acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

Combatting Scrupulosity with Mindfulness Through ACT

Combatting Scrupulosity with Mindfulness Through ACT

Dealing with something mentally that you don’t understand or can’t identify can be extremely frustrating. It is common to have thoughts like, “why doesn’t anyone else seem to be struggling with this” or “I wish I knew how to help myself.” I experienced thoughts like these before I learned about scrupulosity. As I was working through my own experience with mild scrupulosity, I practiced multiple components of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which made my thoughts much more productive and manageable. 

Experiential Avoidance

Experiential Avoidance

Experiential avoidance is an unwillingness to remain in contact with distressing internal experiences and attempting to control or avoid these distressing internal experiences (Hayes-Skelton & Eustis, 2020). Essentially, it’s avoiding specific memories, thoughts, or feelings, because we don’t want to face the potential pain that comes with them. It’s something that we are all tempted to do at some point.