ACT for Depression and Anxiety Disorders

EVERY DAY, AROUND THE GLOBE, DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SHATTER THE LIVES OF MILLIONS.

But you have the power to make a difference …

12 CPD Hours

Do you want to help your clients find rapid relief from suffering? And go on to build richer, fuller lives?

If so, this 2-day advanced level workshop on is for you.
You’ll go deeper into the ACT model, take your skills to the next level, and learn specific methods for depression and anxiety disorders.
You’ll learn about common stumbling blocks and sticking points, and how to quickly get around them.
And you’ll discover a wealth of practical tools and strategies to effectively target depression (major depressive disorder and dysthymia) and the full range of anxiety disorders (from OCD & phobias to social anxiety & panic disorder).
The workshop will include live demonstrations, videos of therapy sessions, and a wide range of experiential exercises.

N.B. You should complete a 2-day ACT for Beginners workshop (with any ACT trainer) or my 8-week online beginners course, before attending this workshop; a basic level of ACT knowledge will be assumed.

 


In these two action-packed days, you will learn:

Day 1: ACT for Anxiety Disorders

  • Case formulation and treatment planning made simple
  • 5 most common mistakes when treating anxiety
  • How to provide rapid relief from anxiety, without trying to get rid of it
  • How to disrupt the vicious cycle of experiential avoidance
  • When is mindfulness contraindicated?
  • The art of compassionate self-soothing
  • 3 simple questions to stop your clients running from anxiety
  • How to respond when clients say, “I hate this feeling! I just want it to go!”
  • “50 Shades of Acceptance” – helping clients gradually transition from tolerance to acceptance
  • How to get to and work with the very roots of anxiety
  • How to dissolve worrying and catastrophising
  • ‘Mindful ceasefires’: the antidote to ‘panic attacks’
  • When mindfulness backfires – and how to rapidly get back on track
  • When and how to incorporate relaxation techniques
  • Exposure: from old school to cutting edge. What is exposure? Why is it essential? What does the latest research tell us about the best way to do it?
  • Facing your fears with compassion: the art of flexible exposure

Day 2: ACT for Depression

  • Case formulation and treatment planning made simple
  • 5 most common mistakes when treating depression
  • Shining a light in the dark: brief mindfulness interventions to rapidly relieve suffering
  • How to motivate the unmotivated
  • What to do when clients say “nothing will work”
  • How to disarm the “I don’t know” monster
  • How to get past “I have no values”
  • How to set goals when “nothing matters”
  • How to unhook from depressogenic thoughts – from ‘cognitive triads’ to ‘core schemas’
  • How to disrupt regret and rumination
  • How to find meaning when “life is meaningless”
  • Homework horrors: how to get clients active between sessions
  • Mindful, values-based problem solving
  • Out of the swamp: how to get clients moving in valued directions
  • Suicidality: what reinforces it and how to compassionately undermine it
  • Dispersing the fog: how to appreciate life when your mind says “It’s pointless”

You will receive:

  • Articles, protocols, and research data on the clinical use of ACT with depression and anxiety
  • Detailed handouts covering a wide array of useful ACT interventions tests
  • Scripts for a wide range of experiential exercises.
  • A variety of useful client worksheets
  • Three comprehensive eBooks
  • MP3 recordings of key mindfulness exercises

ABOUT RUSS HARRIS

Dr Russ Harris, author of the best-selling self-help book ‘The Happiness Trap‘, is an internationally-renowned trainer of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). Russ’s background is in medicine. 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: both as a therapist and as a coach.

Since 2005, Russ has run over 800 two-day workshops and provided ACT training for 80,000 health professionals. He has authored four ACT textbooks (ACT Made Simple, Trauma Focused ACT, Getting Unstuck in ACT, ACT Questions & Answers), and four ACT-based self-help books (The Happiness Trap, The Reality Slap, The Confidence Gap and ACT with Love). In addition, he has co-authored two other self-help books: The Weight Escape and The Happiness Trap Pocketbook. His best-known book, The Happiness Trap, has sold over one million copies worldwide, with translations into more than 30 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 introductory text book on ACT, titled ‘ACT Made Simple’. To download the first chapter, click here.) He proudly proclaims each workshop a ‘jargon-free zone’ – and bases his training on three core values: simplicity, clarity, and having fun. His highly-acclaimed ACT workshops are 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 examples, go to testimonials )

WORKSHOP PRICES

Prices are less for advance payment. Hover over or click on a workshop to get the current price.
2-day workshop: 
Super Keen $525 - Early Birds $550 - Standard $595 - Last minute $620 -