Articles, guides, research, and tools to help you understand ACT — and how it underpins every North Star Protocol program.
ACT is one of the most rigorously researched psychological frameworks of the past three decades. This guide explains the six core processes, how they differ from CBT, and why ACT is uniquely suited to professional performance contexts — without requiring clinical training to apply.
Read the Guide →The paradox at the centre of professional success: the same psychological strategies that build a career can quietly erode the capacity to enjoy or direct it.
Goals are destinations. Values are directions. This distinction is the foundation of every North Star Protocol session — and one of the most practically useful frameworks in ACT.
A curated summary of peer-reviewed research on ACT-based interventions in workplace and professional contexts — covering wellbeing, performance, and decision-making outcomes.
A structured self-reflection tool drawn from Session 1 of every North Star Protocol program. Use it with clients or as a personal starting point. Free PDF download.
Decision drag isn't a lack of information — it's a relationship with uncertainty. An exploration of what ACT reveals about why high-performing professionals hesitate at precisely the wrong moments.
A 12-minute introduction to the North Star Protocol from Frank Marinko — the one question that sits at the centre of all eight programs, and why it matters.
The single most important outcome of any ACT-based intervention. This primer explains what psychological flexibility is, why it matters more than motivation, and how it's built over 14 sessions.
A one-page decision-making tool grounded in ACT's committed action principles. Designed for high-stakes professional decisions where avoidance is masquerading as deliberation.
The North Star Protocol emerged partly from years of immersion in Erhard's work. This overview explores the intellectual lineage from Erhard to ACT — and how they complement each other.
Legal professionals face some of the highest rates of psychological distress of any profession. This article explores why conventional resilience training fails — and what ACT offers instead.
A guided walk through the structure of a typical Protocol session — how the video, audio, and workbook components work together to produce lasting behavioural change.
A practical guide for coaches and practitioners navigating the eight protocol options. Includes a client-matching framework, audience profiles, and key questions to ask before recommending a program.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy works by targeting six specific psychological processes that together build flexibility, clarity, and committed action.
Opening to uncomfortable thoughts and feelings without fighting them — freeing up energy that was being spent on control.
Creating distance from thoughts — seeing them as events in the mind rather than facts about the world.
Flexible, voluntary contact with the present moment — the discipline of attention as a professional asset.
The stable observer beneath the changing content of experience — the part of you that is never damaged by what you think or feel.
Chosen directions for living — not goals or outcomes, but the qualities of action that make goals worth pursuing.
Building larger and larger patterns of effective action in service of chosen values — regardless of what thoughts and feelings show up.
Core terms used across all North Star Protocol programs — defined precisely, without clinical jargon.
Explore the eight programs, apply for a licence, or get in touch to discuss how the North Star Protocol fits your practice.