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

Description

Handouts

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

Faculty

Daniel Moran, PhD, BCBA-D Related seminars and products: 7

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Daniel J. Moran, PhD, BCBA-D, is the former president of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), the international ACT organization with over 8,000 members worldwide. He co-authored the first case conceptualization manual for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy entitled ACT in Practice (New Harbinger) and served on the first ACT training committee. He also recently published Committed Action in Practice (New Harbinger) and will be bringing the topic of that book to this workshop.

As a recognized ACT Trainer in the ACBS community, Dr. Moran has an engaging training style that has led him to be an invited keynote speaker for many events in the last decade. He has also been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network, TLC and The Discovery Channel discussing the treatment of many clinical disorders. He has published several articles and book chapters, including publications with CBT pioneer Albert Ellis and ACT pioneer Steven Hayes.

Dr. Moran supervises therapists around the world to help them treat patients in their clinics. His passion is for applying the ACT principles in important areas outside of the clinic, such as the boardroom or construction sites. He established Pickslyde Consulting in order to bring mindfulness and value-directed commitment skills to the workplace to improve safety, innovation and leadership. Dr. Moran has utilized ACT in work implementations and clinical training sites on six continents and in all 50 of the United States.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Daniel Moran founded Pickslyde Consulting. He is an author for New Harbinger and receives royalties. Dr. Moran receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.

Nonfinancial: Daniel Moran is a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Sciences.