Registration

Creating a State-of-the-Art Process-Based Practice: The Role of AI, EMA, Functional Analysis and Digital Technology

Presented in English, also available for session attendees (in Buenos Aires) via simultaneous AI (artificial intelligence) translation software in Spanish and Portuguese. More details available here.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(13 total contact hours)

Workshop Leaders:

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.

Andrew Gloster, Ph.D.

Steve Hayes, Ph.D.

Workshop Description: 

Contextual Behavior Science is turning towards a process-based approach to the alleviation of human problems and promotion of human prosperity. Opportunities and challenges arise as CBS practitioners and researchers adopt a more process-based focus in their work. For example, the range of specific problems for a given client become more central because there is no longer an assumption that signs and symptoms of syndromes should be given priority. A longitudinal idiographic focus becomes more important because processes of change cannot be properly modeled through normative methods. New assessment methods emerge because the importance of traditional psychometric assumptions recede and high temporal density self-report measures require few or even a single item. In area after area what we have traditionally relied on in diagnosis, intervention, training, clinical evaluation, and research needs adjustment.

The purpose of the workshop will be to demystify these rapid changes and to show in a concrete fashion how they can be used to expand practice and its applied and conceptual impact. In this workshop we will actively practice case conceptualization and interventions from a process-based perspective. We will explore how to serve each unique client using empirically derived intervention kernels, with modern functional analysis as a guide. We will further examine how a range of challenges practitioners now face can be met, with a special emphasis on technology, AI, high-temporal density measurement, and new forms of functional analysis as at least partial solutions. In our view, recent advances in digital methodologies coupled with the globalization of internet and technological access and needs resulting from the recent pandemic have come together to make digital technologies an essential tool for therapy.

Thus, we will explore the challenges of process-based therapy and how digital and AI tools can be used to support a new form of functional analysis, expand clinical practice, and augment intervention. We will address such tools as virtual reality methods, apps, teletherapy, ecological momentary assessment, etc.. How These can augment CBS research and practice and will be shared using hands-on experiences and “lessons learned” from the presenters’ experiences. Examples of apps, programs and other digital tools will be used to illustrate how available technological products may be used within functional analysis and treatment. The combination of a process-based approach with AI tools and technology promises to fundamentally alter the role of the practitioner, the nature of service delivery, and what clients expect of mental and behavioral health care. This workshop will show how to manage these changes and how to use them within clinical practice in alignment with CBS and process-based approach goals.
 

About the Workshop Leaders:

Maria Karekla, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, peer-reviewed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy trainer, and Associate Professor, University of Cyprus, and heads the “ACTHealthy: Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine” laboratory. Her research focuses on areas of health promotion and the investigation of individual difference factors (especially psychological flexibility parameters) as they relate to the development and maintenance of various behavioural difficulties. She also examines the treatment of these difficulties utilizing process-based and Contextual Behavioral Science principles and innovative delivery methods (e.g., digital interventions, virtual reality) in line with precision and personalized medicine. This led to very successful digital interventions for which she received numerous local, European and international grants, and awards. She is appointed by the Cyprus Minister of Health to the National Strategic Planning Committee for Mental Health and the National Advisory Committee for Tobacco Control, and the Board on Medically Assisted Reproduction and previously in the National Bioethics Committee. She served as the convenor of the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ (EFPA) Psychology and Health committee and is a member of the e-health task force.  She is the immediate past-President of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), from where she received the status of “Fellow” in 2019. In 2023 she became a fellow of the European Health Psychology Society and in 2021 by the Society of Behavioral Medicine, whereas in 2018 she was nominated as Cyprus “Woman of the Year: Academic/Researcher category.” She has published more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 13 chapters in edited books, 3 books, 4 technical reports and numerous papers in scientific conference proceedings. Her first psychotherapeutic children’s story book was nominated for the 2017 National Literary Awards (category Children/Adolescents) and for her illustrations for the book. She is active in scientific journal editorial boards (e.g., Journal of Contextual Behavior Science). Moreover, she is a TEDx speaker and she has been hosted and interviewed for her work by numerous podcasts, newspapers, TV and radio stations nationally and internationally.

Andrew Gloster, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology, University of Basel, Switzerland where he is head of the Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science. His research examines the multi-level factors involved in pathology and the mechanisms  of action  involved  in interventions  designed  to alleviate pathology,  increase  well-being,  and  maximize transfer  of  these  principles  to  patients  in  their everyday  lives.  His  research  has  examined  various  forms of  behavioral psychotherapy,  its  efficacy, and  treatment  non-response.  His research utilizes numerous methodologies towards these aims including event sampling methodology (ESM), randomized controlled trials (RCTs), digital interventions, experiments, and epidemiology. His research extends multiple levels of investigations ranging from genetic polymorphisms to behavioral assessment, GPS, and population level analysis. He has published more than 129 peer-reviewed publications and chapters, as well as edited and published several books. His research has been funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, German Ministry for Education and Research, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. Dr. Gloster regularly gives invited addresses at international conferences, has received multiple teaching awards, is a Fellow of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science, past President of the Association of Contextual Science Foundation. He is currently the president of the Association of Contextual Behavior Science.
 

Steven C. Hayes is a Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Nevada and President of the Institute for Better Health, a 45 year old charitable organization that promotes quality in mental and behavioral health services. An author of 48 books and over 700 scientific articles. He is especially known for his work on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Relational Frame Theory, Process-Based Therapy, and Contextual Behavioral Science.  Dr. Hayes has received several national awards, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, and recipient of the Cattell Award from the Association for Psychological Science -- their lifetime  achievement award for applied psychology. His popular book Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life for a time was the best-selling self-help book in the United States, and his new book A Liberated Mind has been recently released to wide acclaim. His TEDx talks and blogs have been viewed or read by over three million people, and he is ranked among the most cited psychologists in the world.

After this workshop, participants will be able to: 

1. Discuss how the turn toward a process-based therapy approach challenges current practice and be able to implement process-based assessment and interventions.
2. Discuss how to effectively integrate technology into intervention and assessment practices, to enhance the process-based therapy experience.
3. Describe the opportunities and dangers of technology-assisted process-based therapy and make necessary adaptations for diverse client needs.
4. List strategies for building and maintaining a strong therapeutic alliance in the context of technology-enhanced process-based therapy environments.
5. Relate their ongoing professional development to changes in the field of technology and process-based therapy.
6. Identify different digital means and be able to apply them to augment their therapeutic interventions.
7. Analyze the impact of process-based therapy on case conceptualization, organizational strategies, and data analysis within therapy contexts, and the roll of technological advancements managing this impact.
8. Examine the transformational role of AI tools in altering practitioner roles, service delivery, and client expectations in mental and behavioral health care.
9. Critically evaluate the implications of a process-based focus in therapy within the digital age and its pragmatic application.
10. Practice and be able to apply an iterative paper-based prototype method for translating functional requirements into digital artifacts.
11. Apply techniques to evaluate prototypes to guide digital intervention design.

Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Clinical, Research, Applied, Not Clinical

Components: Conceptual analysis, Literature review, Original data, Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Case presentation

Topic Areas: Process-Based Therapy; digital enhanced intervention technology

Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance

CEs Available (13 hours): CEs for Psychologists, BCBA CEUs

Registration

Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Powerful Behavior Change Services for All People

Presented in English, also available for session attendees (in Buenos Aires) via simultaneous AI (artificial intelligence) translation software in Spanish and Portuguese. More details available here.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(13 total contact hours) 

Workshop Leaders:    

Patti Robinson, Ph.D.

Kirk Strosahl, Ph.D.

Workshop Description:

Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) is a brief, process based therapy designed to alleviate human suffering human and promote valued living. Our goal is to optimize the impact of each and every therapy session, indeed, to treat every session as if it might be the last one. In this workshop, we will explore the basic, universal human dilemma involved in approaching the things that matter most in life versus attempting to control, eliminate or avoid the emotional consequences of that same caring. To their detriment, most clients have been socially trained to believe they can pursue what matters to them without the experience of psychological pain, thus triggering an unworkable struggle to control or eliminate could perceived as natural, healthy, albeit unwanted and distressing inner experiences. 

FACT teaches clients to accept distressing inner experiences, live in the present moment free from the regulatory influence of culturally shaped rules, and to organize patterns of life actions based in personal values rather than avoidance motivations. This propensity to accept what is there, join the present moment, and behave according to one’s values is sometimes referred to as being “psychologically flexible.” Most of this workshop will be focused on developing and strengthening core clinical interviewing and intervention skills, using a pedagogical framework known as CARE. Each letter of CARE stands for a sequence of clinical tasks that, collectively, result in powerful, life changing behavioral outcomes. Participants will learn the CARE framework via a combination of didactic lecture, live demonstrations and skill building exercises. Among other things, participants will learn to conduct a rapid, high-yield contextual interview (using the “contextual interview”); administer in-session rating scales; identify and address the key themes of avoidance, approach, and life workability (using the “four square tool”); quickly conceptualize client responses from a FACT perspective (using the “pillars assessment tool”) ; create powerful problem reframes that generate client “buy in” and motivation to change; and assist clients with engaging in new behaviors in their lives outside of therapy.

About the Workshop Leaders:

Dr. Robinson, PhD, is currently the Director of Training and Program Evaluation for Mountainview Consulting Group, winner of the APA Presidential Innovative Practice Award (2009). She is the cofounder of the Primary Care Behavioral Health model and Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She provides consultation and training services internationally and is committed to improving access to healthcare services and to realization of health equity. Earlier in her career, she worked as a researcher and clinician for Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, WA and as a Behavioral Health Consultant for Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Toppenish, WA. She has authored many articles, book chapters and books. With Jeff Reiter, she is now writing the 3rd Edition of Behavioral Consultation and Primary Care: A Guide to Integrating Services.

Dr. Strosahl is a co-founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and has long been a chief proponent of using ACT as a brief intervention. He has co-authored professional books on brief applications of ACT, including “Brief Interventions for Radical Change: Principles and Practice of Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. (Robinson & Gustavsson, co-authors, 2012, New Harbinger Publications), and “Inside This Moment: Promoting Radical Change in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” (Robinson & Gustavsson, co-authors, 2015, New Harbinger Publications). He has also co-authored best-selling ACT self-help books, including “The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Depression, 2nd Edition” (Robinson, co-author, 2018, New Harbinger Publications). Along with five psychiatrists from around the world, he recently published a book on ACT for psychiatric practitioners, “Learning Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Essential Guide to the Process and Practice of Mindful Psychiatry” (Goubert, Torneke, Purrsey, Loftus & Roberts, co-authors, 2020, American Psychiatric Publishing). Dr. Strosahl has conducted numerous training workshops on ACT around the world. Because his approach to teaching is so clinician oriented, accessible and practical, Dr. Strosahl has been referred to as the “hands of ACT".                                                   

After this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Appreciate client preferences and service utilization characteristics that make brief interventions the preferred mode of treatment in many settings.

2. Describe the pivotal role that human language plays as a behavior regulatory system. 

3. Analyze the three “contexts” that influence behavior and are proper targets for therapeutic intervention.

4. Apply the concepts of rule following, emotional avoidance, and behavioral avoidance. as they contribute to psychological rigidity and maladaptive behavior. 

5. Describe the three pillars of psychological flexibility, and their specific corrective effects on rule following and avoidance. 

6. Understand the central role that present-moment awareness plays in promoting radical change.

7. Apply the CARE algorithm to structure the flow of each therapy session.

8. Use the Contextual Interview. 

9. Administer clinically useful in-session rating scales in each session.

10. Recognize and respond to unworkable avoidance strategies.

11. Reframe problems within an approach-avoidance framework.

12. Plan powerful behavioral experiments during each session.

13. Conceptualize interview data using the Four Square Tool.

14. Conceptualize interview information using the Pillars Assessment Tool.

15. Apply strategies designed to strengthen acceptance, present moment awareness and value based action. 

16. Understand the role that metaphors play in producing transformative change.

17. Apply physical metaphors such as the Bulls Eye and Life Path to set practical goals and increase client motivation for behavioral variability and direct learning.

Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Components: Conceptual analysis, Literature review, Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Role play

Topic areas (primary): Clinical intervention development or outcomes

Topic areas (secondary): Social justice / equity / diversity

Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance

CEs Available (13 hours): CEs for Psychologists

Registration

Healing Interrupted Lives: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Process-Based Work to Recover from Trauma

Presented in English, also available for session attendees (in Buenos Aires) via simultaneous AI (artificial intelligence) translation software in Spanish and Portuguese. More details available here.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(13 total contact hours) 

Workshop Leader:

Robyn Walser, Ph.D.

Workshop Description:

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a rich tapestry of verbal and experiential processes designed to empower clients to align their choices with deeply held values. Therapists can learn and understand the behavioral processes within ACT on various levels. Yet, their seamless integration within complex relational contexts can prove to be a persistent challenge. In the landscape of therapeutic engagement, for instance, multiple layers of processes can unfold, encompassing intrapersonal, interpersonal, and overarching dynamics entailed in the arc of the intervention. Using trauma as the guiding example, we will explore how ACT operates on multiple levels of process, helping trauma survivors to recover from lost and interrupted lives. The workshop will include role-plays, guided skills development, and information on integrating ACT with other trauma interventions. Participants will engage in exercises designed to refine and develop their ACT process skills, attuning to the relationship and therapeutic stance. Didactics and discussion will be oriented to increasing flexibility in using the core processes and consistent application of the model.
 

About Robyn D. Walser, Ph.D.: 
Dr. Robyn Walser is the Director of TL Consultation Services, Staff at the National Center for PTSD, and is Assistant Clinical Professor at University of California, Berkeley. She maintains an international training, consulting, and therapy practice as a licensed psychologist. Dr. Walser is an expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and has co-authored 7 books, including Learning ACT. She also has expertise in traumatic stress and substance abuse and has authored a number of articles and chapters and books on these topics. She has been doing ACT workshops since 1998; training in multiple formats and for multiple client problems. She is invested in developing innovative ways to translate science into practice and continues to do research and education on dissemination of ACT. She has had a number of leadership roles in international and national organizations, and she served as President of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, Dr. Walser is best known for her dynamic, warm, and challenging ACT trainings. She is often referred to as a clinician’s clinician. Her workshops feature a combination of lecture and experiential exercises designed to provide a unique learning opportunity in this state-of-the-art intervention.

Following this workshop participants will be able to:

1. Define therapeutic presence within the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) framework.

2. Explore the fundamental ACT processes inherent in the therapeutic relationship.

3. Analyze the significance of process levels in the treatment of clients with a history of trauma.

4. Examine obstacles hindering the smooth implementation of ACT and strategies for overcoming them, with a specific focus on trauma therapy.

5. Explore intrapersonal processes through the lens of ACT principles.

6. Discuss the purpose and utilization of self-disclosure in ACT, emphasizing its role in trauma treatment.

7. Elaborate on interpersonal processes within the ACT framework.

8. Investigate the purpose and application of interpersonal work and feedback within the context of ACT.

9. Recognize the pivotal role of the ACT therapeutic relationship in shaping client outcomes.

10. Clarify how case conceptualization serves as a guiding framework for the progression of ACT therapy.

Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Clinical
Components: Conceptual analysis, Literature review, Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Case presentation, Role play
Topic Areas: Clinical intervention development or outcomes
 

Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance

CEs Available (13 hours): CEs for Psychologists

Registration

Helping build flexible relationships toward the self and the social world: Using CBS to support flexible growth in self and social connections with people aged 12 to 24 years

Presented in English, also available for session attendees (in Buenos Aires) via simultaneous AI (artificial intelligence) translation software in Spanish and Portuguese. More details available here.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(13 total contact hours) 

Workshop Leader:

Louise Hayes, Ph.D.

Workshop Description:

This workshop will focus on two contexts of growth for young people, showing how to intervene to build a flexible self and how to build strong social connections. We focus on this because young people are like the canary in the coal mine; data worldwide shows young people aged 16-24 are suffering more than any other age group, with up to 50% reporting distress that meets the criteria for diagnosable mental health problems. These high rates ought to point us away from the individual to increase our focus on the upstream causes of this suffering; these include social trauma, family and community change, loneliness, social media, climate change, politics, war and displacement, economic downturns, etc. In this workshop, we will focus on interventions to strengthen relationships:  parent-child attachment, friendship skills, life online, and prosocial behaviour in classes, schools, and community groups. We will also work on how to help young people see themselves as able to grow and change. We will explore opening to their vulnerable selves, supporting their ability to make room for emotions and respond with awareness instead of withdrawing, and how to let go of the self as labels, and see their inner-critical voices as ongoing events rather than a part of them. We will build on developing compassion toward themselves so they can achieve and reach out into the world with compassionate action.

The workshop will use DNA-v as a framework for this self and social development. DNA-V is a robust model of human change that has spurred enormous growth in the adolescent area, inspiring clinical protocols, school curriculums, and research.

We will not cover the basics of the model, but the workshop will still apply to those new to the model as we will provide reading and material on the basics before the workshop.

•       Prior learning will be provided one month in advance through lectures and reading.

Science and accessibility will be our key focus. The strength of DNA-V is its solid and clear scientific foundation, holistic approach, and readily accessible framework. In this workshop, we plan to use these themes to help practitioners feel empowered to work in youth social contexts and to help them with self-development.

For more information on this work, please go to www.louisehayes.com.au -- and also www.dnav.international

About the Workshop Leader: 

Dr Louise Hayes is a clinical psychologist, author, international speaker, and educator.  She is a Fellow and Past President of the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science. Louise currently holds a position as Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe University, where she collaborates on projects using contextual behavioural science. She is a peer-reviewed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Training (ACT) trainer engaged in training professionals worldwide. Together with Joseph Ciarrochi, she developed DNA-v, a leading acceptance and commitment therapy model that has sparked international studies. In 2022 she released a new book for helping adults thrive in the face of change – What Makes You Stronger. She is the co-author of two best-selling books for young people – Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life for Teenagers; and Your Life Your Way. She is also the 
co-author of the practitioner book, The Thriving Adolescent. Louise is an active clinician, working with adults and adolescents. Louise’s passion project and the highlight of her work is establishing a not-for-profit endeavour of taking professionals on the journey of their life into the Himalayas to develop their mindful way of being while raising funds to help children in remote Nepal. She is also a certified Buddhist meditation teacher in the Dzogchen tradition.

After this workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Social - Explore the literature on social change and its influence on the well-being of young people
2. Social – Demonstrate and practice strategies to strengthen relationships, such as family and friendships
3. Social - Learn how to use DNA-v in group contexts such as classrooms and community groups
4. Social - Learn how to apply prosocial principles with adolescents (including the core design principles).
5. Social - Demonstrate and apply strategies for working with difficult social interactions
6. Self - Learn how to intervene with adolescent self and to apply flexibility interventions
7. Self - Demonstrate and practice strategies to build physiological and emotional balance
8. Self - Demonstrate and practice flexibility strategies with their conceptual self
9. Self - Discuss procedures to support achievement goals
10. Self - Demonstrate and practice procedures to build compassionate awareness

Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Clinical

Components: Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Case presentation, Role play

Topic areas (primary): Clinical 

Topic areas (secondary): Education
 

Registration

Here, Now, and Between Us: Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) and the Power of the Therapeutic Relationship

Presented in English, also available for session attendees (in Buenos Aires) via simultaneous AI (artificial intelligence) translation software in Spanish and Portuguese. More details available here.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(13 total contact hours) 

Workshop Leaders:

Mavis Tsai, Ph.D.  

Sarah Sullivan-Singh, Ph.D. 

Barbara Kohlenberg, Ph.D. 

Amanda Muñoz Martínez. Ph.D. 

Daniel Maitland, Ph.D. 

Workshop Description: 

We are offering this workshop in memory of beloved FAP co-founder, Bob Kohlenberg. Whether you are new to FAP or are an advanced practitioner, this workshop aims to cultivate your ability to harness the wellspring of therapeutic opportunity available within each unique relationship we create with our clients, and to take you to the next level of understanding in the application of FAP’s five transformative rules.

This workshop will focus on how you can intensify the therapeutic relationship by transforming it into an in-vivo, in-session laboratory in which you invite your clients to attempt new, more effective behaviors in service of their values and goals. In short, we encourage clients to practice, “right here, right now,” behaviors that are functionally equivalent to those they wish to implement in their lives outside of session. Because clients emit new behaviors in your presence, they benefit from the enhanced reinforcement of your immediate and genuine responding. Hence, increasing your own self-awareness, courage, and judiciousness in how you share your authentic self and emotional vulnerability allows you to augment the potency of your in-the-moment responses to clients.

We will weave together essential didactic elements of theory, recorded segments of therapy sessions, demonstrations, experiential exercises (balanced to address both clinical and personal development), real-plays with peers in small groups, ethical considerations, and a collection of FAP-consistent therapeutic tools and resources for you to take home. Of note, we will encourage you to be vulnerable in revealing yourself to the extent that it supports your learning and development, both personally and professionally, and with consideration of your needs and limits within the workshop setting.

Our goal is that you will leave the workshop with a deepened awareness of yourself, an awakened excitement about the possibilities of the therapy relationship, and an enlivened commitment to igniting it with each of your clients.

About the Workshop Leaders:

Mavis Tsai, PhD, co-originator of FAP, is a clinical psychologist and senior research scientist at University of Washington’s Center for Science of Social Connection. She is the co-author of five books on FAP (some of which have been translated into Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Korean and Persian), and over 75 articles and book chapters. She is an ACBS Fellow, and received the Washington State Psychological Association’s Distinguished Psychologist Award in recognition of significant contributions to the field of psychology. She gave a TEDx talk “Create Extraordinary Interactions”, has presented “Master Clinician” sessions at the Association for Behavior and Cognitive Therapy, has led numerous workshops nationally and internationally, and has supervised clinicians all over the world in FAP. As Founder of the Nonprofit Organization ‘Awareness, Courage & Love Global Project” which brings FAP to the general public, she trains volunteers to lead chapters in six continents to create a worldwide- network of open-hearted change-seekers who strive to meet life’s challenges through deepening interpersonal connection and rising to live more true to themselves. 

The Seattle Clinic & University of Washington, Sarah Sullivan-Singh, PhD, earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from UCLA and completed a postdoctoral fellowship within the University of Washington Rehabilitation Medicine Department before beginning her independent practice. She is a Clinical Instructor within the University of Washington (UW) Psychology Department where she supervises graduate students treating clients using ACT and FAP. Dr. Sullivan-Singh also regularly guest lectures to psychology interns in the UW Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. She is a certified FAP trainer and routinely teaches both students and professionals through individual supervision/consultation as well as workshops and online courses. Dr. Sullivan-Singh has also worked on treatment development for and provided clinical supervision within a randomized-controlled trial of FAP at the UW Center for the Science of Social Connection. As partner of The Seattle Clinic, a collective of independent practitioners focused on evidence-based practice, Dr. Sullivan-Singh is fortunate to be surrounded by students and colleagues who support her in following the lifelong path of encountering her gaps in awareness and knowledge and, in response, learning to acknowledge and address them – and through that process constructing increasingly authentic relationships with greater healing potential.

University of Nevada School of Medicine, Barbara Kohlenberg, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and also in Family and Community Medicine. She is a clinical psychologist, who received her Ph.D. at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her NIH funded research has focused on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) and their integration and application with substance use disorders and stigma. Dr. Kohlenberg is an ACT trainer and a FAP trainer, and has contributed to the literature in these areas and has conducted trainings internationally. Dr. Kohlenberg is interested in psychotherapy training in psychiatric residency programs, and in growing bedside manner among family medicine residents. Dr. Kohlenberg has deep interests in the role of compassion, acceptance, and relationship in promoting behavior change. She cherishes direct patient care, as well as training psychiatry residents. Helping both patients and residents learn that one can change one’s relationship with suffering rather than having to “get rid” of suffering is meaningful for her. Outside of work Dr. Kohlenberg loves cooking, eating, walking, reading/listening to podcasts, and creating and participating in nurturing communities. She loves the beauty of our desert climate while always also missing the green and grandeur of the Pacific Northwest, where she grew up.

Amanda Muñoz-Martínez received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno. She is a Certified Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Trainer (FAP trainer) and a member of the FAP Certification, Policy, and Ethics Board (FAP CEP). Amanda is currently an Assistant Professor at the Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia). Amanda’s main research interest is optimizing and evaluating process-based therapies for improving clients’ and stakeholders’ well-being. She is the director of ContigoLab where she is focused on the following research areas: (a) psychotherapy’s behavioral mechanisms of change, and (b) treatments optimization and evaluation across diverse contexts and populations, particularly, Latinx population. She wants to develop clear paths for treatment implementation by connecting practice and basic explanatory principles. As a FAP trainer, she has facilitated several trainings for English- and Spanish-Speakers to enhance interpersonal skills and create meaningful relationships.

Daniel W. M. Maitland, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training at Bowling Green State University in the Department of Psychology. He is a licensed psychologist in Kentucky, Texas, and Ohio. Dr. Maitland earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Western Michigan University in 2015. Dr. Maitland runs the Psychotherapy Research or Study of Connection Intimacy and Loneliness (PROSOCIAL) lab at BGSU which focuses on psychotherapy processes and outcomes of therapies anchored in contextual behavioral science, especially FAP. The lab also conducts research on the effect of disruptions to interpersonal functioning in domains of mental and physical health. The research group is especially interested in how this research can be applied to promote social justice and enhance the lives of individuals who hold minoritized identities. 

Following this workshop participants will be able to:

1. Describe the 5 Rules of FAP and the behavioral theory underlying them.
2. Identify both functional classes and specific examples of problematic and improved in-session client behavior.
3. Understand when commonly used interventions can be inadvertently counter-therapeutic.
4. Demonstrate ability to recognize and respond therapeutically to both client in-session problematic behaviors and target behaviors using strategies adapted to your clients’ needs.
5. Prepare a FAP case conceptualization for one client that demonstrates the application of functional analysis to client behavior and awareness of the impact of your own therapist behavior on the client.
6. Practice using all five FAP rules to facilitate generalization of client in-session progress.
7. Identify, understand and address how your clients can activate your own problematic behaviors such that you can enhance your target behaviors as a therapist.
8. Understand ethical considerations related to cultivating intense therapeutic relationships with clients when using FAP.
9. Explore, receive, and express the deeper recesses of your true self -- what feels unseen, unmet, and unheld -- so that you can increase intensity, depth, and connection in your therapeutic relationships.
10. Learn about Live with Awareness, Courage & Love protocols and ways to adapt them to your clients, family and friends, and community.

Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Clinical

Components: Conceptual analysis, Original data, Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Case presentation, Role play

Topic Areas: Clinical intervention development or outcomes, Processes of change

Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance

CEs Available (13 hours): CEs for Psychologists, BCBA CEUs

Registration

Language Matters. Moving from Formula to Function: Progressing Applications of Behaviour Analysis with RFT and ACT

Presented in English, also available for session attendees (in Buenos Aires) via simultaneous AI (artificial intelligence) translation software in Spanish and Portuguese. More details available here.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(13 total contact hours)

Workshop Leaders:

Nanni Presti, Ph.D.

Sarah Cassidy, Ph.D.

Workshop Description:

Modern clinicians are often no longer working with patients in short term ways to conduct one straight forward assessment or brief therapeutic work.  Rather, we are working with individuals with various individual differences and those of different neurotypes from early intervention settings all the way through to adulthood.  While clinical presentations and language capabilities can vary a lot, increasingly, most of our patients also experience mental health difficulties, and one thing is certain, a clinician needs a responsive and flexible tool kit to meet increasing demands with compassion and skill. Understanding their language needs and the traps that both the client and the therapist can fall into, can go a long way to enhancing clinical techniques.  As these individuals progress along developmental trajectories, our clinical tools need to grow up too, and quickly.  

Clinicians whom have trained in more traditional behavioural backgrounds may be struggling to find what they need in their VB tool kits and may be looking to ACT and RFT for the answers.  The ACT model aims to enhance psychological flexibility (PI), allowing individuals to adjust to the unpredictable conditions of their environment and live more meaningful lives by engaging with their natural sources of reinforcement. The PI construct is developed through experiential exercises and metaphors, which are most effective when tailored to the individual's unique learning history. In the past, ACT was often used very successfully with adults.  Although there are no inherent obstacles to applying ACT to children and adolescents, it is essential to consider the developmental progression of language-related processes and their impact on a child's emotional well-being as they move throughout their different periods of development. RFT does this very efficiently via the process of Multiple Exemplar Training. Thus, it may be necessary to provide training in basic relational framing skills before training the ACT processes. Furthermore, it is crucial to customize experiential exercises and metaphors to each person's level of experience and circumstances and even to their individual neurotypes, sensory needs and cognitive processing needs. Children exist within complex social environments, including family, school, and other social institutions, and constantly learn to interact at multiple levels (inside of themselves and inside of environments they are moving in). Consequently, a person's ever changing social & cultural repertoire, as well their neurotype and their own individual value system must be considered when designing ACT and RFT interventions.  In addition, behaviour analysts have come under extreme criticism in recent years for not engaging in neuroaffirmative practices from many outside this field.  Whilst some within the field of contextual behavioural sciences may not always agree with these criticisms, there is a wealth of information to be learned from the neurodiversity movement, and some of the key pieces will briefly be outlined as they relate to our interventions. Listening to the lived experiences of the neurodivergent community, and engaging in scientific practice are not dichotomous positions.  These are critical parts of engaging in effective and workable collaborative practices going forward and bringing clients through their trajectories from places of verbal stuckness in language traps through to lives that are more psychologically flexible and in line with values based thriving.  This workshop will bring to life just how truly transdiagnostic and flexible ACT really is.

About the Workshop Leaders: 

Giovambattista (Nanni) Presti was trained as a Medical Doctor and attended a Clinical School in Psychotherapy as a post-doc, and received his Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis. As Associate Professor at Kore University in Enna, he coordinates the undergrad program in Psychology. Nanni has a broad experience of teaching and living outside Italy and helped establish the European Association for Behavior Analysis. Nanni founded and co-managed IESCUM, which has fostered the diffusion of CBS in Italy. He deepened my research interests in BA and ABA focusing on the early equivalence studies and then RFT. Alternating clinical and basic science interests, he encountered ACT at the turning of the millennium, after knowing its first steps. 

Sarah Cassidy, Ph.D., is an Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychologist and a Peer Reviewed ACT Therapy Trainer. She is the Founder and Director of Smithsfield Clinic, a private Community Mental Health Service in Athboy, County Meath, Ireland. She is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the New England Centre for OCD & Anxiety, Ireland Branch. Sarah is also the Co-Founder and Chief Education Officer at RaiseYourIQ.com which is an educational tech company that continues to conduct cutting edge behavioural technological research nationally and internationally to evaluate how children learn and to maximise their learning potentials with Relational Frame Theory interventions. Her SMART training intervention was the first published empirical research to demonstrate that RFT interventions could raise IQ. She is a Chartered Psychologist with the Psychological Society Of Ireland as well as a serving Council Member of the PSI.  She is in the Division of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologists with the American Psychological Association.  

Sarah is serving on the Foundation Board of Association for Contextual Behavioural Science. She is a former Chairperson of the ACBS Membership Committee, and currently chairs the Fellows’ Sub-committee for ACBS. She is also on the Steering Committee for the newly formed Neurodiversity Research and Practice SIG. She is a Lecturer in Child, Educational and Counselling Psychology as well as a mentor and trainer to professional psychologists, allied therapists and specialist teachers for several universities, organizations and clinics, nationally and internationally. She has designed a neuroaffirming children’s mental health program, MAGPIES to support children in learning how to build emotional regulation skills, to build self and other awareness skills, to increase their self- esteem and learn to cope with their anxiety. She has co-authored Tired of Anxiety; A Kid's Guide to Befriending Scary Thoughts and Living your Life Anyway (with Lisa Coyne) last year and it has been featured on a vast array of popular radio stations and podcasts.  Tired of Teen Anxiety; A young person’s Guide to Discovering Your Best Life (and Becoming Your Best Self) was released in January 2024. She has several other books in progress. She has numerous scientific publications in journals and text books and continues to conduct research in areas of child development, contextual behavioural science, children’s intellectual development, neurodivergence and children’s mental health issues.

After this workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Learners can expect to achieve clear understanding of how incorporating ACT + RFT into traditional behaviour analytic interventions is necessary for the modern behaviour analyst.
2. Learners can expect to gain understanding of how RFT techniques (e.g., Multiple Exemplar Training) aid with designing of more effective and practical flexible interventions for all ages.
3. Learners may expect upskilling in how employing the basics of RFT principles (e.g., Derived Relational Responding) can transform outdated interventions into something shiny and new to maximise the efficiency of clinical interventions. 
4. Learners can expect to learn why/how as our clients progress along their developmental trajectories, clinicians must tailor therapeutic techniques that can ‘age’ with their clients.  
5. Learners can expect to learn practical skills in how clinician’s need to tailor their language flexibly across developmental ages, stages, language repertoires and clinical presentations if they wish to maintain pace with the ever growing mental health crisis in children and adolescents across the globe.
6. Learners will be instructed on how language is both the problem and the solution for mental health interventions across ages, contexts and neurotypes.  
7. Learners can expect healthy discussions on the importance of compassionate and reflective listening for behaviour analysts to the lived experiences of neurodivergent clients and how listening to criticism can only improve our clinical science and practice.
8.  Learners can expect to learn how neuroaffirming practice is essential and how this cannot be merely topographical but rather, collaboration, choice and values guided compassionate respect for all neurotypes is an essential part of ongoing practice.
9. Learners can expect to gain experience with troubleshooting specific exercises for neurodivergent clients based on specific types of needs relate to ND presentations (e.g., autistic or ADHD clients that may have sensory processing differences) or language levels, and how clinicians may tailor interventions accordingly.  Demonstrations will be given from the MAGPIES children’s mental health program.
10. Learners can expect to have practical demonstrations of interventions for specific types of mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation) as their needs require. Learners can expect to gain knowledge on how to build meaningful paths of experience with their clients that bring fulfillment to their daily life, whatever the level of impairment is. 
11. Learners may expect a wide array of opportunities to learn about the transformative power of language in making our interventions more flexible such that they can effectively meet the ever growing complex needs of clients with increasingly higher distress, who need us for much longer periods of time and for a wider array of complex presentations.  
12. Learners can expect to understand the contribution that ACT and RFT perspective offer to the development of skills and repertoire’s that counteract the elevated risk, in autistic individuals, of incurring in psychopathologies, thus strengthening the results of early behavioral interventions beyond the basic curricula usually implemented.

*Please note that if neuroaffirmative practice is new to learners, they will likely wish to do an entire training just on this important area.

Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance

CEs Available (13 hours): CEs for Psychologists, BCBA CEUs

Registration

Mastering Compassion Focused Practice from The Inside Out: An Experiential Introduction to Compassion Focused Therapy and Compassionate Mind Training

Presented in English, also available for session attendees (in Buenos Aires) via simultaneous AI (artificial intelligence) translation software in Spanish and Portuguese. More details available here.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(13 total contact hours)

Workshop Leaders:

Dennis Tirch Ph.D.

Laura Silberstein-Tirch, Psy.D.

Manuela O'Connell, Lic.

Workshop Description: 

Mindful Compassion. We all know it is an important part of the therapeutic alliance, but how can we reliably awaken and cultivate compassion for ourselves and others, enhancing our psychological flexibility and quality of life in the process? Recent advances in psychological research, theory and practice have suggested that compassion may be one of the most important elements in psychotherapeutic effectiveness. Training in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) can help you unlock this potential therapeutic power of compassion-based interventions. In this workshop, you will discover how CFT can offer us cutting-edge mindfulness, self-compassion and psychotherapy techniques, learning CFT from the inside out.

This workshop is designed to be an experiential introduction to CFT, with a special emphasis on Compassionate Mind Training (CMT), the mindfulness and imagery practices found in CFT. Participants will walk through a workshop sized CMT group process, learning CFT through personal experience, and working with their own processes and struggle. Compassionate mind imagery and meditative techniques will be linked to specific psychotherapy interventions, so that what you learn from within can be simply applied with clients. 

Over the course of this two-day workshop, you will explore how cultivating mindfulness and compassion can result in powerful change in your life, as well as how to masterfully deploy these techniques in the psychotherapy consultation room. Participants will engage in didactic learning, experiential self-practice, and role-play practice, in this personal journey into compassionate mind training, that is a new frontier in engaged psychotherapy training in compassion. For thousands of years, wisdom traditions have used mindfulness, acceptance and compassion-based training as a platform to transform the mind. Developed by Dr. Paul Gilbert, CFT puts these processes in your hands, drawing on rigorous behavioral psychology, neuroscience and
evolutionary theory. 

This workshop will be delivered by internationally recognized experts in CFT and ACT, who have nearly a century of combined experience in working with compassion training, mediation, and contextual behavioral science. Dr. Dennis Tirch and Dr. Laura Silberstein-Tirch, CFT and ACT thought leaders and originators of Compassion Focused ACT (CFACT) will co-lead this
workshop with ACT, FAP and CFACT integration pioneer, Dr. Manuela O’Connell. This training is specifically designed to help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and other behavior therapy practitioners deepen their understanding and practice CFT. Experiential learning of CFT from the inside out is an essential component of CFT mastery, and this workshop can serve as a foundation for the renewal and enlivening of your practice and your approach.

About the Workshop Leaders: 

Dr. Dennis Tirch is the Founding Director of The Center for CFT in New York; President of The Compassionate Mind Foundation, USA; Past-President and Fellow of The Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) and an Associate Clinical Professor at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. Dr Tirch is the author of seven books, and numerous chapters and peer reviewed articles on mindfulness, acceptance and compassion in psychology. Dr Tirch regularly conducts Compassion Focused ACT and CFT trainings & workshops globally. He is also a Dharma Holder and lay teacher of Zen Buddhism; a Diplomate, Fellow & Certified Consultant for The Academy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and a Founding Fellow and Past President of both the NYC-CBT association & NYC-ACBS. Dr. Tirch serves as a mindfulness, wellness and performance coach to leading figures in business, science and policy design. Dr. Tirch regularly presents workshops and trainings globally, in person and via video-conference. His
work has been featured by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other media outlets.

Dr. Laura Silberstein is the Director of The Center for CFT in New York and board member of the Compassionate Mind Foundation, USA. She has served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr Silberstein-Tirch is the co-author of four books, including How to Be Nice To Yourself. Dr Silberstein-Tirch regularly conducts trainings and workshops on Compassion Focused ACT and CFT internationally. She is a Past President of NYC-ACBS & Compassion Focused SIG of ACBS. Dr. Silberstein-Tirch is a founding member and Past President of the Women of ACBS SIG.

Dr. Manuela O’Connell is a clinical psychologist specialized in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness, Functional Analytical Psychotherapy and Compassion. She is a peer reviewed ACT trainer and Fellow of ACBS. Dr. O’Connell has private practice and regular training programs in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a board President of ACL Foundation (Live with Awareness, Courage and Love).  Dr. O’Connell is a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher (MMTCP- training program through UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield Accredited by IMTA.org). Dr. O’Connell also offers
Mindfulness programs for general public and have offered a Mindfulness and Psychotherapy course oriented in CBS for 8 years and done several conferences on the topic of Mindfulness and CBS. She has been involved also  in body work and somatic training for the last 30 years and is a certified Eutony teacher. Dr. O’Connell is the author of a general public book Una Vida Valiosa
from Random House, Penguin, co-author of the ACT for Anger Workbook and The Heart of ACT with Dr. Robyn Walser.

After this workshop, participants will be able to: 

1. Describe the foundational evolutionary model of compassion, mindfulness and emotion used in CFT.
2. Use the CFT "Three Circle Model" of emotion regulation in clinical contexts.
3. Understand and be able to discuss and utilize Social Mentality Theory in psychotherapy and in scalable interventions.
4. Utilize the therapeutic relationship to create a context of relational safeness in the therapy room as a part of CFT process
5. Outline and implement a CFT model of functional analysis of interpersonal exchanges in psychotherapy, using the therapist's response to shape client behavior.
6. Discuss the multiple self-model and intervention set in CFT
7. Have a working knowledge of multiple-self dialogue work in CFT
8. Identify and embody the 12 competencies of compassion, experientially training patients in using these elements.
9. Use a working knowledge of specific therapist micro-skills and active therapy processes that can lead to greater flexibility and adaptive responding in the moment.

10. Deploy a range of specific techniques that are focused on cultivating the competencies of compassion in the therapy relationship.

    Target Audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Clinical

    Components: Conceptual analysis, Literature review, Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Role play

    Topic Areas (primary): Compassion Focused Therapy

    Topic Areas (secondary): Other

    Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance

    CEs Available (13 hours): CEs for Psychologists