ACT Pathway with Charlotte Bareiss a Success

On September 17, 2025, NCPSG hosted a Pathway Session on Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) to promote recovery from addiction and substance use. The speaker was Charlotte Bareiss, LCSW, founder/owner of Connected Therapy Group, based in Greenwich and NYC.

Charlotte started out her presentation labeling ACT as part of a “third wave” of CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, that allows for the individual to embrace thoughts and feelings rather than fight them,. This promotes psychological flexibility. What is key to these third wave CBT therapies like ACT, is they incorporate mindfulness as a distinguishing factor.

There are 6 foundational processes to ACT: 1) acceptance, 2) cognitive defusion, 3) present moment awareness, 4) self-as-context, 5) values and 6) committed action. These processes help a person to have agency for how they live their lives, despite pain and obstacles.

Using a hexagon-shaped visual aid called a hexaflex, Charlotte explained the core ACT principles. Each of the 6 domains correspond to various activities and exercises that Charlotte uses, depending on the client’s specific needs. The points on the hexaflex represent skills that can be used, and there is no specific sequence or order. The therapist just starts working on one, or a handful, to promote psychological flexibility.

ACT practitioners like Charlotte believe we cannot control anything but our own behavior. The key to controlling behavior is the present moment awareness, and thus Charlotte will use mindfulness practices to help create a foundation for action.

Individuals who use drugs do so for many reasons, but many times it’s for “self-medication” to reduce negative thoughts and feelings. Charlotte strongly believes that through ACT practices, values can be developed that provide a reseon for people to accept discomfort and make difficult changes.

During the Q&A, Charlotte noted the similarities of ACT with DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), in that acceptance is a key feature of both. She also noted that self-compassion work is similar to ACT, in that both fall in the third wave of CBT and embrace mindfulness. A few parents how ACT could be applied to individual loved ones’ cases.

A replay of the Zoom Pathway Session can be viewed by CLICKING HERE. A short primer on ACT can be found here.