> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getrivet.ca/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Values clarification > ACT values exploration across eight life domains — importance, current alignment, and the gap to close. The values clarification worksheet is the ACT exercise that asks the client to articulate what kind of person they want to be in each major area of their life, rate how important that area is, and rate how well their current behavior matches the direction they want. The gap between importance and alignment is the clinical signal. Hayes, Strosahl, and Wilson formalized values exploration in the 1999 ACT text. The dual-rating (importance × alignment) format draws on Lundgren's Bull's-Eye Values Survey tradition. ## What's in the worksheet Eight life domains, each one a group with three fields. Then a synthesis section. ### The eight domains | Group | Domain | Values prompt | | ------------ | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------- | | Family | Family relationships | What kind of family member do you want to be? | | Intimate | Intimate / romantic relationships | What kind of partner do you want to be? | | Friends | Friendships | What kind of friend do you want to be? | | Work | Work / education | What matters to you in this area? | | Health | Health and self-care | How do you want to take care of yourself? | | Recreation | Recreation, leisure, creativity | What activities matter to you? | | Community | Community, citizenship, contribution | How do you want to contribute? | | Spirituality | Spirituality / meaning | What gives your life meaning? | Within each domain: * The values statement (textarea — free text) * Importance, 0-10 (not → essential) * Current alignment, 0-10 (not at all → strongly) ### Synthesis Two fields: * Where the biggest gap is between importance and current behavior * One small step that would close that gap The synthesis is the action-oriented end of an otherwise reflective worksheet. Values work without behavioral integration tends to produce insight without movement. ## Why the importance × alignment dual rating matters A domain that's rated high importance with low alignment is the clinical target. A domain rated low importance with low alignment isn't a clinical problem — the client doesn't care, and that's a legitimate choice. A domain rated low importance with high alignment is fine. The interesting case is the high importance / low alignment quadrant: that's where the client is living against their values, which is one of the maintenance mechanisms ACT treats. The dual rating prevents the worksheet from collapsing into a generic "are you living a meaningful life" question. It asks the question domain-by-domain and surfaces the specific gap. ## When to use it * **Session 3-6 of ACT treatment**, after psychoeducation about values vs goals. *Values are directions, not destinations* — the worksheet is designed for the direction question, not the goal question. * **Depression with loss of meaning.** Clients who've lost connection to what they used to care about, where the depression cycle has flattened the field of valued activity. * **Career or life transitions.** Inflection points where the client is re-asking what to spend the next chapter on. * **"Going through the motions" presentations.** Clients who are high-functioning externally but feel disengaged from their own lives. * **Revisited periodically.** Not a one-time worksheet — values clarify over treatment, and re-doing the worksheet at session 12 or 24 surfaces the shift. ## In-session mechanics Open **Values clarification** from the top-right corner (**Clinical templates ▾**). Eight domain sections plus the synthesis. You don't have to fill all eight in one session — in practice, you walk through 2-3 domains together and the client takes the rest as reflection. The worksheet saves with the empty domains and you reopen across sessions to fill the rest. The eight domains × three fields format is the longest worksheet in this group. Plan for 30-45 minutes if you're walking through it together end-to-end. ## Citation Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (1999). *Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: An Experiential Approach to Behavior Change.* Guilford Press. Wilson, K. G., & Murrell, A. R. (2004). "Values work in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Setting a course for behavioral treatment." In S. C. Hayes, V. M. Follette, & M. M. Linehan (Eds.), *Mindfulness and Acceptance: Expanding the Cognitive-Behavioral Tradition.* Lundgren, T. (2008). The Bull's-Eye Values Survey — the dual-rating importance × alignment format derives from this tradition. ACT values clarification is published peer-reviewed clinical method. All field labels and prompts are original to Rivet. ## When not to use it * **Early in trauma treatment when the client is in acute symptom reduction.** Values work assumes some bandwidth for reflection. Stabilize symptoms first. * **Clients who can't yet articulate values verbally.** A small minority of clients (often after long periods of severe depression or identity-flattening trauma) genuinely can't access values without practitioner scaffolding. The worksheet may need to be done verbally rather than written, with the practitioner offering domain-by-domain prompts and the client responding in conversation. * **Goal setting.** Values aren't goals. If the client wants to set a goal, the [problem solving](/clinical-templates/cbt/problem-solving) worksheet is the right surface; values work belongs upstream of goals. ## Related articles For scheduling activities that move toward identified values. For acting on a chosen direction. For the self-criticism that often surfaces during values work.