Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT): The Basics and Beyond

Clinicians in a wide variety of practice settings are under increasing pressure to obtain positive clinical outcomes despite having fewer contacts with the client. This two-day workshop will examine both basic and advanced principles of Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT), an approach to brief assessment and intervention that promotes radical change. In this workshop, participants learn about three toxic processes, based in human language, that lead to behavioral rigidity and psychological suffering. They will explore the three “pillars” of psychological flexibility that can be used to combat these toxic processes: Building present moment awareness, promoting openness to private experiences and stimulating engagement with valued life activities. Through video demonstrations and “real plays”, we will model specific techniques for structuring the clinical conversation using known as CARE. Each letter of the acronym describes specific clinical tasks to be performed during that part of the clinical interview, with completion of the entire sequence leading to a higher likelihood of meaningful change. Using a series of dyadic and small group role play exercises, participants will learn how to create expectancy for rapid change, conduct a change oriented, contextually focused interview, identify and undermine client avoidance strategies in and out of session, use case formulation methods to quickly determine intervention targets, and reformulate or “reframe” the presenting problem so that an approach orientation is more likely. Participants will also view and then practice the use of various physical and experientially based metaphorical interventions designed to promote rapid change.

About Kirk Strosahl, Ph.D.: 

Kirk Strosahl, Ph.D., is one of the founders of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and specializes in the application of ACT as a brief intervention. He has practiced for 30 years in a variety of brief intervention contexts, including brief therapy clinics and primary care. He has written several professional books on the brief applications of ACT, including “Brief Interventions for Radical Change: Principles and Practice of Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” and “Inside This Moment: Promoting Radical Change in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” (Robinson & Gustavsson, co-authors, 2012, 2015). In 2018, he co-authored (along with Patricia Robinson) the second edition of their best-selling self-help book, “The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Depression: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Move Through Depression and Live a Vital Life” (Robinson, co author, 2018). Dr. Strosahl has conducted numerous training workshops around the world; his approach to teaching is clinician oriented and skill based. Because of this, Dr. Strosahl has often been referred to as the “hands of ACT”.

About Patricia Robinson, Ph.D.:

Patti Robinson, Ph.D., of Mountainview Consulting Group, is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of ACT, and a master clinician specializing in brief applications of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She currently consults with primary care systems around the United States that are seeking to integrate behavioral services into the general health care setting. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters and has published six books, including Real Behavior Change in Primary Care: Improving Patient Outcomes and Increasing Job Satisfaction (New Harbinger, 2010), Behavioral Consultation and Primary Care: A Guide to Integrating Services (with Jeffrey T. Reiter) (Springer, 2007), Brief Interventions for Radical Change: Principles and Practice of Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (New Harbinger, 2012), and the Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Depression, 2nd Edition (New Harbinger, 2018).