Treating Trauma with ACT
Revitalizing Interrupted Lives
About This Course
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a principle-based behavioral intervention that addresses human suffering from a mindful and compassionate perspective. While ACT has been applied to a wide variety of problems, it’s well suited for treating trauma.
Many clients who experience trauma attempt to recover by trying to regain control over distressing responses to intrusive thoughts and ongoing feelings of fear and sadness. While some attempt to control these experiences can be useful, many attempts to avoid emotions and thoughts often result in a furthering of the suffering. As an antidote to avoidance, ACT seeks to reduce rigid attempts to control negative emotions by fostering acceptance through mindfulness and defusion techniques (i.e., noticing and recognizing thoughts as they occur). ACT revitalizes client lives by defining personal values and committing to taking actions guided by those values. The ultimate goal in ACT is to support clients in recovery through increasing psychological and behavioral flexibility in the service of a more workable life.
In this online course, you will discover the intricacies of applying ACT to trauma as well as learn how to use ACT to complement other trauma treatments.
In this course, you will:
- Add ACT principles such as mindfulness and acceptance to your trauma treatment repertoire
- Discover the power of leveraging the therapeutic stance and the therapeutic relationship in the context of trauma
- Review the current state of the research on use of ACT in treating trauma
- Learn ways to navigate client challenges that are specific to trauma
Prior to registering, please review speaker-planner conflict of interest disclosures and complete CE information.
Schedule
Session 1 | July 12, 2019, 5 PM—7 PM EDT
- Introduction: The Fallout of Trauma and Acceptance of Painful Pasts Open, Aware, and Engaged: Building Resiliency Following Trauma
Session 2 | July 19, 2019, 5 PM—7 PM EDT
- Open and Aware: Acceptance and Mindfulness in Recovery from Trauma Practice: Case Conceptualization, Role Play, and Challenges
Session 3 | July 26, 2019, 5 PM—7 PM EDT
- Aware and Engaged: Perspective Taking and Values in Recovery from Trauma Practice: The Arc of Therapy, Role Play, and Challenges
Session 4 | August 2, 2019, 5 PM—7 PM EDT
- Integrating ACT with Other Trauma-Focused Therapies (PE, EMDR, and PCT)
- Integrating ACT with Body-Focused Trauma Treatments
Session 5 | August 9, 2019, 5 PM—7 PM EDT
- Trauma, Safety, and the ACT Therapeutic Relationship
- Practice: ACT and the Therapeutic Stance in the Treatment of Trauma
Session 6 | August 16, 2019, 5 PM—7 PM EDT
- Trauma and Moral Injury: Moral Emotions, Cognitions and the Fallout of Perpetrating Harm
- ACT in the Treatment of Moral Injury: Exploring Shame, Guilt, Disgust, and Anger
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
- Describe the psychopathological impact of experiential avoidance and its relationship to trauma.
- Explain how human language participates in suffering following trauma.
- Explain how being open, aware, and engaged builds resiliency following trauma.
- Describe the six core processes of ACT and the intricacies of using these processes with trauma survivors.
- Explain how willingness to experience and perspective-taking can assist the trauma survivor in learning to relate to their internal experience in a healthier way.
- Describe how values-based living can bring meaning back to the trauma survivor’s life.
- Describe how ACT can be integrated with other trauma treatments.
- Explain the role of the ACT therapeutic stance and its relevance in creating safety when treating trauma.
- Define moral injury and describe how it is different from other trauma-related problems.
Continuing Education
Please review complete CE and conflict-of-interest disclosure information prior to registering. This course is jointly sponsored by Praxis CET and Institute for Better Health (IBH) and is approved for 12 CE Hours.
Prerequisites
Audience
Recommended Reading
Luoma, J. B., Hayes, S. C., & Walser, R. D. (2017). Learning ACT: An Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Skills Training Manual for Therapists, Second Edition. Oakland, CA: New HarbingerScarlet, J., Lang, A. J., & Walser, R. D. (2016). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Complementary and Alternative Medicine for PTSD, 35.
References
A-tjak, J. G., Davis, M. L., Morina, N., Powers, M. B., Smits, J. A., & Emmelkamp, P. M. (2015). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinically relevant mental and physical health problems. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(1), 30-36.
Lang, A. J., Schnurr, P. P., Jain, S., He, F., Walser, R. D., Bolton, E., … & Strauss, J. (2017). Randomized controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy for distress and impairment in OEF/OIF/OND veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9(S1), 74.
Twohig, M. P. (2009). Acceptance and commitment therapy for treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: A case study. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16(3), 243-252.
Refund and Cancellation Policy
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 events@praxiscet.zendesk.com to cancel a registration.
