ACT Matrix: Sort Toward and Away Moves and Choose One Step

Sort cards into the four squares of the ACT Matrix, link what shows up inside to what you do next, and commit to one toward move.

AdultsCouplesThoughts & skillsACT
10–15 minutesIn person and on video
Free interactive tool
Designed by Michael Thompson, MSc

Link copied – paste it to your client

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If the thoughts are about hurting yourself, don't just sort them on the matrix – use your safety plan or contact a crisis line now.

More

Works best with an ACT-informed clinician who helps the client notice what works, rather than judging away moves as bad.

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How to play

  1. Sort the cards into the four squares, or write your own.
  2. Link: tap something inside, then the away move it pulls you into. Tap what matters, then a toward move.
  3. Cards with several links light up: that's a pattern.
  4. Commit: tap one toward move to try this week.
  5. Tap Finish for your matrix.

About the technique

The ACT Matrix is a way of delivering acceptance and commitment therapy on a single diagram, developed by Kevin Polk and colleagues and set out in their edited handbook (Polk & Schoendorff, 2014). Two crossed lines sort experience into four areas: what can be noticed with the five senses versus what shows up only inside, such as thoughts, feelings and urges, and moves away from unwanted inner experience versus moves toward who and what matters. Rather than disputing thoughts, the client learns to notice a loop: an unwanted feeling prompts an away move that brings short relief and costs something they care about.

The aim is psychological flexibility, which ACT builds through acceptance, defusion, present-moment awareness, self-as-context, values and committed action (Hayes et al., 2006). ACT itself has a solid evidence base: a meta-analysis of 39 randomized trials found it outperformed waitlist, psychological placebo and treatment as usual, and did not differ significantly from established CBT (A-Tjak et al., 2015). Evidence for ACT does not transfer automatically to any one format, so treat the Matrix as a way of delivering ACT rather than a separately validated treatment.

It suits adults and teens across many presenting problems, in individual, couples or group work, and is often used early to build a shared language for the rest of treatment. Keep the stance curious: an away move is workable or unworkable in context, not bad. For clients in acute crisis, stabilize first, and with trauma let the client choose how much inner content to name.

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For therapists: how to run it

Goal

Notice the loop from inner stuff to away moves, and choose one toward move for this week.

In session

  1. On video: tap Play together and send the link so you both move cards live. In person: share one screen or tablet.
  2. Start bottom right: “Who or what is important to you?” Then bottom left: “What shows up inside that gets in the way?”
  3. Top left: “What do you do when that shows up?” Top right: “What could you do that moves you toward what matters?”
  4. In Link, connect the loops together. In Commit, the client picks one toward move.

As homework

  1. After a hard moment, open the link and sort what happened into the four squares.
  2. Link what showed up inside to what you did, and pick one toward move for next time.
  3. Tap Finish, then Copy for my therapist and paste it into your therapist's secure messaging (client portal), or bring it to your next session. Nothing you type is saved, so copy before closing.

With a group

  1. Tap Play together and send the link so members add cards from their own devices, or share your screen and build one matrix from what the group says.
  2. Ask: what shows up inside for you? What do you do then? Who or what matters?
  3. End with each person naming one toward move.
Good to know

The ACT Matrix (Kevin Polk, Jerold Hambright and Mark Webster, around 2009) is a simple way into acceptance and commitment therapy. Two lines make four squares: what you notice with your five senses versus inside, and moves away from unwanted inner stuff versus toward what matters. The point is noticing, without judging, whether a move works for you.

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Sources & credibility

Method
The ACT Matrix
Developed by
Kevin Polk, Jerold Hambright and Mark Webster
First described
c. 2009
Approach
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
Evidence
Practice-based (limited trials)The Matrix is a way of delivering ACT, which is supported by many trials and meta-analyses. Evidence for the Matrix format itself is mostly small studies and case series.

References

  1. Polk, K. L., & Schoendorff, B. (eds) (2014). The ACT Matrix: A New Approach to Building Psychological Flexibility Across Settings and Populations. New Harbinger. Source
  2. A-Tjak, J. G. L., et al. (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. Source
  3. Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25. Source

How it was made

Built by the Mentalyc team from the original method and the published sources listed here. Nothing you enter is stored.

Questions people ask

What is an ACT matrix?

The ACT Matrix, developed by Kevin Polk and colleagues, is a simple diagram with four squares: what matters to you, what shows up inside that gets in the way, away moves and toward moves. It turns ACT into one picture that clients can use themselves.

What are the six components of ACT?

ACT works on six processes: acceptance, cognitive defusion, present-moment awareness, self-as-context, values and committed action. The Matrix touches all of them in a quick, practical format.

What are toward and away moves?

Toward moves are actions that bring you closer to what matters; away moves are things you do to escape uncomfortable thoughts or feelings. Noticing the difference is the first step to choosing more toward moves.

How do you use the ACT Matrix in a session?

Draw a cross: the horizontal line separates inner experience (bottom) from actions others could see (top), and the vertical line separates moving away (left) from moving toward what matters (right). Fill in values, unwanted thoughts and feelings, then away and toward moves, and ask which one toward move is possible this week.

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Your game designer
Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson, MSc

Michael's background combines doctoral training in clinical psychology with research on motivation, learning, and emotional regulation.

More about Michael Thompson, MSc →

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Table Of Contents
  1. About the technique
  2. For therapists: how to run it
  3. Worksheets that pair with this tool
  4. Sources & credibility
  5. Questions people ask
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