Acceptance and commitment therapy is one of the most exciting developments in psychotherapy to occur in the last fifty years. ACT departs from conventional psychotherapeutic models, which strive to "fix", "control", or "get rid of" unwanted thoughts and behaviours. Instead, it demonstrates how to accept uncomfortable or painful situations without engaging with them, allowing them to pass away or diminish as they will. The therapy helps clients assess their own values and commit to acting on them in ways that lead to richer, more fulfilling lives. ACT is profound, revolutionary - and it works. As a result, thousand of therapists, new and experienced, are seeking to incorporate ACT work into their practices."Learning ACT" describes the six core therapeutic processes of ACT, outlining the theoretical background that sets the stage for the rest of the book. Then it outlines a process for case conceptualization from an ACT perspective and gives readers an opportunity to practice conceptualizing cases. Readers learn the ACT approach to establishing an effective and powerful therapeutic relationship and opportunities are provided for readers to practice their therapeutic relationship skills. A DVD included with the text offers role-played examples of the core ACT processes in action on both audio and video. In these examples, a picture is worth a thousand words, bringing to life the concepts developed in the text.
Jason Luoma, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, director of the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center in Portland, Oregon, and a grant-funded researcher with the University of Nevada, Reno. His research focuses on the application of ACT to the alleviation of burnout in counselors, ACT as an intervention for the stigma of substance abuse, and the dissemination and training of evidence-based therapies. He also has an active clinical practice and is an experienced trainer in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. This book is the result of this practical experience and research.
Steven C. Hayes, Ph.D., is University of Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has authored nearly 400 articles and book chapters, and more than 30 books, including Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Relational Frame Theory. A past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, he has conducted hundreds of trainings in ACT around the world and supervised the clinical training of scores of graduate students.
Robyn D. Walser, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who works as a consultant, ACT workshop presenter, and therapist in her private business, TLConsultation Services. She has been doing ACT workshop trainings, both nationally and internationally, since 1998, training in multiple formats and for multiple client problems. She also works at the National Center for PTSD at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.. Dr. Walser has expertise in traumatic stress and has authored a number of articles and a book, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma Related Problems, for use of ACT in treating PTSD and trauma related problems.
