Values clarification — identifying what matters most to you at the deepest level — is a cornerstone of ACT therapy for therapeutic alliance and provides direction when therapeutic alliance removes other navigational tools.
Why Values Matter for Therapeutic Alliance
Therapeutic Alliance often disconnects us from our values through avoidance, withdrawal, and reduced capacity. Reconnecting with values provides:
- Direction when therapeutic alliance has eliminated other motivation
- Meaning that persists even through difficult therapeutic alliance periods
- A basis for action independent of how therapeutic alliance makes you feel
Clarifying Your Values with Therapeutic Alliance
Ask yourself: 'If my therapeutic alliance were less present, what would I be doing more of? What kind of person would I be?'
Values are not goals (achievable and done) but ongoing directions: being a present parent, creating beauty, contributing to others.
Values-Based Action in Therapeutic Alliance
ACT therapy teaches: act according to values even when therapeutic alliance is present. Small values-aligned actions, despite therapeutic alliance, are more sustainable than waiting for therapeutic alliance to lift first.