Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to (Re)conceptualize Stress Appraisal.

ACCEPTANCE (Psychology); COMMITMENT (Psychology); PHYSIOLOGICAL stress; MENTAL health counseling

Existing models for stress and coping are helpful tools for understanding the stress process and developing interventions to combat stress-related illness. However, popular stress models emphasize cognition and cognitive appraisal, which results in strategies that focus on reappraising, changing the form and frequency of cognition, or using distraction techniques. Research in mental health counseling and other related fields has revealed that changing the content of a stimulus may not be necessary' to alter stress response. The purpose of this paper is to present the use of acceptance and commitment therapy as an effective mental health counseling approach for the treatment of stress-related illness by helping clients (re)conceptualize stress appraisal and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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