Acceptance & Commitment Therapy: 2-Day Intensive ACT Training

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Faculty

Daniel J. Moran, PhD, BCBA-D Related seminars and products

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Daniel J. Moran, PhD, BCBA-D, is an associate professor in the Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology with Health Emphasis program at Touro University. He has dedicated his career to reducing suffering and enhancing quality of life.

Dr. Moran is also a past president of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), the international organization for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with over 8,000 members worldwide. He co-authored the first case conceptualization manual for ACT, ACT in Practice (New Harbinger), and served on the inaugural ACT training committee. He has authored several other books on ACT, including Finding Your Why and Finding Your Way.

As a recognized ACT trainer within the ACBS community, Dr. Moran is known for his engaging training style and has been an invited keynote speaker at numerous events over the past decade. He has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Network, The Discovery Channel TLC, and Animal Planet to discuss treatment approaches for various clinical disorders. His scholarly work includes articles and book chapters coauthored with CBT pioneer Albert Ellis and ACT founder Steven Hayes.

Since 2017, Dr. Moran has provided telepsychology services and founded Optimize Psychological Health, a teleclinic where he continues to supervise clinicians and provide direct client care. Passionate about applying ACT beyond clinical settings, he established Pickslyde Consulting to bring mindfulness and values-based commitment skills to workplaces – improving leadership, innovation, and safety.  

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Daniel Moran is the founder, president & CEO of Pickslyde Consulting, Optimize Psychological Health, and the founder of bcbasupervison.com. He has employment relationships with Touro University and FoxyLearning.com. Dr. Moran receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Daniel Moran is a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Sciences, the International OCD Foundation, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Behavior Analysis International, the Association for Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies, and the American Society of Safety Engineers.

Objectives

1. Demonstrate effective use of the six core processes of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help clients advance psychological flexibility.
2. Employ clinical techniques for increasing psychological flexibility in clients using ACT.
3. Utilize acceptance approaches with avoidance problems to strengthen a client’s willingness to have emotions.
4. Apply clinical skills to help client effectively handle automatic cognitions.
5. Utilize effective ACT exercises in therapy to aid clients with developing new skills to engage in the present moment and move past struggles.
6. Assess and clarify a client’s values in order to develop an effective treatment plan and avoid potential clinical problems.
7. Integrate ACT into different therapeutic styles and methods as an approach to managing symptoms.
8. Create committed action plans for clients with anxiety disorders to improve level of functioning.
9. Use metaphors to undermine language-based avoidance repertoires to improve client engagement.
10. Utilize clinical strategies to develop an ACT-based behavior therapy plan as it relates to treatment outcomes.
11. Perform emotional, behavioral willingness and exposure techniques with clients to reduce experiential avoidance.
12. Apply ACT techniques to the treatment of specific disorders including depression, anxiety, trauma and personality disorders.

Outline

• The nature of human suffering
• ”Healthy normality” is a myth
• Language: The double-edged sword
• Undermine unhelpful thoughts
• Aiming for psychological flexibility and why
• The ACT hexagon model

• Children and adolescents
• Acute, florid hallucinations
• Catatonic depression
• Individuals with an adverse reaction to mindfulness exercises

• Strengthening a willingness to have emotions
• The opposite of acceptance is experiential avoidance
• Experiential avoidance throughout the lifespan
• Why acceptance is important
• Case example: Teenage shyness & hoarding

• Look at thoughts rather than from thoughts
• Deal with automatic thoughts
• The power of words
• The problem with cognitive fusion
• Address CBT-based disputation techniques with defusion
• ”Taking your mind for a walk” exercise
• Case example: Eating disorders & social phobia

• Understand the “Self” in ACT
• Self-as-content, self-as-perspective, self-as-context
• Observer self-exercise
• Deal with identity issues
• Case examples related to PTSD & childhood sexual trauma

• Contacting the present moment
• Why being in the here-and-now is critical for mental health
• Relationship between mindlessness and psychopathology
• Meditation, mindfulness and mindful action
• Exercises for mindful action
• Case example: Anger, personality disorders, alcoholism

• The positive side of language
• Identifying core values
• Differentiate values and goals
• Writing values-based treatment goals
• The ethics of values clarification
• Establishing the life line
• Case example: Heroin addiction, bipolar disorder

• Define “commitment” objectively
• Integrate evidence-based therapy with ACT
• Develop ACT-based behavior therapy treatment plans
• Improve behavioral activation with ACT
• Accelerate exposure therapy with ACT
• Case example: Depression, agoraphobia

• Hexaflex model for psychological flexibility
• Ask the “ACT Question” for self-help and case conceptualization
• Inflexahex model: Diagnosis from an ACT approach
• Case example: Obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Social skills training
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Inpatient treatment programs systems
• Exposure and ritual prevention
• Behavioral activation
• Parent management training
• Executive coaching

• ACT simplified
• Passengers on the bus: The classic ACT group exercise
• How ACT can make you a better therapist

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Psychotherapists
• Social Workers
• Addiction Counselors
• Therapists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Case Managers
• Physicians
• Mental Health Professionals
• Nurses