100 Key Points and Techniques in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Practical Introductory Workshop
Dates and Location of this VIRTUAL 2-Day Workshop:
VIRTUAL LIVE online via Zoom
Recordings will be available through 25 June 2026. We regret that we are unable to provide extended access to any registrant beyond 25 June.
Automated Zoom captioning and automated Zoom translation available.
Friday, 5 June from 14:00 - 18:00 UTC/GMT +2 (Central European Summer Time) - click here to convert to your time zone
Saturday, 6 June from 14:00 - 18:00 UTC/GMT +2 (Central European Summer Time) - click here to convert to your time zone
Contact Hours: 7.5
Workshop Leaders:
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| Joseph Oliver, PhD, PG Dip Clinical Psychology | Richard Bennett, DClinPsyc |
Workshop Description:
This experiential workshop offers a practical and accessible introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), organised around the “head, hands, and heart” of ACT practice. The workshop places a strong emphasis on learning through experience, with participants actively engaging in experiential exercises, live demonstrations, role play, and behavioural rehearsal throughout the session.
Participants will be introduced to ACT’s theoretical foundations and core behavioural principles, alongside concrete techniques and in session strategies that can be applied immediately in clinical work. The workshop balances clear conceptual teaching with hands on practice, allowing participants not only to understand ACT intellectually, but to experience how ACT processes are actively modelled and practiced within sessions.
The structure is deliberately flexible. The morning focuses on building a coherent conceptual foundation for ACT, while the afternoon is shaped by participant questions and clinical challenges. This allows the facilitators to respond to the needs of the group while demonstrating ACT consistent clinical decision making in real time. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a clear understanding of ACT and a practical toolkit to support integration into their existing therapeutic approach.
Background and rationale
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is increasingly recognised as an effective and flexible approach for addressing a wide range of psychological difficulties. Despite this, many therapists report feeling overwhelmed by ACT’s theoretical breadth and uncertain about how to translate ACT concepts into moment to moment clinical interventions.
This workshop is designed to bridge that gap by offering a clear, structured introduction that integrates theory, technique, and therapeutic process. ACT is presented through the organising framework of the “head” (theoretical foundations), the “hands” (interventions and techniques), and the “heart” (context, strategy, and the therapeutic relationship). This structure supports participants to develop confidence in both understanding ACT and applying it flexibly in practice.
Workshop structure and teaching methods
The workshop combines structured teaching with intensive experiential learning delivered in an online format.
The morning session focuses on introducing ACT’s theoretical foundations and core processes through interactive teaching, brief experiential exercises, and live demonstrations by the presenters.
The afternoon session is participant led and responsive to the group’s learning needs. Participants are encouraged to bring questions, clinical dilemmas, and cases. These are explored through live demonstrations, role play conducted in breakout rooms, behavioural rehearsal, video examples, and facilitated large group discussion. Throughout the workshop, participants are supported to reflect on both the techniques used and the therapeutic process, with particular attention to how experiential ACT work can be delivered effectively.
Who should attend
This workshop is suitable for mental health professionals with prior therapy training who are interested in learning ACT. It is appropriate for participants with no previous ACT experience, as well as those with some familiarity who want to strengthen their conceptual understanding and practical skills.
The workshop will be especially useful for clinicians trained in cognitive behavioural approaches who want to expand their therapeutic repertoire with an evidence based, process focused model that integrates readily with existing practice.
About the Workshop Leaders:
- Joseph Oliver, Ph.D., PG Dip Clinical Psychology
Dr Joe Oliver is a consultant clinical psychologist and founder of Contextual Consulting, an organisation providing training, supervision, and therapy in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). He is also an Associate Professor and Programme Director for the University College London CBT for Severe Mental Health Problems postgraduate programme.
Joe is an active member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) and previously served as Secretary of the ACBS UK and Ireland Chapter Board. He is a peer reviewed ACT trainer and an ACBS Fellow. Joe regularly delivers ACT and contextual cognitive behavioural therapy training nationally and internationally.
He has authored six ACT books, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness for Psychosis and ACTivate Your Life (2nd edition), as well as several professional texts including Acceptance and Commitment Coaching, ACT: 100 Key Points and Techniques, and The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Self Esteem.
- Richard Bennett, DClinPsyc
Dr Richard Bennett is a clinical psychologist and cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, and an Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Birmingham. He worked for over 20 years in adult and forensic mental health services within the NHS before establishing Think Psychology, an independent psychology practice providing therapy, supervision, and training, and ACTivatingyourpractice.com.
Richard is an active member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) and the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). He is accredited by the BABCP as a psychotherapist, supervisor, and trainer, certified as a supervisor by the Albert Ellis Institute, and recognised as both an ACBS Fellow and peer reviewed ACT trainer.
He is co editor of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in Sport and Exercise and co author of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques, The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Self Esteem, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions. Richard also co hosts the podcast Two Old Psychologists Talking About Stuff.
Following this workshop participants will be able to:
- Describe the core philosophical and behavioural principles that underpin Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
- Identify the six core ACT processes and explain how they interact to promote psychological flexibility.
- Demonstrate basic ACT consistent assessment and case formulation strategies.
- Apply a range of ACT techniques to activate acceptance, defusion, present moment awareness, values, and committed action.
- Structure ACT interventions within therapy sessions in a way that is coherent and flexible rather than protocol driven.
- Make strategic clinical decisions informed by ACT processes and functional analysis.
- Describe common process level challenges in ACT practice, including experiential avoidance and over intellectual engagement.
- Demonstrate how to engage clients experientially in ACT exercises rather than focusing primarily on verbal explanation.
- List therapist stance and therapeutic relationship factors that support effective ACT work.
- Demonstrate how to integrate ACT principles and techniques into their existing therapeutic model.
Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate
Components: Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Case presentation, Role play
Topic Areas: Clinical, Relational Frame Theory
Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance
CE Credit Hours Available (7.5 hours): CEs for psychologists
CEs are not available for recorded viewing.