Do you find that your clients struggle to change their thoughts and feelings, only to stay stuck in unhelpful patterns? Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a “third wave” contextual behavioral therapy designed to help clients step out of the cycle of experiential avoidance and control, and instead become more open, aware, and engaged in values-based living.
In this workshop, geared toward all levels of prior ACT training, we will begin with a brief exploration of the theory underlying ACT, including the role of human language in suffering and the importance of understanding human behavior in context. We’ll then take a stroll through the core processes of ACT - acceptance, cognitive defusion, present moment awareness, perspective-taking, values, and committed action - and practice experiential exercises and metaphors that can be used to help clients build psychological flexibility.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Define psychological flexibility and discuss the contextual behavioral theory underlying Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
2. Discuss the pitfalls of using control and experiential avoidance strategies in response to human suffering.
3. Describe the ACT core processes of acceptance, cognitive defusion, and self-as-context, and their benefits in fostering openness and awareness.
4. Define “values” in the context of ACT and identify the benefits of values-focused interventions.
5. Define “committed action” and its relationship with values.
6. Describe experiential methods of increasing psychological flexibility in clinical practice.
The evaluation/CE request form for this program can be found
HERE.
