Course Overview
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is an evidence-based psychotherapy that has been found to be effective for a wide range of clinical presentations, including anxiety, depression, substance use, pain, and transdiagnostic difficulties (Gloster et al., 2020). Since ACT was first studied in 1986, there have been over 1,039 randomized controlled trials examining ACT (Hayes, 2019). ACT has been studied in its application to anxiety disorders and studies have found that clients who receive ACT for anxiety experience an improved emotional state and greater psychological flexibility (Coto-Lesmes et al., 2020). Rather than viewing anxiety as a deficit of dysfunction, ACT uses a functional contextual approach to place the problem in the way one reacts to anxiety and becomes rigid in one’s behavioral responses in their contexts. ACT uses six core processes of change to reduce suffering and improve quality of life (Hayes et al., 2012). Each of the core processes of ACT are used to shift from anxiety-driven behaviors to connecting with one’s values in the face of anxiety.
This workshop builds on the strong efficacy of ACT for anxiety disorders to provide attendees with a hands-on, interactive experience of the ACT core processes at work in anxiety treatment. Participants will gain a foundational understanding of ACT and its theoretical basis for the treatment of anxiety. Experiential exercises and live role-play therapy demonstrations will be used to help participants see firsthand how ACT works with different facets of anxiety disorders. Participants will leave with a strong understanding of how to engage clients in ACT for effective treatment of anxiety disorders, that not only reduces anxiety symptoms, but leads to a more values-aligned life.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will describe the core tenets, principles, and underlying theory of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy applied to anxiety disorders.
- Participants will explain each of the six core processes of ACT and their application to anxiety.
- Participants will illustrate how ACT interventions can help individuals with anxiety disorders build psychological flexibility.
- Participants will identify how to move fluidly through core processes in moment-to-moment experiences in session.
Course Outline
| Module | Topic |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Lecture: The Theoretical Basis for ACT for Anxiety Disorders |
| Lecture 2 | Lecture and Clinical Case Study: Values and Committed Action for Anxiety |
| Lecture 3 | Lecture and Experiential Exercises: Mindfulness and Defusion for Anxiety |
| Lecture 4 | Lecture and Experiential Exercises: Willingness and Self-As-Context for Anxiety |
| Lecture 5 | Live Therapy Demonstration (with Participant Volunteer: Dancing with Anxiety around the Hexaflex |
Instructor Bio
Dr. Emily Wharton is a Clinical Psychologist providing psychotherapy to individuals and couples in her private practice, and a Clinical Instructor at the Cognitive Behavior Institute, where she teaches courses in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Dr. Wharton has also served in roles of Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, and licensed clinical psychologist in the Palo Alto VA. She has provided supervision and training for VA and Stanford psychiatry residents, medical students, and psychology trainees in ACT, DBT, and MI. Dr. Wharton trained at the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, San Francisco VA, UCSF, and Palo Alto VA. Dr. Wharton has also served as the Member-At-Large Director for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Wharton has given lectures and trainings for the Palo Alto VA, Stanford University, and the Association for Contextual and Behavioral Science. Dr. Wharton has published papers and book chapters on ACT for PTSD, ACT for moral injury, mindfulness practices for anxiety disorders, and group trauma-focused CBT for parents of preterm infants.
Course Bibliography
Apolinário-Hagen, J., Drüge, M., & Fritsche, L. (2020). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Acceptance Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: Integrating Traditional with Digital Treatment Approaches. In Y.-K. Kim (Ed.), Anxiety Disorders: Rethinking and Understanding Recent Discoveries (pp. 291–329). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9705-0_17
Arch, J. J., Eifert, G. H., Davies, C., Plumb Vilardaga, J. C., Rose, R. D., & Craske, M. G. (2012). Randomized clinical trial of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) versus acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for mixed anxiety disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(5), 750–765. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028310
Avdagic, E., Morrissey, S. A., & Boschen, M. J. (2014). A Randomised Controlled Trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy for Generalised Anxiety Disorder. Behaviour Change, 31(2), 110–130. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2014.5
Coto-Lesmes, R., Fernández-Rodríguez, C., & González-Fernández, S. (2020). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in group format for anxiety and depression. A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 263, 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.154
Efficacy of an acceptance-based behavior therapy for generalized anxiety disorder: Evaluation in a randomized controlled trial. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2008-16943-009.html
Eifert, G. H., & Forsyth, J. P. (2005). Acceptance and commitment therapy for anxiety disorders: A practitioner’s treatment guide to using mindfulness, acceptance, and values-based behavior change strategies. New Harbinger Publications.
Gloster, A. T., Sonntag, R., Hoyer, J., Meyer, A. H., Heinze, S., Ströhle, A., Eifert, G., & Wittchen, H.-U. (2015). Treating Treatment-Resistant Patients with Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia Using Psychotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Switching Trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(2), 100–109. https://doi.org/10.1159/000370162
Gloster, A. T., Walder, N., Levin, M. E., Twohig, M. P., & Karekla, M. (2020). The empirical status of acceptance and commitment therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.09.009
Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change, 2nd ed (pp. xiv, 402). Guilford Press.
Meyer, E. C., Walser, R., Hermann, B., La Bash, H., DeBeer, B. B., Morissette, S. B., Kimbrel, N. A., Kwok, O.-M., Batten, S. V., & Schnurr, P. P. (2018). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Co-Occurring Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorders in Veterans: Pilot Treatment Outcomes. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 31(5), 781–789. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22322
Ong, C. W., Lee, E. B., Krafft, J., Terry, C. L., Barrett, T. S., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinical perfectionism. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 22, 100444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2019.100444
Randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy for social phobia: Outcomes and moderators. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2014-27544-001.html
Sewart, A. R., Niles, A. N., Burklund, L. J., Saxbe, D. E., Lieberman, M. D., & Craske, M. G. (2019). Examining positive and negative affect as outcomes and moderators of cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy for social anxiety disorder. Behavior Therapy, 50(6), 1112–1124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2019.07.001
Twohig, M. P., Hayes, S. C., Plumb, J. C., Pruitt, L. D., Collins, A. B., Hazlett-Stevens, H., & Woidneck, M. R. (2010). A randomized clinical trial of acceptance and commitment therapy versus progressive relaxation training for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78(5), 705–716. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020508
Yuen, E. K., Goetter, E. M., Stasio, M. J., Ash, P., Mansour, B., McNally, E., Sanchez, M., Hobar, E., Forte, S., Zulaica, K., & Watkins, J. (2019). A pilot of acceptance and commitment therapy for public speaking anxiety delivered with group videoconferencing and virtual reality exposure. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 12, 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.01.006
Approvals
Cognitive Behavior Institute, #1771, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 06/30/2022-06/30/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 3.5 clinical continuing education credits.
Cognitive Behavior Institute, LLC 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-0098 and the State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0646 and the State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors #MHC-0216.
Cognitive Behavior Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7117. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Cognitive Behavior Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Cognitive Behavior Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Cognitive Behavior Institute maintains responsibility for content of this program.
Social workers, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors in Pennsylvania can receive continuing education from providers approved by the American Psychological Association. Since CBI is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education, licensed social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed professional counselors in Pennsylvania will be able to fulfill their continuing education requirements by attending CBI continuing education programs. For professionals outside the state of Pennsylvania, you must confirm with your specific State Board that APA approved CE's are accepted towards your licensure requirements. The Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) has a process for approving individual programs or providers for continuing education through their Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. ACE approved providers and individual courses approved by ASWB are not accepted by every state and regulatory board for continuing education credits for social workers. Every US state other than New York accepts ACE approval for social workers in some capacity: New Jersey only accepts individually approved courses for social workers, rather than courses from approved providers. The West Virginia board requires board approval for live courses, but accepts ASWB ACE approval for other courses for social workers. For more information, please see https://www.aswb.org/ace/ace-jurisdiction-map/. Whether or not boards accept ASWB ACE approved continuing education for other professionals such as licensed professional counselors or licensed marriage and family therapists varies by jurisdiction. To determine if a course can be accepted by your licensing board, please review your board’s regulations or contact them. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.