Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a form of clinical behavioural analysis developed in 1986 by psychologists Steven Hayes, Kelly Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl. Originally called comprehensive distancing, it gets its current name from one of its core messages: the injunction to accept what is out of one's personal control and commit to action that improves and enriches one?s life. This course covers the basic concepts and techniques of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and we invite you to examine as we go through the material, just how and why it may be effective with clients. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to: Define ACT and articulate the underlying philosophy and therapeutic context in which it operates; Name the chief similarities ACT shares with other mindfulness-based approaches, and show how ACT is different from them; Cite the results of at least five studies which have demonstrated the effectiveness of ACT with various psychological conditions; Explain the assumptions and the six core principles which guide ACT practitioners' work; Name at least eight benefits of mindfulness for clients and at least five benefits of mindfulness for therapists/coaches; Demonstrate the use of at least six ACT techniques.