The Third Core Process of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Contact with the Present Moment
Within the framework of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the third core process is known as "Contact with the Present Moment" or "Being Present". This process emphasizes bringing conscious, open, and non-judgmental attention to one's current experiences, both internal and external, as they unfold. Rather than being preoccupied with regrets about the past or anxieties over the future, ACT encourages individuals to fully engage with the here and now, acknowledging sensations, thoughts, emotions, and surroundings as they are in the present moment.
Authentic presence, as conceptualized in ACT, involves mindfulness—a mental state characterized by awareness, curiosity, and acceptance of present experiences without attempting to avoid, suppress, or hurriedly change them. Mindfulness practices such as deep breathing, focused observation, and sensory awareness are integral to this process, allowing individuals to ground themselves in reality and respond with greater flexibility and alignment to their values. The aim is to foster psychological flexibility, which enables a person to adapt to various circumstances and take actions that are consistent with their chosen life directions, even in the presence of discomfort or difficulty.
The Nature of Denial: Contradiction to Genuine Presence
Despite the emphasis on being present, many individuals in contemporary society exhibit significant gaps between what ACT defines as present-moment awareness and their everyday practices, particularly in relation to existential global crises such as climate change and the ongoing 6th Mass Extinction. Denial of these realities manifests both as an avoidance of uncomfortable facts and as rationalizations for inaction.
The phrase "I live in the present" is frequently employed not as an invitation to experience reality directly, but as an excuse to disengage from disturbing environmental truths. Instead of fostering engagement, this claim often serves as a shield—either consciously or unconsciously—to elevate everyday priorities and transient satisfactions above the encroaching threats facing planetary life. In doing so, individuals can maintain a sense of comfort, personal identity, or normalcy, even as those justifications distance them from the urgent need for ecological action.
Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Denial and Inaction
A variety of psychological defenses help explain how denial operates in this context. Individuals employ moral disengagement, minimize the severity of the crises, displace responsibility, rationalize their behaviors, or simply emphasize the futility of individual action given the scale of the problem. Cognitive biases such as present bias (favoring immediate rewards over future risks) and optimism bias (believing that negative outcomes are less likely to befall oneself) further entrench this avoidance.
Such mechanisms allow people to hold abstract knowledge of global threats at arm's length, remaining emotionally and behaviorally unresponsive despite credible information and observable consequences. This dynamic is not limited to climate change skepticism; even those who intellectually accept the reality of climate crises fail to fully integrate this awareness into their everyday decision-making, creating what sociologists describe as "the absurdity of the double life"—simultaneously knowing and not knowing.
Additionally, there is widespread denial of personal responsibility for climate change and biodiversity loss, with individuals frequently projecting accountability onto governments, corporations, or vague collectives—thus justifying personal inaction.
The "Made Up Reality" of Modern Existence
By retreating into selective attention and avoiding uncomfortable realities, many people essentially "live" in a reality of their own construction—a world of make-beliefs that enables them to sidestep the existential anxiety and guilt associated with environmental crises. This self-protective illusion is supported by social norms, community habits, and cultural narratives that normalize avoidance and encourage focus on local, immediate concerns rather than global, systemic threats.
Interactions in such communities often reflect these shared make-beliefs: conversations are steered away from disturbing topics, humor is used to deflect anxiety, and the narrative that “everything is fine” is continually reinforced. The daily emphasis on manageable tasks and sensory pleasures—breakfast, shopping, local events—supplants attention to the broader, more troubling picture. This is not genuine presence in ACT’s sense; rather, it is a turning away from authentic contact with reality in favor of contentment within an emotionally safer, albeit illusory, domain.
The Paradox: “Living in the Present” as a Defense against Reality
Ironically, the culturally pervasive invocation of "living in the present" often directly contradicts the mindful, conscious, and open presence promoted by ACT. In its authentic therapeutic sense, being present means openness to all experiences—including those that are painful, distressing, or challenge our sense of security—and taking actions grounded in our values despite the discomfort they may provoke. In contrast, when people use "living in the present" as a rationale for disregarding environmental or existential threats, they enact a form of experiential avoidance, which is precisely the behavior ACT aims to transform. This avoidance is both a personal and collective phenomenon, structured by habits, institutions, and messages that prioritize comfort, convenience, or denial over meaningful confrontation with the facts of the present age.
This strategy of denial is ultimately self-defeating, as it precludes not only effective response to ecological crises but also the personal growth and resilience that come from facing reality openly. Mindful contact with the present moment, as envisioned by ACT, requires openness to facts as they are, the willingness to feel discomfort, and a commitment to act in the service of one’s deepest values—even, and especially, when reality is painful or overwhelming.
Consequences of Denial and the Failure to Engage with the Present
The widespread use of "living in the present" as an avoidance strategy has significant implications. Environmentally, it contributes to the collective inertia that accelerates planetary risks such as mass extinction and catastrophic climate change. Psychologically, it sustains a maladaptive status quo that undermines both individual and societal well-being. Rather than building resilience or adaptability, this form of denial isolates people from reality, impedes values-driven action, and corrodes the psychological flexibility at the core of ACT’s model.
True engagement with the present—actively noticing facts as they unfold, accepting discomfort, and responding with authenticity and courage—remains the vital antidote to the passive, illusory comfort of denial. Only by recognizing denial for what it is—a defense against truth—and by embracing the full scope of current realities can individuals and societies begin to live genuinely in the present, honor their values, and take meaningful action.
Moving from Make-Belief to Mindful Action
To bridge the gulf between knowledge and action requires adopting the skills fostered by ACT’s Contact with the Present Moment process: cultivating open, non-judgmental awareness, confronting uncomfortable emotions, and choosing value-based actions that align with reality as it is, not as we wish it to be. The honest engagement with distressing truths, rather than retreating into comforting make-beliefs, is essential for both individual psychological health and the future of the planet.
Enacting genuine presence, therefore, is not simply about savoring immediate pleasures or distractions, but about having the courage to witness all that the present includes—beauty, pain, uncertainty, and urgent calls to stewardship—and responding with wisdom and integrity. This is the challenge and promise at the heart of ACT, and the necessary first step in addressing the profound crises of our age.
