13. Comparing ACT and Psychodynamic Therapy
I can certainly be faulted for seeing everything through a Psychodynamic lens, but when it comes to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), there is some basis for doing so. As the founder of ACT noted, these two therapies overlap in their key premises, such as: (1) reality is harsh and life has painful elements; (2) attempts to avoid painful realisations and experiences often create or worsen our problems (leading to symptoms and diagnosed conditions).
Logically, these therapies also broadly agree on the solution, which is to develop the emotional strength and awareness to see reality for what it is, and when it’s deemed worthwhile (i.e., some avoidance makes sense), accept the pain and take it on the chin so we can do what’s needed to live a more purposeful and fulfilled life (rather than fixate on denying or distorting reality). But these therapies approach the “human condition” from different angles and have different focuses.
A. Defences vs Experiential Avoidance
First, while Psychodynamic (or Psychoanalytic) theories favour complexities and nuances, and has a dozen or two Defence Mechanisms for the colourful ways we keep painful realisations outside our conscious awareness, ACT takes a refreshingly pragmatic approach by simplifying and merging all Defence Mechanisms all into Experiential Avoidance.
B. Developing Capacities vs Reorientation
Second, Psychoanalysis will analyse what underdeveloped capacities bias or restrict the person to using maladaptive avoidance. It then nurtures and develops those capacities so the individual can access more mature and adaptive options. In contrast, ACT takes a more direct approach in reorienting the person’s mind and actions towards what they have always known but perhaps forgotten to be the better option (i.e., leveraging their pre-established values and capacities), so ACT can often be a shorter-term treatment.
C. Talk Therapy vs Tools and Tips
Third, while Psychoanalysis favours subtleties in its approach and employs a relational and conversational framework, ACT prioritises transparent collaboration and overt skills and strategies.
For example, to facilitate awareness, Psychoanalysts often craft “meta-messages” where the painful but helpful insight is embedded as subtext within a palatable question or an empathic remark. By delicately steering the conversation and planting these cues, the client is guided towards reflections and insights that may otherwise be unwelcomed. In contrast, ACT therapists facilitate awareness with creative imagery (e.g., imagining emotions as gas/liquid/solid with different colours and velocities), mindfulness exercises, and everyday metaphors that make abstract concepts easier to grasp. In some ways, the two therapies focus on different kinds of awareness, and are suited to very different clients (or different stages of therapy) when they have different readiness for the therapeutic insight.
D. Sombre and Poignant vs Lively and Playful
Fourth, which is just an interesting sidenote, Psychoanalytic texts tend to be densely sombre or deeply poignant, while ACT is promoted in workshops as a modality that can be playful and engaging.
For example, Psychoanalysis may note that unfulfillable dreams, heartbreaking losses, and even tragic misfortunes are facts of life – so maturing is essentially about building the inner strength to grieve our childhood illusions about the world, make peace with (and not be devastated by) the limits of reality, so we can still find purpose and love in what life can offer. In contrast, ACT with its Buddhism influence may joke that pain is inescapable in life and monks even wear sandals that scrape their soles and sit under waterfalls to practice embracing pain.
Closing
I hope this illustrates some noteworthy commonalities and meaningful differences between the two modalities, which are often used in conjunction to complement each other. Neither is inherently better, and as always, what matters most is what suits the client.
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Originally written in 2026 by Justin Leung
Principal Clinical Psychologist
