Therapy often gets caught up in diagnosing and reducing symptoms, turning it into a checklist of problems to solve instead of a path towards growth and fulfilment.
But let’s be honest, that approach can lead to a cycle of temporary relief rather than lasting transformation. And that’s not great for your clients. Not great for you.
That’s why you need to be using ACT.
Because ACT moves therapy away from a change-based model and lets you and your clients focus on what matters most: helping them thrive, achieve their goals and live a life aligned with their values.
And now in this intensive training you can join thousands of therapists who are not only finding greater treatment success with ACT but reenergising their passion for the work.
You’ll watch expert and author Dr. Mike Mecozzi for the step-by-step instruction you need to confidently start using ACT with your clients right away. This extensive training experience goes beyond “just talking” as Dr. Mecozzi shares experiential exercises, lists of metaphors, printables, and video demonstrations that will show you exactly what to do in sessions.
No guesswork. No hoping you’re doing it right. Dr. Mecozzi’s detailed guidance will ensure you know how to handle a variety of clinical scenarios whether you’re working with anxiety, depression, relationship struggles or any number of issues you see in clients each day.
And all along the way you’ll find yourself better able to empathise with your clients’ problems, feel more prepared to handle “stuckness” and even ready to use ACT skills that can protect you from burnout.
This is your chance to make therapy better for both you and your clients.
Purchase now and take the first step toward becoming an ACT expert!
CPD
Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships
All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
Mike Mecozzi, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, author and speaker who specializes in utilizing ACT to help clients master anxiety and depression. He and his wife own a private practice, Hope with ME, in New Lenox, Illinois. Dr. Mecozzi has trained clinicians in utilizing the ACT model for over 15 years. He is also the author of two books, The Tortoise and the Hare Retold: Learning to Run and Win the Races that Matter and The Other Side of Pain: Discovering Meaning When Life Hurts for which ACT developer Steven Hayes wrote the forward.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Michael Mecozzi has an employment relationship with Hope with Me, LLC. He receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Michael Mecozzi has no relevant non-financial relationships.
Additional Info
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)
Access never expires for this product.
For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepepesi.com
Objectives
Identify the core processes of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), including acceptance, cognitive defusion, mindfulness, values clarification, and committed action.
Analyse the randomised controlled trials research base of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
Determine the implications of ACT interventions on enhancing overall quality of life and resilience.
Identify the specific psychological and behavioural mechanisms underlying ACT interventions.
Define cognitive defusion within the context of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
Identify experiential avoidance patterns and explore the short-term benefits and long-term costs of avoidance behaviours.
Identify considerations for implementing ACT interventions in treatment plans.
Formulate ACT interventions to address specific client needs and preferences.
Evaluate the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in reducing depressive symptoms compared to control groups.
Utilise the Open and Engaged State Questionnaire (OESQ) as a tool for assessing psychological flexibility in clients with major depression.
Utilise strategies to enhance motivation and address barriers to treatment adherence in ACT interventions for major depression.
Use metaphors and experiential exercises to facilitate understanding and engagement with ACT concepts.
Integrate values into treatment goals and action plans to promote a sense of purpose and motivation for change.
Utilise outcome measures and feedback to assess the effectiveness of ACT interventions.
Compare the effectiveness of ACT with other available active treatments for chronic pain.
Identify common methodological challenges encountered in ACT research, such as sample sizes, and their potential impact on study outcomes.
Identify contexts in which ACT interventions may fail to alter psychological flexibility processes effectively.
Use ACT interventions targeting repetitive negative thinking to improve interpersonal skills.
Outline
Introduction to the ACT Model
Brief history of ACT
The benefits and costs of language
Define relational frames
ACT, destructive normality and suffering
Destructive normality
Cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance
Research, risks and treatment limitations
Indications and contraindications
The Six Core Processes of ACT
The Hexaflex
Define psychological flexibility
The ACT goal as compared to goal of symptom reduction
How to focus on processes rather than symptoms
Apply the six core processes to our work
Creative Hopelessness: How to Detach Clients from Avoidance and Open Them to Change
Four core questions to help clients detach from avoidance
The unworkable change agenda
Metaphors to help clients experience the costs of avoidance
Creating conflict with the change agenda
Video demo of creative hopelessness metaphors in a session
Cognitive Defusion: Distance Clients from Their Thoughts to Catalyse Transformation
Define cognitive defusion
The function of fusion and the contexts in which fusion is unhelpful
Change thought content and change one’s relationship with thoughts
Three cognitive defusion metaphors
Experiential exercises to promote defusion in daily living
Apply defusion skills to our work as clinicians
Embrace Acceptance: Make Room for Uncomfortable Emotions and Sensations
Understand the function of avoidance
Explain the paradoxical effects of avoidance
Metaphors to help teach clients acceptance skills
Three experiential client exercises to promote willingness in daily living
Apply acceptance skills to our work as clinicians
ACT in the Moment: Mindfulness Practices, Information Overload and Present Living
Information overload and its impact on clients and therapy
Two questions that can help promote living in the moment
Gratitude and present moment
Practice mindfulness meditation and incorporate it into sessions
Three mindfulness skills that can be used in session and in daily living
Utilise and practice mindfulness skills as clinicians
How Self-As-Context Transforms Therapy: Harness Inner Compassion and Flexibility in ACT Practice
The conceptualised self, inflexibility, and values-inconsistent responses
Promote self-compassion with the observer exercise
Three metaphors to promote self-as-context skills
Practice self-as-context skills as clinicians
ACT and Values: Help Clients Align Their Lives with What Truly Matters to Them
Understand the difference between values and goals
Three values clarification exercises
Use values to assist with exposure interventions
Help clients create a mission statement
Utilise values clarification to aid our work as therapists
Committed Action: Align Clients’ Actions with Purpose
The importance of intention
Describe the difference between being busy and being purposeful
Three exercises to help clients develop committed actions
Create daily plans
ACT for Anxiety: Clinical Strategies and Exercises for Therapists
Conceptualise anxiety from an ACT perspective
Link avoidance to anxiety disorders
Five metaphors to distance clients from anxious thoughts
Simple “experiments” to promote acceptance of anxiety
Make exposure work more tolerable with ACT
Case studies and video clips
ACT Strategies for Depression: Transform Thought Patterns and Cultivate Hope
Conceptualise depression from an ACT perspective
Link fusion and avoidance to depressive disorders
Five metaphors to distance clients from depressive thoughts
Simple “experiments” to promote committed actions
Make behavioural activation more effective with ACT
Case studies and video clips
Use ACT to Improve Clients’ Interpersonal Skills
Conceptualise relationship challenges from an ACT perspective
Link fusion and avoidance to unhelpful interpersonal repertoires
Understand how evaluation and reason giving contribute to relationship struggles
Utilise values clarification to help clients strengthen relationships
ACT skills for clients with challenging interpersonal presentations
This product is part of a bundles which includes special pricing as displayed below.
Additional Participant CPD
Additional Participant CPD must be purchased for each additional viewer. These viewers will watch the video with the main registrant, but will have individual access to course handouts and certification. The standard price of this program includes certification for main viewer.
Satisfaction Guarantee
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