This group is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Third Wave interventions. Whereas traditional CBT and Third Wave CBT place a lot of importance on goal setting and behavioural activation, what distinguishes the two is the way that thoughts and emotions are viewed. Whereas in traditional CBT negative thoughts are viewed as distorions that need to be challenged and changed, Third Wave approaches view negative thoughts as natural occurrences that can be either attended to or not. Regarding emotions, traditional CBT tends to view negative affect as abnormal and unwanted, whereas Third Wave approaches view affect as a natural source of imformation that should be attended to inform appropriate actions given the circumstances.
This program relies heavily on a certain type of Third Wave CBT called Acceptance and Committment Therapy (ACT) with elements taken from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Mentalization Based Treatments (MBT), and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT).