Unhooking from thoughts
Learn to notice thoughts as mental events—predictions, judgments, old stories—rather than commands, so they carry less automatic authority.
Alireza Ehteshami, Ph.D.
ACT therapy · Atlanta, Georgia
ACT for when controlling how you feel has become a full-time job.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy builds psychological flexibility: room for difficult thoughts and feelings to exist without running your decisions, and steady movement toward what matters to you.
The initial consultation is free and typically lasts 15 minutes. I will respond within 24 hours.
Pre-Licensed Professional in Clinical Psychology · Services provided under licensed supervision
Your clinician
Alireza Ehteshami, Ph.D.
I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Emory University and practice at Perimeter Mood & Anxiety Program in Atlanta.
I am a Pre-Licensed Professional in Clinical Psychology, practicing under the supervision of Craig Kerley, Psy.D., Georgia license PSY002840.
The practical details
A clear first step, without a commitment.
The initial consultation is free and typically lasts 15 minutes. I will respond within 24 hours.
We can discuss what you are looking for and whether my approach may be a good fit.
Request a free consultation- In person
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Telehealth
- For clients located in Georgia
- Payment
- Private pay · Insurance not accepted
Where therapy can begin
The harder you fight a feeling, the more of your life gets organized around it.
Much of what brings people to therapy is not the pain itself but the struggle with it: avoiding situations that might stir anxiety, postponing decisions until doubt resolves, waiting to feel confident before acting. Each move brings relief, and each quietly shrinks the territory of your life.
ACT starts from a different premise: difficult thoughts and feelings are not malfunctions to be eliminated before living can resume. The work is learning to notice them without obeying them—and to keep choosing, in their presence, the actions that move you toward the life you actually want.
How therapy may help
What ACT works on
ACT is experiential rather than argumentative. Sessions involve practicing a different stance toward your inner life, not debating whether your thoughts are correct.
Making room for discomfort
Practice allowing difficult emotions to be present without escalating the struggle against them or arranging your life around avoiding them.
Values and committed action
Get specific about what you want your life to be about, and take workable steps in that direction before you feel ready.
My approach
Experiential, values-driven, evidence-based
Acceptance here is not resignation. It is what makes committed action possible.
I use ACT within individual psychotherapy, often alongside tools from CBT and DBT. Sessions are active: exercises in noticing what your mind is doing, honest work on values, and concrete commitments we review together. ACT has substantial research support across anxiety, depression, and stress-related concerns.
Workability over correctness
The question is rarely whether a thought is true. It is whether obeying it moves your life in a direction you value.
Contact with the present
Much of suffering happens in anticipated futures and replayed pasts. We practice returning attention to what is actually here, where choice exists.
Small committed steps
Values become real through actions sized to your actual life—small enough to happen, and reviewed with honesty rather than judgment.
Training & supervision
Clinical depth, applied with care.
I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Emory University and completed an APA-accredited predoctoral internship through Emory University School of Medicine’s Child, Adolescent & Young Adult Psychiatry program.
I am completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Perimeter Mood & Anxiety Program. I draw from evidence-based treatments including CBT, ACT, and DBT, selecting methods according to each person’s needs rather than applying a single formula.
I am a Pre-Licensed Professional in Clinical Psychology. I provide clinical services under the supervision of Craig Kerley, Psy.D., a licensed psychologist in Georgia, license number PSY002840.
More about my background Before getting in touch
Common questions
A little more clarity before you reach out.
What does “acceptance” actually mean here?
It means dropping the unwinnable fight with your own internal experience—not approving of a bad situation, tolerating mistreatment, or giving up on change. People usually find that feelings become less commanding once the struggle against them stops organizing everything else.
How is ACT different from CBT?
CBT works with the content of thinking—examining and testing specific predictions. ACT works with your relationship to thinking: noticing thoughts without being ruled by them and acting on your values even while doubt is present. Many people benefit from both, in sequence or combination, and matching the method to the problem is part of my job.
Will we just sit with feelings instead of solving problems?
No. ACT is one of the more active approaches in psychotherapy: values work, behavioral commitments, and skills practice give sessions clear direction. What changes is the target—instead of trying to make feelings go away first, we work on living well alongside the feelings that come.
Is ACT supported by research?
Yes. ACT has been studied in hundreds of randomized controlled trials across anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and stress-related concerns, and it is widely recognized as an evidence-based treatment. Whether it is useful for you specifically is something we assess openly as the work proceeds.
Request a consultation
Begin with a brief conversation.
The initial consultation is free and typically lasts 15 minutes. I will respond within 24 hours.
Share a few scheduling details below to request an initial consultation. This form intentionally does not ask for clinical or medical information.