The Choice Point: Towards or Away Moves

An ACT framework for noticing values-aligned vs avoidance behavior in real time

ACTInfo SheetFree ResourceLast reviewed April 2026

The Choice Point: Towards or Away Moves

An ACT framework for noticing values-aligned vs avoidance behavior in real time

The Choice Point: Towards or Away Moves

An ACT framework for noticing values-aligned vs avoidance behavior in real time

The Choice Point is a foundational tool in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) developed by Russ Harris (2017) to help clients notice, in any given moment, whether they are moving toward the life they want or away from it. At every choice point, difficult thoughts, feelings, urges, and situations (called hooks) try to pull you toward avoidance, escape, or behaviors that conflict with your values. ACT skills (called helpers) — such as cognitive defusion, acceptance, and contact with the present moment — make it more likely you will respond with a values-aligned action. Research demonstrates that this kind of moment-to-moment awareness predicts long-term improvements in psychological flexibility and behavioral change (Hayes et al., 2022; Bond et al., 2011).

Towards Moves

Behaviors that move you toward the kind of person you want to be
Actions that align with your stated values, even when they are difficult
Approaching rather than avoiding important conversations or tasks
Engaging with discomfort in the service of something meaningful
Showing up consistently for the relationships, work, or causes you care about
Choosing the longer-term reward over short-term relief

Away Moves

Behaviors that pull you away from what matters most to you
Avoidance, escape, distraction, or numbing in response to discomfort
Procrastination, withdrawal, isolation, or shutting down
Substance use, doom-scrolling, overeating, or compulsive behaviors as escape
Lashing out, defensive blame, or aggression when triggered
Short-term relief that reliably leaves you further from your values

Common Hooks (What Pulls You Off Course)

Difficult thoughts: Self-criticism, worry, judgment, rumination, or stories about what should or should not be happening. These can be loud, repetitive, and feel utterly true.Example: I am going to fail this. There is no point trying. They will think less of me.

Painful feelings: Anxiety, sadness, anger, shame, loneliness, or any uncomfortable emotion that signals you to escape or shut down.Example: Anxiety before a difficult conversation triggers an urge to text rather than call.

Urges and impulses: The pull to use a substance, check the phone, eat, scroll, snap at someone, or do anything that promises immediate relief from the discomfort.Example: An urge to check social media every time work feels boring or hard.

Triggering situations: Specific people, places, times of day, or events that reliably activate the same set of thoughts and feelings.Example: Sunday evenings before a difficult work week consistently bring on dread and avoidance.

Helpers (ACT Skills at the Choice Point)

Defusion: Notice that a thought is just a thought. Step back from it rather than getting tangled in it. Try naming it: 'I am having the thought that...' or 'There is the I am not good enough story again.'Example: Instead of 'I will fail,' notice 'I am having the thought that I will fail.'

Acceptance: Make room for the difficult feeling rather than fighting it. Breathe into the sensation, name it, and let it be there without trying to make it leave.Example: Letting anxiety be present in the body without trying to numb or escape it.

Contact with the present moment: Drop out of your head and into your senses. Notice five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can feel. Anchor in the now.Example: Pausing before responding to feel your feet on the floor and your breath in your chest.

Values: Reconnect with what kind of person you want to be in this moment. Ask: what would matter most to me here, even if no one were watching?Example: I value being a present partner, so I will put my phone down and listen.

Committed action: Take the smallest possible values-aligned step you can take right now. Action does not require feeling ready.Example: Send the email even while the anxiety is still there.

Using the Choice Point in Daily Life

Throughout the day, notice when you feel pulled toward avoidance, escape, or a behavior you tend to regret
Pause for a breath. Name what is showing up: which thoughts, feelings, urges, or situations are hooking you?
Ask: what would a towards move look like here? What would matter most to me?
Pick one ACT skill that fits the moment — defuse from the thought, make room for the feeling, anchor in the present, or reconnect with your values
Take the smallest possible towards move. The size of the action matters less than the direction
Notice afterward, with curiosity rather than judgment, what you chose and what it cost or earned you

Key Insight

The Choice Point is not about always choosing perfectly. It is about increasing the number of moments in which you notice you have a choice. Awareness alone changes the trajectory. Most away moves happen on autopilot. The pause itself, even before any skill is applied, is the work.