Daniel Moran – Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Made Simple: ACT for PTSD, Anxiety, Depression & Personality Disorders

Outline

The ACT Model

• Pain vs. suffering
• Language as a double-edged sword
• Goal: Psychological flexibility
• Limitations of the research & potential risks

Components of the ACT Model

Acceptance: Foster Client Acceptance of Emotions to Increase Values-Based Action

• What should be accepted?
• The problem with controlling thoughts
• How to sidestep the happiness trap
• Spot common phrases of non-acceptance
• Experiential avoidance
• How to help clients understand acceptance
• Experiential Exercise: The finger trap

Defusion: Change the Way Clients Interact with Their Thoughts

• Relational frame theory & mental health
• Undermine unhelpful language processes
• Give clients skills to notice their thoughts
• How to decrease believability of unhelpful thoughts
• Experiential Exercise: Notice the meaning of language

Self-As-Context: Aid Clients in Establishing Their Identities

• The three different versions of the self
• How to describe the “observer self” to clients
• How to distance the self from thoughts & emotions
• The chess board metaphor
• Experiential Exercise: ”I am” exercise

Contact with the Present Moment: Strategies to Build Attention to the Here & Now

• How language affects mindfulness
• Goals of mindfulness
• ThoughtFit exercises
• How do we teach clients to be mindful?
• How to build focus on values
• Obstacles in teaching mindfulness
• Experiential Exercise: Mindfulness meditation

Values: Aid Clients in Deciding What Gives Live Meaning

• What are values?
• How to help clients author their values
• Values vs. goals
• When clients are “stuck”
• Values assessment
  • Batteries exercise
  • Epitaph exercise

Committed Action: Assist Clients in Behaving in the Service of Chosen Values

• Persistent inaction, impulsivity or avoidance
• Address rule-governed behavior
• Exposure & ritual prevention strategies
• The Mindful Action Plan

ACT in Action

PTSD

• Function of trauma symptoms
• Experiential avoidance in PTSD
• Increase psychological safety
• Dominating concepts of the past & future
• Trauma-informed mindfulness exercises

Anxiety

• Client avoidance & escape strategies
• Assessment tools
• Address reason-giving as a barrier
• Strategies to increase willingness
• Anxiety Detector exercise

Depression

• Values contradiction
• How experiential avoidance impacts depression
• Fusion to the damaged conceptualized self
• Behavioral activation strategies

Personality Disorders

• Coping strategies
• Increase emotional tolerance
• Target the client’s story
• Experiential avoidance from the therapist