Embodied Cognition & Emotion Theory
Aaron T. Beck, Steven C. Hayes, Kelly G. Wilson, and Kirk D. Strosahl are at the origin of the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Learn more about the Theory of Emotions and Embodied Cognition; and how THEe PUZZLE leverages its science.
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An introduction to the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is where it all started, before it evolved into ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy appeared in the 1960s, through the work of Aaron T. Beck at the University of Pennsylvania. And at the heart of CBT sits a powerful idea: what we think shapes how we feel, and how we feel shapes how we act.
If I think “I will fail this project,” my body will react with anxiety. And when I feel anxious, I will procrastinate, avoid, or overwork to compensate. Thoughts trigger feelings, which generate behaviors.
This is a loop. A predictable one.
And the foundation of CBT.
CBT focuses on the content of thoughts.
It asks questions like “is this thought true?”, “is it distorted?”, “what evidence supports or contradicts it?” or “is there a more realistic way to see this situation?”
CBT is grounded in the idea that if you change the thought, everything downstream changes: emotions soften, behaviours adjust, and well-being improves.
It is goal-oriented, structured, and pragmatic.
And it has decades of clinical evidence behind it.
ACT is an evolution of CBT, and appeared in the 1980s.
Steven C. Hayes, Kelly G. Wilson, and Kirk D. Strosahl introduced it. Same family as CBT, but with a radically different posture.
While CBT focuses on correcting thoughts, ACT focuses on our relationship to thoughts.
When CBT asks “Is this thought true?”; ACT asks: “Is this thought useful for the life I want to live?”
ACT views human suffering through a different lens. Discomfort is not a problem to eliminate: it is part of being human. The trap is fighting reality, resisting emotions, and believing everything our mind says. So instead of controlling thoughts, ACT teaches us to make space for them and shift attention toward what matters.
CBT tries to reduce pain.
ACT tries to reduce suffering — by changing how we engage with pain.
The ACT model aims at building psychological flexibility — the ability to stay present, open, and committed to values even when life hurts. It is a process in 6 steps.
First comes acceptance.
Letting emotions exist without wrestling them. Stopping the inner fight.
Second comes the Cognitive Defusion
Seeing thoughts as thoughts — not facts, not threats. Acknowledging that this is happening in your head, and is not necessarily true.
Third steps is about being present
Noticing, observing, anchoring.
This is where ACT meets mindfulness.
The fourth step is called Self-as-Context.
Understanding that I am not my thoughts or my emotions. I am the one who observes them.
The fiftht step focuses on values.
Deciding what truly matters to me, as a direction in life.
And the 6th and last step is to commit on taking action.
Acting in alignment with my values — even when it is uncomfortable.
These processes work together.
Mindfulness and acceptance open space. With my values setting the direction, and my actions building a life worth living.
In addition to CBT, ACT leverages the Relational Frame Theory (RFT) — a behavioural account of how humans use language to link concepts.
For example, associating “failure to danger” or “sadness to weakness.”
RFT explains that language itself can create suffering… and also how we can learn to step outside of those automatic frames.
And then came neuroscience!
Over the last two decades, more than 900 randomized controlled trials have tested ACT and showed that it acts on brain function and connectivity.
Results are robust across depression, anxiety, PTSD, phobias, OCD, addiction, chronic pain, psychosis, stress, and burnout.
Last, coaching and resilience practices borrow from both CBT and ACT.
And mindfulness, as it has spread since the early 2000s, evolved mainly from ACT’s influence.
It is now one of the most studied protectors against burnout, anxiety, and chronic stress.
How do these concepts live in THEe PUZZLE?
CBT and ACT both sit at the heart of THEe PUZZLE. Not as “therapy techniques,” but as thinking frameworks to help people understand themselves better, act with clarity, and rebuild trust in their own inner compass.
One of the strongest CBT principles is the cycle thoughts to emotions to behaviours.
You will find this dynamic embedded in “The Universal Rule that governs my life”, where is explained how attention amplifies emotion, and how beliefs guide behaviour. This is CBT in action as we notice our patterns, understand how they shape what we feel and consciously choose where to focus instead.
THEe PUZZLE also does not ask you to fight your thinking.
It teaches you to see it clearly — and to consciously shift your attention toward what serves you.
ACT teaches us that suffering often comes from identifying with our thoughts. Believing every sentence our mind produces.
THEe PUZZLE tackles that directly through the “my Filter” and “Pollution in my head.” This piece teaches us to catch the thought, name it, question where it comes from, separate reality from prediction and interrupt the spiral.
It’s all about ACT’s teaching that I am having a thought — but I am not the thought. The moment we learn to separate the two, emotional pressure drops dramatically.
ACT says: “You are not your thoughts, or your fear, or your emotions. You are the one who sees them.”
THEe PUZZLE turns this insight into the piece “Myself is multiple.”
Here, you learn to understand that “you” is not a single voice.
There is the part of you that fears.
The part that pushes.
The part that wants peace.
The part that wants control.
And then there is you, the one who notices all of it and bring it together.
Being present is also one of the 6 ACT steps.
It is how we break the autopilot and reconnect with the body. Both covered with “Being present” and “Connecting with myself”, where we scan for physical sensations, observe our body and anchor ourselves back in the present moment. With the idea that our body gives us information our mind cannot process alone.
This is practical CBT.
It is all about noticing unconscious beliefs, questioning them, and reframing them into something aligned with your life today.
“The Protection in my head” has to do with my north star. To know where to draw the line. To identify what matters to us, and what we cannot tolerate. These values, which are at the center of ACT, are also leveraged in THEe PUZZLE to take actions and reclaim ownership.
ACT does not ask you to eliminate fear, and CBT helps you understand how beliefs shape emotional patterns.
“My Compass” combines both: we choose the emotion you want more of (ACT). We repeatedly reinforce it through attention (CBT). We connect it to moments in real life, and slowly but surely, our emotional baseline shifts. It is emotional conditioning, grounded in ACT and CBT.