Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Rumination and Psychosocial Flexibility in Methadone-treated Addicts

Nowadays, the third wave of cognitive-behavioral therapy emphasizes the awareness and acceptance of feelings, emotions, and cognition by individuals rather than challenges with cognition. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy in reducing rumination and increasing psychological flexibility among methadone treatment addicts in Kermanshah. A quasi-experimental research design with the control group was used in this study. In the first stage, 40 patients were selected via convenience sampling method in line with the entry and exit criteria (not suffering from any personality disorder, minimum education degree of high school, no history of psychosis, passing one month after taking methadone, oral consent for participation, high score in rumination questionnaires, and low score in acceptance and commitment). In the next step, they were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The results showed that acceptance and commitment therapy was effective in increasing the psychological flexibility and decreasing rumination in the participants
(P <0.001). By means of training on acceptance and commitment therapy, rumination can be reduced and psychological flexibility increases and, thereby, the addicts under methadone treatment can be recovered.