Looking different, living well.
ACT It Out is designed for people aged 16+ who are going through psychological and social challenges to do with looking different.
It uses an evidence-based approach called ACT, which stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
Through ACT It Out, you’ll build skills to navigate psychological and social challenges associated with your appearance, so you can look different and live well. For example, some users found it helped them become more self-aware of constantly checking their appearance, so they could then change this and focus more on what’s around them. Others found it helped them realise that they were avoiding things they enjoyed like gym classes where their appearance was on show. Through ACT It Out they set manageable goals based on their values to re-engage with valued activities again.
There are six skills sessions, taking roughly 30 mins each. We recommend completing one session each week. You’ll also build skills between each session.
You do all this on your smartphone.
You can download the app, for free, from the App Store or Google Play (currently United Kingdom only).
For any user queries about ACT It Out, please email ACTitout@uwe.ac.uk
We’d to have your feedback on ACT It Out – please complete our quick survey here.
“There’s a lot of techniques in there that seemed to help a lot. Like learning to just allow difficult thoughts and feelings, or ‘passengers’ just to be there. The mindfulness techniques helped give space to these feelings rather than fighting against them. I was always trying to fight against everything, it makes everything worse.”
“I used to have problems with eating out [at restaurants]. But then I was trying to set goals in ACT It Out of eating out more. Then I did actually go out to a restaurant with two people; normally that would be one of my worst nightmares. And I did it! And I had a really nice time.”
Podcast
You can hear more about this resource in this episode of the Appearance Matters podcast.
The Research
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ACT It Out was developed by researchers at CAR together with specialist mental health professionals and people with visible differences. Dr Fabio Zucchelli from CAR led the project as part of his PhD research.
We worked from pencil drawings, to early mock-ups, to a full prototype. At each stage we incorporated feedback from all groups. We then evaluated the prototype, and found that users liked it, it was safe for people to use without additional support, and it helped users do more of what matters to them in their daily lives.
Publications
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The Team
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Fabio Zucchelli, Diana Harcourt, Heidi Williamson, Clare Clement, Wylde Robert-Mills
Acknowledgements
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Emma Rush, founder of Vitiligo Support UK, acted as lead Expert by Experience during the development of ACT It Out.
Dr Olivia Donnelly, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, acted as clinical lead for the development stage of the project.
ACT It Out® is a registered trademark of the University of the West of England, Bristol.
Funders
