About Us

Our ACT training part 1 and part 2 workshops are run by Dr Russ Harris, thefounder of this company. Dr Louise Hayesrunsour 'ACT for adolescents' workshops, whileDr Joe Ciarrochi and Ann Bailey (M.Clin)run our Weight Escape workshops.

Dr Russ Harris: Medical Practitioner - Psychotherapist - Executive Coach

Russ's background is in medicine. He qualified as a doctor in 1989, at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He migrated to Australia in 1991, and set up practice as a GP in Melbourne.

As a GP he became increasingly interested in the psychological aspects of health and wellbeing (and increasingly disenchanted with writing prescriptions). Ultimately this interest led to a total career change, and he now works in two different, yet complementary roles: as a therapist and as a life coach.

Over the years, he has trained in many types of therapy and coaching, but when he discovered Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, (ACT), a unique and creative mindfulness-based behavioural therapy, he was so deeply impressed that he immediately went to the U.S.A. to train with its creators, Steve Hayes, Kelly Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl. Since then, he has been backmany times,and is now an internationally-renowned ACT trainer.

His ACT-based self-help book 'The Happiness Trap' is a best-seller, now published in over twenty-two countries and seventeen different languages. (To download the opening chapter, click here.)

Russ has a unique model for training, which he calls 'ACT Made Simple', because it covers so much material in a short space of time. (In fact,he even has even written an introductorytextbook on ACT, titled 'ACT Made Simple'. To download the first two chapters, click here.) He proudly proclaims each workshop a 'jargon-free zone' - and bases his training on three core values: simplicity, clarity, andhaving fun.

Since 2005, Russ has travelled all around Australia, and internationally, providing workshops and training for a wide variety of health professionals, from coaches and counsellors, to psychologists and psychiatrists. Hishighly-acclaimed ACT workshops are typically brief, powerful, cost-effective and life-enhancing. Participants regularly report not only major improvements in their therapy and/or coaching, but also in their personal lives - and evaluation forms frequently praise his ability to make complex ideas seem very simple. (For more details, go totestimonials )

In September 2010, Russ launched his most exciting project yet: public workshops, for happiness, confidence, and vitality.

Dr Louise Hayes: PhD, MAPS, CCLIN,
Clinical Psychologist, Academic Researcher and Private Practitioner

Louise is a clinical psychologist who works across a variety of settings with children, young people and their families. She has worked in public and private mental health services with children and adolescents - working on problems of living through to severe mental illness. Louise also conducts research into mental health treatments for young people and their families. She is a gifted and innovative trainer, whose workshops are informative, entertaining, and intensely practical.

Louise has been actively engaged with ACT since 2004, and has undertaken extensive training, both in Australia and overseas, with many ACT leaders, including Kelly Wilson, Kirk Strosahl, Russ Harris, Robyn Walser, and Steve Hayes. She has attended and presented at the World Conference for ACT over the past 3 years, writtenbook chapters and articles on the use of ACT with adolescents,and has been very involved in the dissemination of ACT in Australia.

Dr Joseph Ciarrochi,PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Wollongong, NSW

Dr. Joe Ciarrochi, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Wollongong, NSW, is a dynamic and entertaining ACT trainer, a pioneering ACT researcher, and the acclaimed co-author of "A CBT Practitioner's Guide to ACT: How to bridge the gap between Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy." He is a talented and inspiring trainer, whose excellent sense of humour ensures that his workshops are not only practical, but also a lot of fun.

Joseph has researched the application with a wide variety of populations, including adolescents, people diagnosed with cancer, and organizations (such as the NSW police force). He has published over 80 papers, books and book chapters, and his papers on emotional intelligence are amongst the most cited in the world. He currently has over $1 million in nationally competitive funding to investigate the development of character strength and well-being in adolescence. In 2011, he won a prestigious Australian Research Council Future Fellow, which recognized him as one of the top scientists in the country.

Along with Russ Harris and Ann Bailey, he is co-author of the forthcoming self-help book 'The Weight Escape'. In addition, along with Ann Bailey and Louise Hayes, he is co-author of the forthcoming self-help book for teenagers, "Get Out Of Your mind And Into Your Life For Teens".

Ann Bailey, M.A.

Ann Bailey, a senior clinical psychologist, has designed and implemented an award winning government program that helps people with anxiety and personality disorders. Ann regularly conducts ACT training and supervision for clinical students and other practitioners. She is featured in the influential ACT in Action video training series as a master clinician (New Harbinger Publications. Oakland, CA). She is also co-author, with Joe Ciarrochi, of the acclaimed book "A CBT Practitioners Guide to ACT," and has been involved in training and dissemination of ACT for over eight years now. She is a gifted and inspiring workshop presenter.

Along with Russ Harris and Joe Ciarrochi, she is co-author of the forthcoming self-help book 'The Weight Escape'.