Mastering the heartbeat of change: Applying basic principles of change in contextual therapies
Dates and Location of this IN-PERSON 2-Day Workshop:
IN-PERSON at the Sheraton, New Orleans
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
CE credits available: 13
Workshop Leaders:
Niklas Törneke, M.D.
Rikke Kjelgaard, M.Sc.
Workshop Description:
Join us for a two-day workshop that explores the core principles of change across various therapeutic settings. This training builds on basic principles in contextual therapies, translating them into practical skills for today’s therapists.
Participants will learn how to use modern functional analysis as an overarching tool to conceptualize, build alliances, and craft targeted change strategies to shape clients’ psychological flexibility, enhancing the effectiveness of their interventions.
The workshop emphasizes practical, easy-to-apply strategies that are rooted in the science of behavior change with a special focus on insights from relational frame theory (RFT).
Through a mix of didactic presentations, live demonstrations, and hands-on role- playing exercises, attendees will gain a robust toolkit that not only respects the complexity of human behavior but also demystifies the process of applying these techniques in everyday practice. Our focus is on empowering therapists with knowledge and skills that can be immediately implemented to foster change.
Additionally, this training will instill confidence in practitioners, equipping them with reliable tools they can always turn to, making this workshop ideal for those seeking to broaden their scope and enhance their efficacy in therapy.
By the end of this workshop, attendees will not only understand the underpinnings of effective psychotherapy but also be capable of applying these techniques to foster meaningful change in their clients' lives.
About the Workshop Leaders:
- Niklas Törneke, M.D.
Niklas Törneke is a Swedish psychiatrist and licenced psychotherapist with more than 30 years experience of clinical work. He belongs to the original group of peer reviewed ACT trainers and is an awarded fellow of the association of contextual behavioral science (ACBS). Alongside his own clinical work he has been training and supervising other psychotherapists both in Sweden and internationally for many years. He has authored and co-authored several bookchapters and books with the special focus of applying basic behavioral principles to everyday clinical work, such as The ABCs of human behavior: Behavioral principles for the practicing clinician (2008, with Jonas Ramnerö); Learning RFT. An introduction to relational frame theory and its clinical application (2010); Metaphor in pracice. A professional's guide to using the science of language in psychotherapy (2017) and the forthcoming (January 2025) Using functional analysis in psychotherapy.
- Rikke Kjelgaard, M.Sc.
Rikke Kjelgaard is the CEO & founder of ACT Danmark and Human ACT Sweden and runs Rikke Kjelgaard Consulting. She is also the creator of the ACT Practitioner's Academy, which is an online training community for passionate ACT practitioners from all over the world. She has organized therapy, training and supervision in ACT and CBT since 2006 and has co-developed a 2 year specialist training program in ACT that has been very popular.
Rikke spends most of her working time delivering clinical consultation, therapy, trainings and supervision in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She is a popular clinician, trainer and public speaker in Scandinavia and on the international stage. Rikke is a peer reviewed ACT Trainer and awarded fellow of the Association For Contextual Science.
Following this workshop participants will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of modern clinical functional analysis.
- Describe how an understanding of RFT is fundamental to clinical functional analysis.
- Demonstrate how to do a functional analysis in collaboration with the client.
- Demonstrate new skills in establishing a working alliance with the client.
- Demonstrate how to use functional analysis to conceptualize clinical problems.
- Demonstrate how to target specific change strategies, based on functional analysis.
- Demonstrate how to use the story the client presents for doing a functional analysis.
- Demonstrate how to use the therapeutic relationship to conduct a functional analysis.
- Demonstrate how to use metaphors in the context of a functional analysis.
- Demonstrate how to use experiential exercises in the context of a functional analysis.
Target audience: Beginner, Intermediate, Clinical
Components: Conceptual analysis, Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation, Case presentation, Role play
Topic Areas: Clinical intervention development or outcomes, Relational Frame Theory
Package Includes: A general certificate of attendance
CEs Available (13 hours): CEs for Psychologists