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Editorial Standard — valuesSort session (ACT values card-sort)

Purpose

A valuesSort session presents an ordered list of personal values and asks the user to drag and reorder them to reflect what matters most right now. The reordering itself is the therapeutic action -- articulating priorities outside the context of tinnitus, which counters the tinnitus-as-identity consolidation that drives long-term distress. The session is a direct implementation of the ACT values clarification process: the user moves from "I can't do what matters because of tinnitus" toward "here is what matters; tinnitus is an obstacle to navigate, not the defining fact."

Values card-sorts are positioned in Weeks 8-10 (Acceptance and Deepening phase) where ACT content is concentrated, and in early programme onboarding as a motivational anchor. They are the most personal interaction type in the programme -- the output is directly meaningful to the user in a way that trigger-mapping data is not.

Voice register

Default register is early habituation -- companion-forward, still, warm. But warmer and quieter than most habituation sessions: the user is being asked to articulate what matters most to them, which is genuinely personal. The intro paragraph should feel more like an invitation and less like an instruction. The knowledgeable guide creates space; it does not push.

The voice here is at its least clinical and most human. No technique-and-mechanism framing is needed in the intro -- the values sort does not require justification in the way breathing exercises or behavioural experiments do. A simple, direct invitation is correct.

Values label copy should be plain-language and universal -- not clinical, not self-help-speak. "Connection" not "Meaningful relationships." "Health" not "Physical and mental wellbeing." "Creativity" not "Expressing my authentic self." Values labels that carry editorial weight ("authentic", "meaningful", "holistic") undermine the user's ability to project their own meaning onto them.

Evidence / IP

Grounded in docs/protocols/ACT for Tinnitus.md (ACT hexaflex, Westin, self-as-context, defusion, values card-sort) and docs/session-audio-protocols-ip-guide.md (Zetterqvist thesis). Key sources:

  • ACT values clarification component: one of the six ACT hexaflex processes (Values Clarification). Westin et al. RCT showed ACT outperforms TRT at 18-month follow-up, with tinnitus acceptance as the primary mediator. Values work is the upstream driver of acceptance -- it provides the motivational anchor for tolerating the sound.
  • Values card sort specifically: identified in the ACT-for-tinnitus protocol as "one of the most engaging chip interactions" (protocol notes). Directly maps to the ACT technique that asks "what would you do today if tinnitus wasn't a factor?" -- the values sort makes that question concrete.
  • Zetterqvist thesis (open access, ACT-for-tinnitus complete clinical protocol; source: docs/session-audio-protocols-ip-guide.md): values clarification appears in the week 3-4 sessions as the transition from defusion to committed action. This sequence (defusion first, values second) informs programme placement.
  • 18-month effect superiority: vault note #8. ACT outperforms TRT at 18 months, not just at 6 months. This argues for early introduction of ACT values content and reinforcement throughout the programme, not concentration at a single point.

IP: ACT hexaflex is academic and unprotectable. Values card sort as a concept is widely used in ACT practice and not proprietary. The specific values list is authored by Naluma -- no protected content involved.

Length / reading level

  • Intro paragraph: 2-4 sentences. An invitation, not an explanation. State what the user is doing and why it matters in the programme context. Shorter is better here than in most other session types.
  • Values item labels: 1-3 words. Plain-language, not self-help-inflected. Universal enough that most users can project personal meaning onto them.
  • Item count: 5-10 values in a sort is the usable range. Below 5, the ranking feels trivial. Above 10, ranking fatigue sets in and the output loses meaning. 6-8 items is the target.
  • Reading level: Grade 6 or below for item labels. The intro can be Grade 8.

Editorial-required elements

  1. Values are the user's, not the programme's. The intro must frame the sort as surfacing the user's existing priorities, not installing correct values. "Which of these matters most to you right now" not "identify the values that will help you accept tinnitus." The exercise is descriptive of the user's world, not prescriptive.

  2. No wellness-inflected labels. Values labels must be plain-language, not self-help vocabulary. "Calm" not "Inner peace." "Adventure" not "Exploring your authentic self." If a label requires self-help context to make sense, rewrite it.

  3. Values should span life domains. A values list that covers only tinnitus-adjacent domains (health, peace, coping) will not produce useful output. Include domains the user cares about independently of tinnitus: relationships, work, creativity, learning, contribution. Tinnitus is an obstacle to values, not a value domain itself.

  4. The sort outcome must be usable. If the programme never uses the ordered values output, the session loses credibility. Editorial review should confirm that at least the top 2-3 ranked values are referenced in subsequent coach conversations or committed action sessions within the same programme phase.

  5. Obeys ai-patterns-en.md. Intro copy and values labels must obey all of ai-patterns-en.md. Values labels are the most likely place for wellness clichés to appear -- review each label for self-help inflection.

Examples

Good -- values sort intro:

Drag these into the order that feels most true right now. What you put first shapes the next part of the programme.

Why this works: direct, non-clinical, honest about how the output is used (shapes the programme), and creates no pressure toward any particular ranking. Roughly 20 words.

Good values labels: "Connection", "Health", "Creativity", "Adventure", "Contribution", "Learning", "Family", "Work that matters"

Bad -- values sort intro:

❌ As part of your wellness journey, take a moment to reflect on your inner values and discover what truly matters to you. Finding your authentic self is an important step in learning to manage your tinnitus and find your peace.

Why it fails: "wellness journey", "manage your tinnitus", and "find your peace" are banned under ai-patterns-en.md (Naluma-voice additions). "Inner values", "authentic self", and "truly matters" are self-help-inflected. The intro frames the exercise as self-discovery rather than a concrete programme task with a specific output.

Bad values labels: "Inner peace", "Emotional wellbeing", "Authentic connection", "Holistic balance", "Positive mindset"

These fail because they carry editorial weight that prevents the user from projecting their own meaning; they also import wellness-cliché language into the UI.