Now What? Moving Beyond the Basics and Increasing your Fluency in ACT
Dates and Location of this VIRTUAL 2-Day Workshop:
VIRTUAL LIVE online via Zoom
Friday, June 6, 2025 and Saturday, June 7, 2025, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. UTC/GMT -5 (Central Daylight Time)
Contact Hours: 7.5
Workshop Leaders: 
Miranda Morris, Ph.D.
Shawn Costello Whooley, PsyD
Holly Yates, Ms., MA, LCMHC
Workshop Description:
Looking to expand your ACT skills beyond the basics and create more impactful therapy sessions? Ever feel stuck wondering what to do next in session? Find yourself thinking too much about which process to use rather than staying present with your client? This workshop is designed for therapists who understand ACT fundamentals and want to develop greater fluidity, flexibility and depth in their practice.
This intensive workshop focuses on developing your ability to work responsively with what's happening in the moment. You'll learn to trust your clinical instincts while using functional analysis (FA) as your therapeutic compass, helping you identify workable interventions that enhance your clients' psychological flexibility.
Through a combination of demonstrations, experiential exercises, and small group work, you'll discover how to identify and respond to clients' "toward" and "away" moves in real-time. Rather than treating ACT processes as distinct components, you'll learn to weave all six core processes naturally into your sessions. The workshop emphasizes practical application through live demonstrations and role-play practice in a supportive, collaborative environment.
You'll develop proficiency in using functional analysis to guide your intervention choices and timing, learning to move fluidly between ACT processes based on moment-to-moment client needs. As you practice incorporating these principles into your existing skill set, you'll discover how functional analysis serves as the foundation for effective ACT work.
Throughout the day, you'll work with ACT more intuitively, understanding that therapeutic effectiveness comes not from selecting the "right" process, but from an awareness of context and function and - by extension - delivering interventions that increase psychological flexibility. You'll leave with greater confidence in your ability to work naturally and responsively within the ACT framework.
This workshop is ideal for mental health professionals who have a foundational understanding of ACT and some clinical experience applying it. Join us to transform your ACT practice into a flowing, natural, and powerful therapeutic approach.
About the Workshop Leaders:
- Miranda Morris, Ph.D.
Miranda Morris, Ph.D., is a psychologist in Bethesda, MD. She is a Peer Reviewed ACT Trainer, and she conducts regular workshops in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and related therapies including Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) and basic Relational Frame Theory (RFT). She has served as the President of the Association for Contextual Behavior Science and is a co-founder of the Mid Atlantic Chapter of ACBS Chapter. In her paid-work life, she is the Co-founder of True North Therapy and Training, a group dedicated to sharing contextual behavioral therapies with clients, practitioners, and the broader community.
- Shawn Costello Whooley, PsyD
Shawn Costello Whooley, PsyD, is a psychologist and Peer Reviewed ACT Trainer in private practice in Baltimore, MD, and in the Trauma Recovery Program at the Baltimore VA Medical Center. She is also the founder of Stillpoint Journeys, a coaching and training practice focused on moving the work of behavior change out of the office and into life by using extended hiking trips (and other adventures – equine, sailing) to experience the processes of ACT in real time. Shawn provides ACT and CBS training internationally and in academic settings. She serves as a Conference Strategy Committee member of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) and is also an active member of the Mid Atlantic Chapter of ACBS, where she has served as President and Treasurer. Shawn is co-author of The Inner Critic Workbook: Self-Compassion and Mindfulness Skills to Reduce Feelings of Shame, Build Self-Worth, and Improve Your Life and Relationships. In her copious spare time, Shawn can’t get enough of all things outdoors, nature, and the environment.
- Holly Yates, Ms., MA, LCMHC
Holly Yates, LCMHC, has been in private practice in North Carolina since 2004. She is trained in functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP), ACT, and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). She is a founding facilitator of the online ACT Peer Intervision Group sponsored through the Association of Contextual Behavior Science (ACBS), and a certified FAP trainer through University of Washington. Holly has been a presenter of FAP and ACT at ACBS World Conferences since 2016, and continues to train both internationally and domestically. Holly was a plenary speaker at the ACBS Brazil Conference in 2021. Holly is co-author of The Inner Critic Workbook: Self-Compassion and Mindfulness Skills to Reduce Feelings of Shame, Build Self-Worth, and Improve Your Life and Relationships and has co-authored a chapter on FAP and couples counseling. Yates is on the board of ACL Global Project, and is a member of the Functional Analytic Psychotherapy International Bo ard for Certification (FAPCEP).
Following this workshop participants will be able to:
1. Explain what is meant by “function” from an ACT perspective
2. Explain what is meant by “context” from an ACT perspective
3. Describe the importance of context and function in order to understand a behavior.
4. Explain how to use a functional analytic lens to make decisions about which core process(es) to focus on in a given moment
5. Identify and describe at least 3 experiential exercises that promote psychological flexibility
6. Explain the importance of experiential work in ACT
7. Demonstrate at least 2 strategies for accessing your own psychological flexibility with clients
8. Practice at least 2 strategies for working with challenging clients
9. Describe and practice moving flexibly and fluidly between the 6 core processes of ACT
10. Define and explain the relevance of the pragmatic truth criterion versus a correspondence-based truth in the context of our clinical ACT work
Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Clinical
Components: Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation_, Case presentation, Role play
Topic Areas: Clinical, Theoretical and philosophical foundations
Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance
CE Credit Hours Available (7.5 hours): CEs for psychologists, social workers (NASW type), counselors (NBCC type), BCBA CEUs