Category
Helping people recover from psychosis requires more than symptom management—it’s about fostering compassion, flexibility, and self-determination. Acceptance and commitment therapy for psychosis (ACTp) provides a structured, evidence-based approach to help individuals move beyond distress and reconnect with their values, relationships, and goals.
In this interactive 3-hour workshop, you’ll gain practical strategies to:
- Help clients navigate distressing symptoms with less struggle
- Use present-moment awareness and acceptance in a psychosis-sensitive way
- Guide values-based actions to support motivation and recovery
- Adapt trauma-informed experiential exercises for psychosis
Through case examples, recorded sessions, and experiential exercises, you’ll leave with concrete tools to make ACTp more engaging and effective in your work.
Background to the workshop
Psychosis can profoundly impact a person’s sense of self, relationships, and life direction. While traditional mental health care often focuses on symptom reduction, recovery is about much more than that—it’s about helping people rebuild meaningful, fulfilling lives despite ongoing challenges.
People recovering from psychosis often face:
- Distressing experiences, such as hallucinations, paranoia, or cognitive difficulties
- Internalised stigma, self-doubt, and withdrawal from meaningful activities
- Low motivation and emotional disengagement, making therapy harder to sustain
- Social and systemic barriers, including discrimination, isolation, and financial hardship
ACTp provides a different way forward—one that moves beyond reducing symptoms to helping people build a valued life. It teaches psychological flexibility, allowing clients to engage with distressing experiences in a way that supports, rather than hinders, their recovery.
For example, a person struggling with paranoia and avoidance might learn to notice anxious thoughts without fusing with them, reconnect with personally meaningful goals, and take steps towards a richer life, even in the presence of distress.
This workshop will show you how to apply ACT principles to psychosis treatment to improve engagement, reduce avoidance, and help people move forward in recovery.
What you will gain from this workshop
This introductory-level workshop will provide a practical introduction to using ACTp with individuals recovering from psychosis. By the end of this workshop, you will have:
- A clearer understanding of how ACT supports recovery from psychosis beyond just symptom management
- Practical ways to help clients engage with therapy, especially when they struggle with distressing voices, paranoia, or low motivation
- Learn how to build a strong therapeutic relationship using ACT principles, even when clients are mistrustful or disengaged
- Strategies to introduce mindfulness and present-moment awareness in a way that feels safe and accessible for people recovering from psychosis
- Ideas for using values-based work to help clients reconnect with what matters to them, even in the face of low motivation
- Confidence in adapting ACT exercises and language to better fit the needs of people experiencing psychosis, ensuring they are trauma-informed and accessible.
About this workshop
The workshop is designed to be interactive and skills-focused, with a combination of:
- Teaching sessions explaining key ACTp concepts
- Case examples and recorded therapy sessions to illustrate real-world application
- Experiential exercises and roleplays to practice key skills
- Group discussions and Q&A to explore challenges in applying ACTp
Participants will have the opportunity to engage with ACT techniques firsthand, developing confidence in using ACT-based strategies in clinical practice.
Who will benefit from this workshop?
This workshop is designed for mental health professionals and supporters working with people recovering from psychosis. It will be particularly relevant for those in health and social care settings supporting individuals with complex mental health challenges.
- This training is ideal for:
Psychologists, psychiatrists, and mental health nurses - Social workers, therapists, and counsellors
- GPs, occupational therapists, and case managers
- Others working with individuals with psychosis, including peer support workers
A basic working knowledge of ACT is recommended. If you’re new to ACT, we offer a free on-demand introduction to ACT workshop to help you prepare.