Workshop Description
Trauma-Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (TFACT) is a flexible, comprehensive approach for treating the entire spectrum of trauma-related issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, depression, anxiety disorders, moral injury, chronic pain, shame, suicidality, insomnia, complicated grief, attachment issues, sexual problems, and more.
(For a quick overview of TFACT, read chapter one of the textbook, ‘Trauma-Focused ACT’ here)
In this two-day training, you’ll discover cutting-edge strategies for healing the past, living in the present, and building a new future. With this compassion-based, exposure-centered approach, you’ll learn how to help your clients:
- Find safety and security in their bodies
- Overcome hyperarousal and hypoarousal
- Break free from dissociation
- Shift from self-hatred to self-compassion
- Rapidly ground themselves and reengage in life
- Unhook from difficult cognitions and emotions
- Develop an integrated sense of self
- Resolve traumatic memories through “inner child” work and flexible exposure
- Connect with and live by their values, and engage fully in life here and now
- Experience post-traumatic growth
Note: This is an intermediate-level training, which assumes you already know the basics of ACT. Please see “Prerequisites” section below.
You will learn:
- The neurobiology of trauma, including Polyvagal theory and Attachment theory
- How to work effectively with the limbic system
- How to bring a numb body back to life
- Why and how “talk therapy” and “supportive counselling” can keep clients stuck in trauma
- How to use movement and mindfulness to help a client’s body unlearn old adaptive responses to trauma
- How to work with a freeze response
- How to help clients find a sense of safety and security in their body
- Simple psychoeducation to help clients understand their trauma symptoms
And you’ll also learn about:
- How to reverse hopelessness and build optimism from the word ‘go’
- How to rapidly ground and centre your clients
- How to use values for post-traumatic growth
- Epigenetic aspects of trauma, and how to ameliorate them
- How to recognise and reverse emotional dysregulation
- Powerful new tools, techniques and metaphors for working with trauma
- When and where ‘mindfulness meditation’ is contraindicated in trauma work
- How to use mindfulness processes flexibly and safely (without meditation)
And this too:
- The art and science of compassionate, flexible exposure
- How to keep exposure safe by ‘Dipping in’ and ‘Dipping out’
- How to develop self-compassion, step-by-step, in the face of self-hatred
- How to revisit traumatic memories safely, without getting trapped in them
- How to use self-as-context naturalistically to help clients transcend past trauma
- How to deconstruct and overcome shame, step-by-step
And, as if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also discover:
- Inner child imagery and rescripting
- Nightmare rehearsal and rescripting
- Working with body memory
- Defusion from self-hatred, self-criticism, self-blame
- Mindfulness and defusion as antidotes to worrying, rumination, catastrophising
- How to overcome common barriers to change
- Working with comorbidity
- Shifting paradigms: from the “window of tolerance” to the “window of flexibility”
- Making “homework” simple, desirable, and likely to be successful
- And much, much more!
Who Should Attend?
Helping professionals who have already been introduced to the basics of Acceptance of Commitment Therapy (see section below).
Prerequisites
This course assumes at least a beginners-level knowledge in ACT. Before enrolling, you must do at least one of the following:
- Attend an introductory level 2-day ACT workshop (with any trainer)
- Complete Russ Harris’s online ACT for Beginners course.
- Thoroughly work through a beginners-level ACT textbook from start to end such as ACT Made Simple or Learning ACT. (This means not just reading it, but actively doing the experiential exercises. An ACT self-help book such as The Happiness Trap will not suffice; it must be a textbook.)
You will receive:
- Login details and instructions emailed in advance of the workshop
- Downloadable handouts
- Certificate of attendance
- Articles, protocols, and research data on the clinical use of ACT with trauma
- An 8-week e-course after the workshop for ongoing learning
- Scripts for a wide range of experiential exercises.
- A variety of useful client worksheets
- MP3 recordings of key mindfulness exercises
- Access to a recording of the workshop for a limited period of time after the workshop - so if you can’t join live, or need to miss part of the live workshop and want to view it afterwards, we’ve got you covered!
Certificates of Attendance / CEU's / CE Information
Certificates of Attendance will be emailed to participants after the workshop. Certificates will indicate the number of direct education hours (12), not including breaks. Certificates may be used to qualify for eligibility for Continuing Education Credits from licensing boards and professional colleges; it is the participant’s responsibility to contact their college or association to confirm its requirements and the workshop's eligibility for CEU's / CE’s. This workshop has been pre-approved for 12 continuing education hours by the CACCF.
Cancellation Policy
An administrative fee of $50 will be charged for all cancellations. Cancellation 14 or more days prior to the workshop date – receive a refund, less $50 administration fee. Cancellation less than 14 days prior to the workshop date – receive a credit, less $50 administration fee, to be applied to a future workshop. No credit or refund will be issued if you do not notify us in advance of the workshop date. You may transfer your registration to another individual at no extra cost. In this case, please notify Mission: Empowerment of the name of the alternate person. The organizers reserve the right to cancel the event due to instructor illness, extreme weather, under-enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. If a workshop is cancelled, any registration payment will be returned in full. Liability is limited to a refund of workshop/live-stream fees only.
Refunds will not be issued in cases where a registrant did not receive the workshop login instruction email due to email issues. It is the registrant’s responsibility to contact us if they don’t receive the required login information at least 24 hours prior to the start time of the workshop.
About the Presenter
Dr. Russ Harris is a best-selling author, medical doctor, psychotherapist, life coach, advisor to the World Health Organisation, and world-renowned trainer of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.
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.
Russ has authored several ACT textbooks and ACT-based self-help books. His best-known book The Happiness Trap is now the most widely-translated ACT book in the world, with over one million copies sold worldwide and editions in over 30 languages. (To download the opening chapter, click here)
Russ has directly trained over 50,000 psychological health professionals in the ACT model and is known for his practical and fun style of teaching.
*This workshop is being offered in partnership with ACT Mindfully*
For more information about Russ and his work, visit: www.actmindfully.com.au
Trauma-Focused Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
with Dr. Russ Harris, MD
ONLINE LIVE STREAM EVENT
February 8, 9, 15 & 16, 2023 5pm – 8:30pm ET*
4-part workshop
Instructor: Dr. Russ Harris
Location: Online Live Stream Event
Early Bird Cost: $379 CAD + GST/HST (if applicable) by Jan. 8, 2023
Regular Cost: $419 CAD + GST/HST (if applicable) after Jan. 8, 2023
**All prices are in CAD$. American Patrons - your dollar goes further! $1 CAD = $0.73 USD (as of Dec. 7, 2022 - check online for current exchange rate)
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 8, 2023 at 12 pm ET
* For information about Group Rates and Discounts click here.