What makes ACT different from traditional CBT? Tory explains how ACT shifts the focus from challenging thoughts to noticing them, asking whether they’re useful, and orienting behavior around values instead of symptom control.

Why take thoughts less seriously? Tory walks through ACT’s playful defusion strategies, from repeating words until they lose meaning to thanking the mind for its chatter — all ways of loosening thought’s grip.

What does it mean to live by values? Tory explains how ACT turns values into active commitments — not abstract categories, but concrete ways of showing up. Values become the life map that guides therapy.

Why does fighting anxiety make it worse? Tory shows how ACT normalizes fear, distinguishing between everyday worry and panic. By accepting discomfort, we stop feeding the spiral of “anxiety about anxiety.”

Why keep coming back to the present moment? Tory describes how ACT borrows from mindfulness, using anchors and awareness to notice thoughts without trying to eliminate them — choosing instead to return, over and over, to what matters.