Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Process in Clinical Practice

April 16 - 17, 2025

A Live, Interactive Webinar

Description:

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) employs a variety of verbal and experiential processes and techniques to assist clients in making life-enhancing choices based on personally held values. ACT, as a modern behavioral approach within the third wave of cognitive-behavioral therapies, emphasizes psychological flexibility, helping clients live in alignment with their values in the service of creating meaningful living. This training aims to deepen participants' understanding of how ACT promotes resilience and adaptive coping by encouraging clients to open up to difficult experiences instead of avoiding them. Attendees will gain insights into fostering an accepting, value-driven therapeutic relationship and experience ways to integrate mindfulness and experiential exercises within their practice, assisting the client to live meaninfully. Using case examples and role-play, participants will be equipped with practical tools to help clients cultivate awareness, respond flexibly to life challenges, and pursue meaningful goals. (Walser, R. D., & O'Connell, M., 2021; Walser, R. D., 2019; Gloster, A. T., Walder, N., Levin, M. E., Twohig, M. P., & Karekla, M.,2020).

Total CE Credits: 14

Total Contact Hours: 14

Learning Objectives:

Following the training, attendees will be able to:

1. Describe the six processes that underlie psychological flexibility/inflexibility.
2. Demonstrate the ability to formulate an ACT-consistent therapeutic agreement.
3. Describe the language-based processes (e.g., RFT) that create suffering.
4. Describe how to use the six core processes in case conceptualization.
5. Explain how to use “creative hopelessness” to motivate a change in the control agenda.
6. Demonstrate the process of creative hopelessness and how it functions across time.
7. Describe how acceptance and defusion support openness to experience.
8. Describe how present moment and self-as-context assist in establishing awareness.
9. Describe how values and commitment action support meaningful living.
10. Participants will explore strategies for overcoming challenges in implementing ACT processes across various client presentations and contexts.
11. Describe the state of ACT as an evidence-based treatment.
12. Describe and demonstrate perspective-taking and its relationship to creating flexibility.
13. Describe and demonstrate how committed action and values clarification work together in creating meaning and behavioral goals.
14. Explain how ACT can address multiple clinical issues and presenting problems.
15. Define the essential characteristics of the therapeutic relationship from an ACT point of view, including intrapersonal and interpersonal processes.
16. Describe the ACT therapeutic stance.
17. Describe and demonstrate the ACT therapeutic relationship and its core competencies.

Target Audience: For behavioral health providers who treat military personnel, veterans, and their families.   

Instructional Content Level:   Intermediate

Agenda:

Continuing Education:

Course Completion Requirements: Participants are required to attend the entire training. Partial credits cannot be issued. Attendance is taken through the use of electronic logs, and a post-training evaluation form must be completed in order to receive ACE social work CE credits. For other CE credits, completion of the evaluation is strongly encouraged, but if you do not wish to complete the evaluation, please contact the training event's POC after the training event.  

There is a 30-day time limit post-training to complete all CE requirements. CE Credit Certificates will be awarded via CE21 within 30 days after all course requirements have been completed.

American Psychological Association Sponsor Approval:

The Center for Deployment Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Center for Deployment Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Association of Social Work Boards Approved Continuing Education Provider Approval:

The Center for Deployment Psychology, #1761, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program.  Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers.  State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.  The Center for Deployment Psychology maintains responsibility for this course.  ACE provider approval period: May 19, 2022 – May 19, 2025.  Social workers completing this course receive 14 Live, Interactive Webinar continuing education credits.

New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology Provider Approval:

The Center for Deployment Psychology is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists (#PSY-0178).

New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work Provider Approval:

The Center for Deployment Psychology is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (#SW-0744).

Inquiries regarding CE credits may be directed via email to William Tiwari at william.tiwari.ctr@usuhs.edu.

Participate:

Online Platform: Zoom

Date: April 16-17, 2025

Time: 9:00 am – 5:30 pm Eastern

Registration Information:  https://deploymentpsych.org/training

Registration Deadline: Registration will close one week prior to the training or once capacity has been met.

Cancellations/Questions: Please contact william.tiwari.ctr@usuhs.edu if you have any questions or need to cancel your registration.

Registration Cost/Refunds: This training is free for those with a .mil email address and $45.00 for all others. Registration fees will be refunded to participants who send a written cancellation via email to william.tiwari.ctr@usuhs.edu no less than 2 weeks before the training. No refunds will be made after the training.

Required Materials: None

Location Information: Zoom

Instructional Format: This live webinar is fully interactive. Attendees may ask and answer questions throughout the presentation and participate in instructor-led discussions.

System Requirements:   

Zoom: 

• Internet connection

• Operating System: Windows 7 or higher, Mac OS X with MacOS 10.9 or higher

• Web Browser: Internet Explorer 11+, Edge 12+, Firefox 27+, Chrome 30+, Safari 7+

• Hardware: 1Ghz processor or higher

Special Accommodations: If you require special accommodations due to a disability, please contact William Tiwari william.tiwari.ctr@usuhs.edu 4 weeks prior to the training so that we may provide you with appropriate service.

Grievances: For any grievances or concerns with this training including those related to course content, non-receipt of certificate or other occurrences, participants may contact CDP’s Continuing Education Director, Amanda Stanley-Hulsey at amanda.stanley-hulsey.ctr@usuhs.edu   

Instructor Biographies:

Robyn D. Walser, Ph.D., is Director of TL Consultation Services, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Director of Research at Trauma Recovery Clinical Services, and works at the National Center for PTSD. She maintains an international training, consulting, and therapy practice as a licensed psychologist. Dr. Walser is an expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and has co-authored 9 books on ACT, including a book on learning ACT. She recently wrote The Heart of ACT- Developing a flexible, process-based, and client-centered practice using acceptance and commitment therapy. Dr. Walser has expertise in traumatic stress, depression and substance abuse and has authored a number of articles, chapters, and books on these topics. She has been doing ACT workshops since 1997; training in multiple formats and for multiple client problems. Her workshops feature a combination of lecture and experiential exercises designed to provide a unique learning opportunity in this state-of-the-art intervention.

**There is no commercial support or conflict of interest to report for these presenters.