Values-Based Winter Plan: A Free ACT Values and Behavioural Activation Worksheet
ACT · ACT · Practice-informed
An ACT and behavioural activation sheet for the point where compassion work has softened self-criticism. Defusion loosens seasonal beliefs, values keep activity pointed at what matters, and winter anchors with a floor version keep a thread unbroken on low days. Behavioural activation is a core ingredient of CBT for seasonal affective disorder, while pre-emptive scheduling is a logical extension that has not been directly trialled.
Underlying mechanism: ACT Defusion, Values Clarification and Behavioural Activation: Winter Anchors with a Floor Plan
What it helps with
- Loosening the grip of winter thoughts without arguing with them or obeying them.
- Linking winter activity to what matters across relationships, body, meaning, purpose and rest.
- Making action easier on low days with a floor version that still counts.
- Planning the week on paper now, because winter motivation rarely arrives first.
How clinicians use it
- Use a belief from Worksheet 1 for the defusion exercise and compare the believability ratings before and after.
- Keep the anchor list small, with a full and a floor version for each.
- Check that the weekly plan has some light and movement, some connection and some meaning or joy.
Clinical Implementation Guide
- Run one defusion exercise in the room with the client's own belief.
- Write the floor version of each anchor with the client, so it is truly the smallest version that counts.
- Put the anchors in the diary before the client leaves.
What the worksheet looks like
| Part | What the client does | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Unhooking | Rates a winter thought, uses a defusion exercise and re-rates it | Loosen the thought |
| 2. What matters | Writes a sentence and an importance rating for five life areas | Point action at values |
| 3. Winter anchors | Writes a full and a floor version of each anchor | Keep the thread on low days |
| 4. Weekly plan | Places anchors across light and movement, connection and meaning or joy | Plan before motivation falls |
Clinical cautions
Defusion should loosen a thought and is not a way of arguing the client out of it or dismissing real difficulty. The evidence rating is Emerging for this population: a meta-analysis of 39 RCTs supports ACT across conditions, with depression among them, but no trial in seasonal depression was found. Scheduling activity before mood drops is a logical extension of behavioural activation and has not been directly tested. If values work produces a list of shoulds, return to the compassion work. This tool is not a substitute for individual face-to-face therapy or for emergency crisis support.
References
- A-Tjak, J. G. L., Davis, M. L., Morina, N., Powers, M. B., Smits, J. A. J., & Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (2015). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinically relevant mental and physical health problems. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(1), 30-36. https://doi.org/10.1159/000365764
- Richards, D. A., Ekers, D., McMillan, D., Taylor, R. S., Byford, S., Warren, F. C., Barrett, B., Farrand, P. A., Gilbody, S., Kuyken, W., O'Mahen, H., Watkins, E. R., Wright, K. A., Hollon, S. D., Reed, N., Rhodes, S., Fletcher, E., & Finning, K. (2016). Cost and outcome of behavioural activation versus cognitive behavioural therapy for depression (COBRA): A randomised, controlled, non-inferiority trial. The Lancet, 388(10047), 871-880. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31140-0
- Rohan, K. J., Lindsey, K. T., Roecklein, K. A., & Lacy, T. J. (2004). Cognitive-behavioral therapy, light therapy, and their combination in treating seasonal affective disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 80(2-3), 273-283. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(03)00098-3
Part of
Wintering Well
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