The Fifth Core Process of ACT: Values
Within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the fifth core process is the clarification of values, which serves as a fundamental, guiding principle for meaningful living and psychological flexibility. Values in ACT are defined as freely chosen, ongoing life directions or desired qualities of action that are personally meaningful but never fully completed or achieved as objects; instead, they are continuously enacted and embodied through decisions and actions in daily life. Importantly, values are distinguished from goals: while goals are specific, tangible, and achievable outcomes, values refer to broader, ongoing directions that inspire action, such as being generous, maintaining integrity, or caring for others and the planet.
How ACT Approaches Values Clarification
ACT emphasizes that genuine values clarification involves identifying what is truly important to oneself, not based on social compliance, avoidance, or what one thinks one “should” value. The process of values clarification in ACT often makes use of exercises to help individuals discern and articulate their values in various domains such as family, work, social relationships, personal growth, or connection to nature. By consistently acting in line with clear values, regardless of discomfort or internal struggle, individuals move toward a richer, more meaningful life and are better equipped to cope with adversity. Integration of values within ACT is inseparable from responsibility; true values are only actualized when individuals acknowledge both internal experiences and external realities.
The Necessity of Accepting Reality for True Values
A central tenet of ACT is the inseparability of values from reality. This means that authentic values-driven action requires full acceptance of the facts and circumstances that constitute one’s world—including distressing realities such as the 6th mass extinction and the ongoing climate crisis. Acceptance is not about resignation or helplessness, but about open acknowledgment and willingness to engage with the present reality as it actually is. Only in this context can values serve as a true compass, guiding actions that meaningfully and constructively address the existential challenges facing humanity and the planet.
Denial of the 6th Mass Extinction and Climate Crisis: Blocking Responsible Valuing
When individuals deny or refuse to accept realities like the accelerating biodiversity loss (the 6th mass extinction) and climate disruption, several foundational ACT processes—and integrity in values—are fundamentally compromised. Denial serves as a psychological defense that shields individuals from emotional pain, guilt, or the discomfort of confronting difficult truths, but it also severs the connection between values and concrete reality. In ACT terms, this is a form of experiential avoidance and psychological inflexibility that prevents not only acceptance of facts but also honest self-reflection about what values truly demand.
Most crucially, denying these planetary crises is a denial of the personal and collective responsibility that comes with being a member of the human family on Earth. ACT asserts that values such as responsibility, stewardship, and care are only genuine if they are enacted with awareness of—and engagement with—current reality. Denial, therefore, leads to a profound value-action gap: professed values (e.g., caring about future generations, valuing nature, or being responsible) are contradicted by avoidance or inaction in the face of pressing environmental realities.
The Universal Nature of Responsibility
Responsibility, within both ACT and ethical frameworks, is not something one can opt out of by denial; it is inherent in our interdependence with other people and with the biosphere. Denying this responsibility—by claiming ignorance, disinterest, or disconnection from ecological crises—constitutes a form of self-deception and disconnects individuals from their true values. In practical terms, if someone claims to value integrity or compassion but simultaneously denies or ignores realities that require responsible action, their claim to these values is hollow: their actions are not authentically grounded in values but are instead a product of avoidance or social posturing.
The Consequence: Living a Lie About Values
When denial becomes a habit, it results in a life disconnected from authentic values—a kind of self-deception in which an individual’s words and claimed values no longer correspond to their actions. This incongruence is particularly acute in the context of large-scale crises like climate change: it is not possible to act with integrity, compassion, or responsibility while simultaneously refusing to accept or respond to planetary realities that call for these exact qualities. ACT posits that proclaimed values lose their function and meaning when they do not connect to present-moment reality; denial transforms value statements into empty rhetoric, which only perpetuates avoidance and inaction.
The Path Toward Genuine, Values-Based Action
For values to be truthful and effective guides in ACT, one must start with radical acceptance—facing facts as they are, no matter how painful, overwhelming, or inconvenient they may seem. From this honest engagement with reality, individuals are empowered to clarify, strengthen, and enact values in authentic, responsible ways that address the true needs of the world. This process restores integrity to both personal well-being and global citizenship, ensuring that values are not abstractions but lived directions that shape compassionate and courageous action.
Conclusion: Denial and the Undoing of Values
In summary, the fifth core process of ACT—values—cannot be meaningfully engaged when individuals refuse to accept the realities of the 6th mass extinction, climate change, or other collective crises. Denial represents a rejection of responsibility, severs the essential link between values and reality, and turns value-driven action into a charade rather than a genuine force for good. Only through full acceptance of uncomfortable but essential truths can anyone authentically live and act according to their deepest values, taking up the personal and collective responsibility that comes with being a citizen of Earth
