For individuals experiencing housing instability—particularly those managing behavioral health or substance use challenges—the journey to secure housing can feel overwhelming. It’s not just a matter of paperwork or system navigation; it’s often an emotionally loaded process marked by frustration, shame, and exhaustion.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a practical, evidence-based approach that helps individuals make progress despite emotional distress. Rather than attempting to eliminate painful feelings, ACT focuses on building the psychological flexibility needed to keep moving forward in the presence of those emotions. For housing-focused care teams, this framework has become a valuable tool to support members through one of the most complex and high-stakes transitions in their lives.
ACT (pronounced like the word “act”) stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It combines mindfulness techniques with values-based goal setting to help individuals:
The result is increased emotional flexibility, which is critical in navigating the inevitable roadblocks and setbacks that arise in housing stabilization work.
Members entering housing programs often feel stuck in cycles of negative self-talk: “I’ve tried everything. I’ll never get housing.” These moments of defeat can stall progress entirely.
ACT provides a structure for reframing those emotions without dismissing them. One effective approach is the use of metaphors—a technique that helps members grasp the process in relatable, digestible ways. A common one used in ACT-based conversations is:
“You can’t eat an elephant in one bite—just one step at a time.”
This kind of language helps de-escalate emotional intensity and reconnect individuals with the idea of incremental progress. The metaphor simplifies the goal and creates an opening to re-engage with small, achievable actions—rather than shutting down due to the perceived size of the problem.
In many cases, the most powerful intervention isn’t a strategy or checklist—it’s the ability to hold emotional space for the member. Allowing a moment of silence after someone shares their frustration can validate their experience and help de-escalate the immediate stress response.
This quiet space isn’t passive. It sets the stage for shifting from reaction to reflection, giving the individual a moment to process before identifying their next move.
ACT also excels in supporting individuals through setbacks. When housing applications are denied, documentation is lost, or progress stalls, the emotional fallout can be significant. ACT encourages care teams to help members view these setbacks not as endpoints, but as part of a longer journey.
A useful ACT principle is the idea that crisis can coexist with opportunity—that growth often arises in moments of challenge. Members can be reminded that even when they can’t control the outcome, they can still choose how they respond to it. That shift—from helplessness to agency—can reignite motivation.
A core part of ACT is helping individuals clarify their deep personal values—and then aligning behavior with those values. In housing navigation, values often emerge organically: wanting stability to reconnect with family, improve health, regain custody, or return to work.
These statements reveal why housing matters beyond shelter. And when values are made explicit, they can serve as internal motivators that carry individuals through the long, often frustrating process of securing a place to live.
This also helps reframe common goals. For instance, applying for housing is no longer just a task—it becomes an act of self-care, or an investment in family, or a step toward rebuilding dignity. Values make the “why” clear, which sustains action even in the face of repeated barriers.
ACT is often used alongside other well-established frameworks like Motivational Interviewing (MI), SMART goal setting, and Stages of Change. In practice, ACT may come first, especially when members are emotionally shut down or overwhelmed. Once emotional flexibility is restored, care teams can guide individuals into more structured planning and goal-setting processes.
For example, after an ACT-informed conversation helps someone re-engage with their values, a SMART goal might follow: “This week, I’ll make one phone call to a housing provider.” Small steps like this help build confidence and reinforce a sense of control—two things that are often lost during prolonged housing instability.
ACT can be especially valuable for health plans working with vulnerable populations, where housing instability intersects with behavioral health, substance use, and systemic barriers. Its principles can be integrated across care teams—including community health workers, housing navigators, and case managers—without requiring licensed therapists to deliver the full therapeutic model.
When embedded into member interactions, ACT supports:
Ultimately, ACT enables members to stay in motion, even when motivation is low and the journey feels overwhelming.
ACT doesn’t remove difficulty from the housing process—it helps individuals move through it with clarity, purpose, and resilience. By acknowledging the emotional realities of housing insecurity and equipping members with tools to act in service of their values, care teams can foster genuine, lasting progress.
For health plans, integrating ACT-informed approaches means going beyond transactional case management. It means helping members not just cope—but commit.
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