VA Palo Alto Health Care System (Palo Alto, CA)

VA Palo Alto ACT Mini Rotation

We have an ACT friendly internship program here at Palo Alto VA with an opportunity to be trained in ACT, conduct individual therapy and co-lead ACT groups.

Purpose of Mini Rotation:

Many individuals suffering from mental health issues often actively work to avoid their personal experiences of emotion, thought and sensation. However, these very actions often result in loss and increased suffering. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behaviorally based intervention designed to address avoidance of internal events and the role that language plays in human suffering. The therapy specifically uses a number of verbal, experiential and homework interventions to help patients make experiential contact with previously avoided private events (thoughts, feelings, sensations), without excessive verbal involvement and control – and to make powerful life enhancing choices. ACT is a manual-based intervention that can be applied with a number of populations. The mini-rotation provides a combination of didactic and supervised clinical experience in the use of ACT across a number of settings at the Palo Alto VA.

Structure of the Mini-Rotation:

Time Commitment: Trainees interested in the mini-rotation work at their sites providing individual and group ACT. Trainees are expected to attend a weekly, 1.5 hour group supervision and read relevant materials. As well, each participant completes an ACT project that is disseminated via the web to other ACT providers across the nation. The time commitment is approximately 4 hours per week. The trainee needs to negotiate with the supervisors of his/her major rotations for the necessary time or do this rotation as an add-on above the basic 40 hours.

If you have questions, please contact Robyn.walser@va.gov or Veronica.reis@va.gov

(This information was updated 03/13/2020).