ACT/RFT is revolutionary. It's literally a miracle as far as I'm concerned. The model essentially distills the finest features if the eastern contemplative traditions and practices and integrates them with applied behavior analysis, humanistic psychology, existential orientations such as logo therapy, as well as cognitive behavioral approaches. The end product is a humane, rational, evidenced based approach that reaches far beyond the scope of traditional psychotherapy.

Both Steven C. Hayes and Kelly Wilson are some of the most expressive, imaginative and effective writers and educators in the field. That being said, parts of this book are a bit opaque. I'm a fan of relational frame theory (RFT), and I even (pretend to sort of) understand it (sometimes). But the presentation of RFT in the early chapters of this book is not as well executed as others I've read.

That being said, ACT/RFT is an ambitious model. It's pretty comprehensive. I can forgive the authors if aspects of the model are less effectively condensed into chapter length summaries than others. The reason I am willing to cut these guys some slack is, I think they have done a fantastic job of making the model accessible, engaging, easily learnable, and downright entertaining where ever possible. In fact, most of this book is really readable (quite lovely even) w/o sacrificing depth or precision.

Setting this and similar formal criticisms aside, the ACT/RFT model is amazing and powerful and this is manual represents the most up to date, comprehensive presentation currently available. If you're a practicing clinician considering working within the ACT/RFT psychological flexibility framework, this book is definitely worth your time and effort.