therapy, 54 (6). pp. 1020-1035. ISSN 0005-7894

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Abstract

Cognitive defusion is among the main components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a contextual behavioral approach to psychotherapy. Defusion serves as a middle-level term, and, as such, may be useful for applying and disseminating behavior science, despite its lower precision. However, some authors argue that for middle-level terms in psychotherapy to be useful to clinicians, they need to be clearly linked to basic behavioral concepts, with higher precision; and that this is not currently the case with defusion. Our objective is to increase the pragmatic utility of the concept of “cognitive defusion” by providing a more nuanced, multifaceted and process-based definition of the term. In order to do this, we surveyed the ACT literature regarding defusion and critically examined it through the lens of conceptual analysis. This culminated in a revised and updated conceptualization of defusion in terms of its relationship to basic behavioral concepts, in which defusion is an outcome that may be achieved through different processes.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	acceptance and commitment therapy; ACT; cognitive defusion; middle-level terms; behavioral processes;
Academic Unit:	Assisting Living & Learning,ALL institute Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	18515
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2022.06.003
Depositing User:	Dr. Bryan Roche
Date Deposited:	14 May 2024 14:49
Journal or Publication Title:	Behavior Therapy
Publisher:	Elsevier
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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