Values-Based Pacing: An ACT Worksheet for Choosing Activity Within a Long COVID Energy Envelope
Long COVID · ACT · Emerging
An ACT-informed worksheet for choosing activity within a reduced energy envelope: identifying what matters most even with less energy, noticing pressure thoughts ("I should be able to do this", "everyone else manages fine") as thoughts rather than commands, and planning committed action that fits inside the current envelope rather than pre-illness capacity.
Underlying mechanism: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Values-Based Pacing for Chronic Illness
What it helps with
- Directing limited energy toward what matters most to the client, rather than toward guilt, comparison or old habits.
- Defusing from pressure thoughts that drive over-exertion, without requiring the client to argue themselves out of them first.
- Sizing committed action to the client's current envelope rather than to their pre-illness capacity or to guilt about others' needs.
- Giving Long COVID's quiet, ongoing grief — for pace of life, identity, interrupted plans — somewhere to go without requiring the client to feel better about it first.
How clinicians use it
- Sequence after the CFT soothing-system session (5) by design — clients tend to engage more openly with values work once self-criticism has been softened.
- Practise "I'm having the thought that..." with pressure thoughts in session before assigning the worksheet standalone.
- Insist committed action is sized to the client's current envelope, checked against the pacing diary, not to what they consider "acceptable".
Clinical Implementation Guide
- Use in Session 6, after the CFT soothing-system session.
- Check every planned committed action against the client's pacing diary before agreeing it.
- Prioritise stabilisation over values work for a client currently in crisis or acute overwhelm.
What the worksheet looks like
| Step | What It Involves |
|---|---|
| Values | Even with a smaller amount of energy, what matters most to me right now |
| Defusion | Noticing a pressure thought as a thought: "I am having the thought that..." |
| Committed action | A small, values-aligned step that fits inside my current envelope, with a when |
Clinical cautions
Willingness-based values work assumes some baseline capacity to engage — for a client who is overwhelmed or in acute crisis, prioritise stabilisation and the flare plan first. This tool does not diagnose any condition and is not a substitute for individual face-to-face therapy or for emergency crisis support. Anyone in immediate distress should contact their local emergency service or crisis line.
References
- Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Part of
The Energy Envelope
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