Self-as-context

Self-as-context, one of the core principles in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), is the concept that people are not the content of their thoughts or feelings, but rather are the consciousness experiencing or observing the thoughts and feelings. Self-as-context is distinguished from self-as-content, defined in ACT as the social scripts people maintain about who they are and how they operate in the world. A related concept is decentering, which is a central change strategy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, is defined as a process of stepping outside of one’s own mental events leading to an objective and non-judging stance towards the self.