Transform Your Mental Health Journey with ACT Therapy

If you're navigating anxiety, OCD, trauma, or an eating disorder, you're not alone—and healing is possible. At **Live Mindfully Psychotherapy**, I specialize in **Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)**, offering virtual support to women throughout Houston and across Texas. ACT is a research-backed approach that helps you relate to painful thoughts and emotions in a new way—so they no longer hold you back from living a life that’s meaningful and aligned with your core values.
Through compassionate, individualized care, I’ll help you develop the tools to manage emotional challenges while building a deeper sense of clarity, purpose, and inner strength.
**Let’s begin the work of moving forward—together.** Reach out today to learn how virtual ACT therapy can support your path to lasting change.
**Why Choose Live Mindfully Psychotherapy for ACT in Houston TX?**
**Specialized expertise in women’s mental health**, including anxiety, OCD, trauma, and eating disorders
**Convenient virtual therapy** designed for flexibility and accessibility across Texas
**Integrated, holistic care** for navigating complex and overlapping challenges
**Evidence-based treatment** delivered by an experienced, compassionate therapist
**Personalized care plans** tailored to your goals, strengths, and unique life experiences

Understanding Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a powerful, evidence-based approach that helps you build psychological flexibility—the ability to stay present with your thoughts and emotions while making choices aligned with your core values.

Rather than trying to eliminate negative thoughts or uncomfortable feelings, ACT guides you in changing how you relate to them. By creating space for these experiences instead of fighting them, you can move forward with greater clarity and purpose—even in the face of life’s challenges. ACT empowers you to focus on what truly matters, so you can live a life that feels more meaningful, authentic, and whole.

Core Principles of ACT Therapy

Mindfulness and Present-Moment Awareness

ACT therapy incorporates mindfulness skills to help you stay grounded in the present moment. Rather than getting caught in worries about the future or rumination about the past, mindfulness helps you to notice your thoughts and feelings without getting lost in them. Through regular mindfulness exercises, you'll develop greater awareness of your thoughts and feelings without judgment, creating space to respond more intentionally to life's challenges.

Acceptance Rather Than Avoidance

Avoidance is a natural instinct when faced with uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, or sensations. However, while it may offer temporary relief, avoidance often amplifies distress over time—leading to increased emotional reactivity and a buildup of unresolved tension. In ACT, practicing acceptance means allowing difficult feelings to be present without trying to suppress or control them. This shift creates space for you to respond more flexibly and take meaningful action aligned with your values, rather than being driven by fear or discomfort.

Cognitive Defusion

ACT provides techniques that help you create distance from unhelpful thoughts. Rather than being caught in the literal content of your thoughts, you learn to observe them as temporary mental events that come and go—not necessarily truths about yourself or reality. This perspective shift reduces the impact of difficult thoughts on your behavior and choices. And can make a significant difference when you’re navigating challenges like OCD or an eating disorder.

Values Clarification and Committed Action

A central component of Acceptance Commitment Therapy involves identifying your core values—what truly matters to you and gives your life meaning. These values serve as a compass for your decisions and actions, guiding you toward a more fulfilling life aligned with what you care about most. Committed action involves making concrete changes in your behavior that bring you closer to living the life you want.

How ACT Therapy Improves Mental Health

**Developing Psychological Flexibility**

The core goal of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is to cultivate psychological flexibility—the ability to adapt to life’s challenges with openness, awareness, and values-driven action. Rather than being stuck in rigid patterns of thinking or behavior, psychological flexibility empowers you to respond more effectively to difficult thoughts, emotions, and situations. This shift creates space for choices that reflect your values, leading to a more meaningful and resilient life.

**Reducing Emotional Avoidance**

Many mental health problems involve attempts to avoid or control uncomfortable emotions. ACT helps you recognize when you're engaging in avoidance and provides alternative approaches for relating to difficult feelings. By making room for emotions—even uncomfortable ones—you can redirect energy previously spent on avoidance toward your passions, goals, and relationships.

**Aligning Actions with Values**

ACT places a strong focus on helping you clarify what truly matters—your core values—and take meaningful steps aligned with them. This process can be especially powerful if you’ve lost touch with your sense of purpose or feel like you’ve been living according to others’ expectations. When your actions consistently reflect your values, life often feels more grounded, fulfilling, and authentically your own.

**Breaking Patterns of Rumination**

For many people, mental health challenges are fueled by repetitive cycles of negative thinking. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers practical tools to help you recognize when you're stuck in rumination and gently redirect your attention to the present moment. Breaking these thought loops can significantly ease symptoms of anxiety and depression, which creates space for more clarity and intentional action.

Specialized ACT Services at Live Mindfully Psychotherapy

My practice specializes in providing virtual Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for women navigating a range of mental health challenges. I take a personalized, compassionate approach—adapting each session to fit your unique experiences, goals, and strengths—so you can move forward in a way that feels both meaningful and sustainable.

One of the most common problems in anxiety disorders is rumination - the exhausting cycle of repetitive thoughts that can feel overwhelming and difficult to escape. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps disrupt this cycle by teaching you to relate to anxious thoughts in a new way—acknowledging them without letting them take control. Through strategies like cognitive defusion and acceptance, you can learn to observe your anxious thoughts without the obsessive rumination.
For individuals with OCD, I use a proven, integrated approach that combines Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)—the gold standard for OCD treatment. ACT is an evidence-based therapy that helps you change your relationship with intrusive thoughts, while ERP targets the compulsive behaviors that maintain the OCD cycle. Together, these approaches not only reduce symptoms but also improve overall quality of life by helping you build flexibility and resilience.
I also offer specialized OCD intensives—concentrated treatment experiences that provide rapid skill building and symptom relief through multiple sessions scheduled over a shorter time period. These intensives allow for deeper work with therapist support, accelerating progress compared to weekly sessions alone.
Trauma recovery requires both processing past experiences and building skills for present living. ACT contributes to this process through mindfulness skills that help ground you in the present moment when triggered by trauma reminders. Learning to distinguish between past threats and present safety is crucial for trauma recovery.
For many clients with complex trauma, I combine ACT with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for comprehensive treatment. EMDR helps process traumatic memories, while ACT builds skills for living fully in the present. This integration addresses both past experiences and present functioning, creating a path toward healing and growth.
Eating disorders often involve rigid food rules, a deep fear of weight gain, and the use of eating or exercise behaviors as a way to manage overwhelming emotions. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) supports recovery by fostering psychological flexibility and helping individuals reconnect with their core values.
Instead of focusing solely on eliminating eating disorder behaviors, ACT explores the function of these behaviors—such as emotional avoidance or the need for control—and helps clients develop healthier, more sustainable ways to meet those needs. This approach allows for deeper healing and long-term change.
ACT also offers a powerful framework for body image work. Rather than striving to evaluate the body as “good” or “bad,” ACT encourages body acceptance through mindfulness—helping clients experience their bodies as instruments for living, not objects for judgment. This shift supports a more peaceful, compassionate relationship with the body and a more authentic path to recovery.
My practice offers Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for athletes and dancers navigating the unique mental and emotional demands of performance. Challenges like performance anxiety, perfectionism, body image concerns, and injuries can deeply affect both well-being and the ability to fully engage in your sport or art form.
ACT provides practical tools to manage these challenges while keeping your focus on what matters most—your growth, goals, and passion for performance or competition. Rather than trying to eliminate nerves or self-doubt, ACT teaches you how to accept their presence and redirect your energy toward technique, creativity, and expression. This shift often enhances presence, increases flow, and deepens your connection to performance.
For those facing injuries, burnout, or career transitions, ACT can help you explore your values and identity outside of your sport or performing art. This process fosters resilience and a more grounded sense of self—so you can adapt to change while staying connected to what gives your life meaning.

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**Virtual ACT Therapy: Convenient, Effective Support**

Live Mindfully Psychotherapy offers all services through secure, HIPAA-compliant virtual sessions—making high-quality mental health care accessible no matter where you are in Texas. Virtual therapy provides a range of benefits designed to support your comfort, consistency, and progress:
**Convenience and flexibility:** Access ACT therapy from anywhere with a reliable internet connection
**Enhanced privacy:** Attend sessions from your own space, without the stress of office visits
**Fewer barriers to care:** Eliminate travel time, transportation issues, and location-based limitations
**Greater comfort:** Many clients find it easier to open up and engage fully when in familiar surroundings
Research consistently shows that virtual therapy is just as effective as in-person treatment for most concerns. I’ve received specialized training in delivering **ACT online**, ensuring that core techniques and experiential exercises are thoughtfully adapted to the virtual setting—so you receive the same depth of care, connection, and effectiveness, wherever you are.

Group Therapy Using ACT Principles

In addition to individual therapy, I offer virtual therapy groups centered around themes where Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has proven especially effective. These groups provide a supportive space to explore challenges while building psychological flexibility and emotional resilience. Current offerings include:

Women’s process groups addressing a range of life transitions and stressors
Eating disorder recovery groups with a focus on body acceptance and value-based healing
Anxiety management groups aimed at reducing avoidance and increasing present-moment awareness
Trauma recovery groups for women reclaiming their sense of self after difficult experiences

These groups blend the power of ACT with the healing nature of community. In a group setting, participants often gain clarity by seeing their struggles reflected in others—an experience that accelerates insight and fosters deeper self-compassion. Group therapy offers not only practical skills but also a sense of connection and shared growth that can be profoundly transformative.

EMDR Intensives Combined with ACT

For deeper trauma healing, I offer specialized EMDR Intensives that integrate the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). These intensives provide concentrated sessions focused on processing traumatic memories, allowing for deeper, more sustained progress than traditional weekly therapy often permits.

ACT offers a strong foundation for EMDR by helping clients develop the skills to stay grounded, present, and psychologically flexible while engaging with painful emotions. After EMDR processing, ACT supports lasting transformation by guiding clients to reconnect with their values and take meaningful action—ensuring that emotional healing leads to real-life change.

Who Benefits Most from Our ACT Services

While Acceptance Commitment Therapy has proven effective for a wide range of psychological concerns, my practice specializes in working with:

Women Navigating Life Transitions and Identity

In my practice, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has proven especially effective for women in their mid-twenties to mid-forties—those navigating the complexities of building a professional identity while balancing relationships, self-discovery, and evolving life goals. ACT’s emphasis on acceptance and values clarification helps women move away from external pressures and toward more authentic, meaningful choices that reflect who they truly are and what matters most to them.

Individuals with Perfectionism and High Drive for Achievement

Perfectionism often comes with relentless self-criticism, fear of failure, and the sense that nothing is ever “good enough.” ACT therapy helps high-achieving individuals develop a more compassionate and balanced relationship with themselves—without sacrificing their motivation or goals. By learning to distinguish between helpful striving and unhelpful perfectionism, clients can pursue excellence in a way that feels sustainable, fulfilling, and aligned with their values, rather than driven by fear or self-doubt.

Those Experiencing Anxiety, OCD, and Trauma

ACT offers powerful, evidence-based strategies for managing anxiety, OCD, and trauma recovery. Instead of trying to eliminate difficult thoughts and emotions—which often makes them more intense—ACT helps you change how you relate to these experiences. By creating space for discomfort rather than resisting it, you gain the ability to take meaningful, values-aligned action—even in the presence of anxiety, intrusive thoughts, or emotional triggers.

Individuals with Eating Disorders and Body Image Concerns

ACT has demonstrated strong effectiveness in treating eating disorders by focusing not just on the behaviors, but on the underlying function they serve—such as emotional avoidance, control, or as a source of self-worth. Through values clarification, individuals often begin to see how disordered eating patterns conflict with what truly matters to them. This insight fosters motivation for change rooted in the desire to build a meaningful, fulfilling life—not just to reduce symptoms, but to move toward something deeper and more sustaining.

Begin Your Therapy Journey Today

Starting therapy is a meaningful step toward greater well-being and personal growth. At Live Mindfully Psychotherapy, I strive to make the process clear, welcoming, and supportive—so you feel confident and cared for from the very beginning:

The Initial Consultation Process

Your journey begins with a free consultation to explore your needs and determine whether my approach aligns with your goals. During this conversation, you can ask questions about my therapeutic methods and share what brings you to therapy.

What to Expect in ACT Therapy Sessions

Virtual ACT therapy sessions typically last 45-50 minutes and occur weekly, at least initially. Each session combines discussion, experiential exercises, and collaborative planning for between-session practice. Early sessions focus on understanding your challenges, clarifying your values, and building foundational mindfulness skills.

Creating Your Personalized Treatment Plan

While Acceptance and Commitment Therapy provides my therapeutic framework, I recognize that each client's journey is unique. Your treatment plan will be tailored to your specific challenges, strengths, values, and goals. For clients with multiple concerns—such as concurrent anxiety and trauma symptoms—I prioritize interventions strategically, addressing immediate distress while building toward comprehensive healing.

**Take the First Step Toward Healing**

At Live Mindfully Psychotherapy, I offer specialized care with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for women across Houston and throughout Texas. Whether you're navigating anxiety, OCD, trauma, or an eating disorder, my goal is to provide a safe, supportive space where you can reconnect with what truly matters—and begin creating a life rooted in meaning, not fear.
ACT is more than a treatment approach—it’s a path toward greater clarity, self-compassion, and resilience. Together, we’ll work to build the tools you need to move through life’s challenges with openness and intention.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The duration of therapy varies based on individual needs and goals. Some clients experience significant improvement within 8-12 therapy sessions, while others benefit from longer-term work. During your consultation, I can discuss reasonable expectations based on your specific situation.
Research consistently shows that virtual therapy can be equally effective as in-person therapy for most mental health concerns. Many clients prefer the convenience and comfort of attending sessions from their own space. My secure platform ensures confidentiality comparable to in-person sessions.
I specialize in working with women experiencing anxiety, OCD, trauma, and eating disorders—often addressing these challenges when they occur together. I have advanced training in multiple evidence-based approaches, allowing me to integrate methods based on individual needs rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.
ACT often complements other therapeutic approaches and can work well alongside other types of mental health support. During your consultation, I'll discuss any current treatment to ensure coordination and create an integrated approach to your well-being.

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Houston: Specialized Virtual Mental Health Support