Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Course

Lesson 1 • Empirical Support and Research Base

Surveys the evidence base supporting ACT across clinical populations and settings. Students evaluate ACT's standing relative to other evidence-based treatments.

Lesson 2 • Relational Frame Theory Basics

Introduces RFT as the behavioural science of human language and cognition. Students see how derived relational responding creates psychological suffering.

Lesson 3 • The ACT Model Overview

Presents the hexaflex model and its six core processes as an integrated whole. Students can describe how each process contributes to psychological flexibility.

Lesson 4 • Philosophical Roots: Functional Contextualism

Explains the pragmatic worldview underlying ACT's goals and methods. Students understand why truth is judged by workability rather than literal accuracy.

Lesson 1 • Flexibility as a Transdiagnostic Target

Demonstrates how inflexibility underlies anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and addiction. Students apply a single conceptual framework across diverse presentations.

Lesson 2 • Functional Assessment of Inflexibility

Teaches functional analysis to identify which inflexibility processes drive a client's presenting problems. Students link antecedents, behaviours, and consequences to hexaflex targets.

Lesson 3 • Defining Psychological Flexibility

Articulates flexibility as contacting the present moment fully and acting on values. Students distinguish it from mere positive thinking or symptom reduction.

Lesson 1 • Acceptance in Trauma and Chronic Pain

Adapts acceptance work for clients with trauma histories and persistent physical pain. Students apply pacing and safety considerations without abandoning the acceptance stance.

Lesson 2 • Acceptance Defined and Distinguished

Clarifies acceptance as willingness to have experience, not approval of it. Students contrast acceptance with tolerance, resignation, and positive reframing.

Lesson 3 • Experiential Avoidance as the Problem

Explains how attempts to control or eliminate unwanted thoughts and feelings increase suffering. Students trace the paradoxical effects of emotional control strategies.

Lesson 4 • Willingness as a Behavioural Commitment

Frames willingness as an on/off behavioural choice rather than a feeling state. Students help clients commit to willingness in specific, observable behavioural terms.

Lesson 1 • Language-Based Defusion Exercises

Teaches techniques that alter the form of thoughts to reduce their behavioural impact. Students practise milk-milk-milk, singing thoughts, and labelling exercises.

Lesson 2 • Defusion from Rules and Self-Stories

Addresses fusion with rigid rules and self-narratives that limit behavioural flexibility. Students help clients hold their life story lightly without dismissing it.

Lesson 3 • Understanding Cognitive Fusion

Defines fusion as treating thoughts as literal truths that must be obeyed or eliminated. Students identify fused language patterns and their behavioural consequences.

Lesson 4 • Selecting and Sequencing Defusion Work

Guides clinical decision-making about when and how to introduce defusion. Students match defusion techniques to client presentation, culture, and readiness.

Lesson 1 • Using Present-Moment Work in Session

Teaches therapists to use in-session moments as live mindfulness opportunities. Students redirect clients from rumination to present-moment noticing in real time.

Lesson 2 • Present-Moment Contact in ACT

Distinguishes ACT's functional use of mindfulness from meditation traditions. Students understand present-moment contact as a flexible skill, not a relaxation technique.

Lesson 3 • Core Present-Moment Exercises

Introduces structured exercises to anchor attention in the here and now. Students practise and deliver the Notice Five Things and Mindful Breathing exercises.

Lesson 1 • Defusing from the Conceptualised Self

Addresses rigid self-stories that function as barriers to valued action. Students help clients hold self-descriptions as perspectives rather than fixed truths.

Lesson 2 • The Chessboard and Observer Metaphors

Uses the Chessboard and Observer metaphors to experientially evoke self-as-context. Students practise guiding clients through these exercises with sensitivity.

Lesson 3 • Three Senses of Self in ACT

Differentiates self-as-content, self-as-process, and self-as-context within the ACT model. Students map each sense of self to clinical presentations and treatment targets.

Lesson 1 • Translating Values into Goals and Actions

Bridges values clarification to specific, measurable behavioural commitments. Students construct SMART goals anchored to client values and track progress.

Lesson 2 • Committed Action and Behavioural Activation

Integrates behavioural activation principles with ACT's values framework. Students design graduated exposure and activation hierarchies tied to client values.

Lesson 3 • Values Clarification Exercises

Introduces structured exercises to surface authentic values from beneath avoidance. Students deliver the Eulogy exercise, the Tombstone exercise, and values card sorts.

Lesson 4 • Defining Values in ACT

Clarifies values as chosen life directions rather than outcomes or rules. Students help clients distinguish values from goals, feelings, and social obligations.

Lesson 1 • Measuring Progress in ACT

Introduces validated ACT-consistent outcome and process measures for routine monitoring. Students select and interpret measures to inform ongoing treatment decisions.

Lesson 2 • Prioritising Processes Across Sessions

Teaches flexible sequencing of ACT processes based on client readiness and need. Students avoid rigid protocol adherence while maintaining theoretical coherence.

Lesson 3 • ACT Case Conceptualisation Framework

Presents a structured approach to mapping client problems onto the hexaflex. Students produce written conceptualisations that guide intervention selection.

Lesson 4 • Integrating ACT with Other Modalities

Guides integration of ACT with exposure therapy, motivational interviewing, and DBT. Students identify compatible and incompatible elements across approaches.