Integrating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Psychological Skills 1 Training (PST): A Case Study

Wood, Sam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1281-870X and Turner, Martin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1975-5561 (2025) Integrating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Psychological Skills 1 Training (PST): A Case Study. Frontiers in Psychology, section Sport Psychology. (In Press)

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Abstract

This case study outlines the sport psychology service delivery provided to an 11-year-old 2 competitive figure skater. The client reported performance anxiety, which hindered her 3 training and performance at competition. The intervention delivered integrated core processes 4 of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with psychological skills training (PST) 5 with the aim of reducing the client’s performance anxiety. Little has been written about how 6 ACT can be applied alongside PST. The case reports how ACT exercises aimed at defusing 7 the client’s unhelpful cognitions, focusing on valued living, committed action, and staying in 8 the present moment were integrated into goal setting, imagery, performance profiling, and 9 self-talk. Demonstrating the alignment between ACT and PST is crucial for practitioners to 10 seamlessly integrate ACT into their practice. Reflections from the client and practitioner 11 capture the evaluation of the service delivery.