Values Clarification: Identifying What Matters and Living with Intention

Values clarification is a reflective practice that helps you identify what matters, what kind of person you want to be, and what you want your choices to stand for. In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), values are not the same as goals. A goal can be completed, but a value is an ongoing direction. For example, “repair this relationship” may be a goal, while “honesty,” “care,” or “connection” may be values. Peer-reviewed research has found that values clarification and values-based action are connected to psychological flexibility, distress tolerance, behavior change, and meaningful engagement with life (Barney et al., 2019; Rahal & Gon, 2020; Smith et al., 2019; Vowles & McCracken, 2008).

Values clarification can be especially useful when anxiety, depression, shame, grief, trauma, people-pleasing, avoidance, or uncertainty make decisions feel unclear. The practice does not remove discomfort or guarantee the “right” answer. Instead, it helps you ask: “What matters here?” “What kind of response would I respect later?” “What would move me closer to the life I want to build?” A values-based choice may still feel difficult, but it can feel more grounded because it is connected to meaning rather than only fear, pressure, guilt, or habit.

Guided Practice
(optional)

Choose one area of life, such as relationships, health, work, family, recovery, spirituality, creativity, community, or self-respect. Write down three values you want to bring into that area. Then choose one small behavior that would express one of those values this week. If the value is honesty, the action might be telling someone what you need. If the value is care, the action might be resting before burnout. If the value is courage, the action might be taking one step you have been avoiding. Keep the action small enough to practice and specific enough to recognize.

Important Reminder

Values are directions, not demands. You can move toward a value imperfectly, slowly, and in small steps. Values clarification is most helpful when it increases choice and self-understanding rather than pressure to perform. When a value feels impossible to act on, look for a smaller expression of it.

References

Barney, J. L., Lillis, J., Haynos, A. F., Forman, E., & Juarascio, A. S. (2019). Assessing the valuing process in acceptance and commitment therapy: Experts’ review of the current status and recommendations for future measure development. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 12, 225-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.08.002

Paliliunas, D., Belisle, J., & Dixon, M. R. (2018). A randomized control trial to evaluate the use of acceptance and commitment therapy to increase academic performance and psychological flexibility in graduate students. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 11(3), 241-253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-0252-x  

Rahal, G. M., & Gon, M. C. C. (2020). A systematic review of values interventions in acceptance and commitment therapy. International Journal of Psychology & Psychological Therapy, 20(3), 355-372.

Smith, B. M., Villatte, J. L., Ong, C. W., Butcher, G. M., Twohig, M. P., Levin, M. E., & Hayes, S. C. (2019). The influence of a personal values intervention on cold pressor-induced distress tolerance. Behavior Modification, 43(5), 688-710. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445518782402

Vowles, K. E., & McCracken, L. M. (2008). Acceptance and values-based action in chronic pain: A study of treatment effectiveness and process. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76(3), 397-407. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.76.3.397