Culturally Tailored ACT

Culturally Tailored ACT

Targeting Black Racial Trauma

8
CE Hours available

Before COVID-19, research showed that Black people in the United States more frequently met the criteria for PTSD than any other U.S. race or ethnicity.

Following the murder of George Floyd while in police custody in May 2020, Census Bureau data shows the rate of depression and anxiety has increased even further among Black Americans.

However, although trauma rates are high, Black people are unlikely to seek help from mental health professionals. Annually, only 8.6% of African Americans use mental health services.

Among other factors, cultural mistrust and the lack of culturally appropriate services all contribute to a lack of willingness to seek help.

In addition, few evidence-based modalities address the types of trauma that Black people experience. So even when they take the risk and step into the therapy room, Black clients can end up feeling unseen in their experience and demoralized by the therapeutic process.

Because of this, many leave treatment after one session, continue to suffer silently, and remain untreated.

This speaks to a deep necessity for a culturally sensitive therapeutic approach that can adapt to the needs of Black clients.

Practitioners of all backgrounds are looking for effective tools that provide the understanding and confidence to work more directly with racial trauma, especially across cultural divides.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has the potential to fulfill these needs for practitioners and make mental health more culturally relevant for African Americans.

Many evidence-based therapy models medicalize treatment, prescribing rigid protocols that can feel alienating and pejorative for some clients from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.

ACT, on the other hand, utilizes a non-pathologizing approach that normalizes the experience of suffering and empowers clients to focus on their values — aspects noted in prior research as appealing to African Americans.

As a clinician, ACT allows you to observe, understand, and transform the processes that lie at the heart of psychological flexibility, and provides strategies for designing fluid treatments based on the specific challenges your clients face.

In this way, ACT lends itself particularly to culturally responsive treatment, and allows you to integrate principles of equity and social justice into your daily work.

With this in mind, Dr. Jennifer Payne spent several years developing a culturally tailored approach to the ACT model called “Pulling Out Of the Fire” (POOF).

This model is designed to provide clinicians the tools to address the trauma African Americans face — including racial trauma — directly and effectively.

In this online course, Dr. Payne will show you how to incorporate the POOF model into your work with Black clients. You’ll explore the ways systemic racism and inequality affect your clients, and learn how to bring this discussion into the therapy room to generate deeper connection and healing.

While the POOF model is designed for work with African American clients, many of the tools you’ll gain from this course can be applied to all clients with marginalized identities.

Over four weekly sessions, you’ll learn how to:

  • Utilize accessible language and cultural touchstones to reimagine the hexaflex
  • Work with collective and community values in addition to personal values
  • Integrate a cultural humility framework into your practice
  • Incorporate an understanding of the social determinants of health (access to healthcare, access to food, social and community context, etc.) into your ACT work

This is a crucially important new training that we’re proud to share with our community.

We hope you’ll join us inside to learn skills for addressing racial trauma with more confidence, compassion, and efficacy.

This training is worth 8 CE credit hours if attended live. While we can only provide CE to those who are present – i.e. logged in – for all live sessions, Praxis webinars are recorded for later viewing. Registrants may access these recordings at any time for up to six months from the conclusion of the training to which they pertain.

Prior to registering, please click here to review speaker-planner conflict of interest disclosures and complete CE information.

Session 1 | May 20, 2022, 3:30 PM—5:30 PM EDT
Pain & Suffering from a Black Lens
Reenvisioning the Hexaflex


Session 2 | May 27, 2022, 3:30 PM—5:30 PM EDT
“It Is What It Is” – Control and Acceptance
“Freedom To Let Go” – Cognitive Defusion


Session 3 | June 3, 2022, 3:30 PM—5:30 PM EDT
“In the Here and Now” – Present Moment Awareness
“I am More Than What I Have Been Through” – Self As Context


Session 4 | June 10, 2022, 3:30 PM—5:30 PM EDT
“Living Life Like It’s Golden” – Values, personal and collective
“Getting It Done” – Committed Action and Workability

Participants will be able to:

  1. Describe 2 unique pain/suffering experiences that influence African American trauma.
  2. Explain how intersectionality influences the perception of stigma and the motivation for treatment.
  3. Compare the classic ACT hexaflex to a culturally tailored model.
  4. Describe 2 elements of a culturally tailored look at “acceptance” and “cognitive defusion” that can be applied to work with black clients.
  5. Utilize a model for values and committed action work that helps the black client move forward both personally and collectively.
  6. Address how non-black clinicians can sensitively address the issues that black clients face.

Please review complete CE and conflict-of-interest disclosure information prior to registering. This live online course is sponsored by Praxis Continuing Education and Training and is approved for 8 CE Hours by the following listed below. There was no commercial support for this activity. None of the planners or presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Praxis CET maintains responsibility for the program with the CE approvals outlined below:

Joint Accreditation: In support of improving patient care, Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

IPCE: This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 8 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.

Nursing: Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc designates this activity for a maximum of 8 ANCC contact hours.

Physicians: Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc designates this live internet activity for a maximum of 8 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Psychologists: Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibly for the content of the programs.

Social Workers: As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc 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 under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 8 clinical continuing education credits.

Drug and Alcohol Counselors:This course has been approved by Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for 8 CE hours. NAADAC Provider #165310, Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc, is responsible for all aspects of its programming.

National Counselors: Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6759. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc. is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

NY Social Workers:Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc 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-0467

NY Counselors:Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0198.

NY Psychologists:Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc. 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-0002.

Some familiarity with ACT is advised, because the goal of this workshop is not to teach classic ACT in detail.
For mental health professionals, beginners through intermediate and on to advanced practitioners.

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Alegría, M., Fortuna, L. R., Lin, J. Y., Norris, F. H., Gao, S., Takeuchi, D. T., Jackson, J. S., Shrout, P. E., & Valentine, A. (2013). Prevalence, risk, and correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder across ethnic and racial minority groups in the United States. Medical care, 51(12), 1114-1123. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000000007

Carter, R. T., Mazzula, S., Victoria, R., Vazquez, R., Hall, S., Smith, S., Sant-Barket, S., Forsyth, J., Bazelais, K., & Williams, B. (2013). Initial development of the Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale: Assessing the emotional impact of racism. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(1), 1.

Goldmann, E., Aiello, A., Uddin, M., Delva, J., Koenen, K., Gant, L. M., & Galea, S. (2011). Pervasive exposure to violence and posttraumatic stress disorder in a predominantly African American Urban Community: the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study. Journal of traumatic stress, 24(6), 747-751.

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Jones, E., Huey, S. J., & Rubenson, M. (2018). Cultural Competence in Therapy with African Americans. In Cultural Competence in Applied Psychology (pp. 557-573). Springer.

Kalibatseva, Z., & Leong, F. T. (2014). A critical review of culturally sensitive treatments for depression: Recommendations for intervention and research. Psychological Services, 11(4), 433.

Mulvaney‐Day, N. E., Earl, T. R., Diaz‐Linhart, Y., & Alegría, M. (2011). Preferences for relational style with mental health clinicians: A qualitative comparison of African American, Latino and Non‐Latino White patients. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(1), 31-44.

Öst, L.-G. (2014). The efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Behaviour research and therapy, 61, 105-121.

Roberts, A. L., Gilman, S. E., Breslau, J., Breslau, N., & Koenen, K. C. (2011). Race/ethnic differences in exposure to traumatic events, development of post-traumatic stress disorder, and treatment-seeking for post-traumatic stress disorder in the United States. Psychological medicine, 41(1), 71-83. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291710000401

SAMHSA. (2015). Racial/Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Service Use among Adults. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. S. A. a. M. H. S. Administration. https://www.integration.samhsa.gov/MHServicesUseAmongAdults.pdf

Swain, J., Hancock, K., Hainsworth, C., & Bowman, J. (2013). Acceptance and commitment therapy in the treatment of anxiety: a systematic review. Clinical psychology review, 33(8), 965-978.

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We understand, sometimes things come up!

Praxis will offer a full refund to registrants of both live and live-online trainings who cancel their registration up to 14 days before the course or workshop start date, minus an administrative processing fee of $30 for a 2-day workshop or online course, and a $50 fee for a 4-day workshop. If cancelled within 14 days, no refund will be issued, however, a credit for the same amount will be applied toward another learning product, which expires within 1 year. Please email us at online@praxiscet.com to cancel a registration.