Neuroscience-Informed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Trauma and PTSD

This course is provided in an on-demand format, in which registrants recive 5.5 hours of on-demand video content, all Powerpoint slides, handouts, and resources. Registrants are provided indefinite access to content- so you can sign up now even if you plan to watch the course at a later time.

Course Description:

This workshop will present the ACT model and its application for PTSD through intrapsychic, interpersonal, and neuropsychological processes, such as thought suppression, experiential avoidance, “window of tolerance” (Aikins et al., 2009). Participants will learn the six core processes of ACT: acceptance, defusion, mindfulness, self as context, values, and committed action. Neuroscience research on the internal processes that maintain PTSD and the effect of ACT practices on these patterns will be discussed. Participants will learn how each core process of ACT and ACT-based exposure can help individuals reconnect with the natural trauma recovery process. Participants will practice experiential exercises and will learn how to help individuals struggling with PTSD recover and improve their quality of life.

Agenda:
The Theoretical Basis for ACT for PTSD

• Review of empirical evidence
• Functional Contextualism and its application to PTSD
• Psychological Flexibility as the core goal of ACT for PTSD
• Neuroscientific research on mindfulness and co-regulation
• Control as the problem in PTSD
• Hexaflex applied to core obsessive processes

Values and Committed Action for PTSD

• Moving from a goal of symptom reduction to values
• Values-based exposure hierarchies
• Designing Exposures as committed action

Mindfulness and Defusion for PTSD

• Moving from worry and experiential avoidance to present moment awareness
• Defusion practices to distance from “OCD thoughts”
• Neuroscientific research on thought suppression
• Experiential: Designing your own defusion character

Willingness and Self-As-Context for PTSD

• Moving from control and resistance to willingness to be with experience
• Neuroscientific research on window of tolerance
• Willingness experiential practice
• From fused and trauma-based self-concept to Self-As-Context

This intensive course:

-Teaches the six core processes of ACT: acceptance, defusion, mindfulness, self-as-context, values, and committed action.

-Presents the theory and model of ACT and their applications to PTSD.

-Reviews the neuroscientific evidence for ACT applications, such as thought suppression, window of tolerance, mindfulness, and co-regulation

-Includes experiential exercises, case examples, multimedia for applied, clinical learning.

-Provides an overview for how to use ACT for clients with different forms of trauma.

-Prepares participants to integrate ACT into exposure therapy, through values based exposure and incorporate of each core process.

Course is fully facilitated by Dr. Emily Wharton.

Please reach out if you have any questions at Dr.Emily.Wharton@gmail.com.

No CEs are offerred for this course, however participants may receive a certificate of completion if desired.

COURSE FEES:

Course fee: $129 --> $40 off SUMMER SALE until 7/9/24: $89

If you would prefer to not pay the additional EventBrite processing fees, you can Zelle the base amount ($89 until 7/9/24) to Dr. Wharton directly at emilywharton23@gmail.com or Venmo Dr. Wharton at @Emily-Wharton to access the course. In the Zelle/Venmo note space, please write which course you are purchasing and include your email so that I can send you the course materials.

Please note that Dr. Wharton is currently on maternity leave so please allow additional time for processing to receive course content upon registration. Thank you for your patience!

E mily Wharton, Psy.D.

Dr. Emily Wharton is a Clinical Instructor at the Cognitive Behavior Institute, where she teaches courses in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Dr. Wharton has also served in roles of Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, and licensed clinical psychologist in the Palo Alto VA and her private practice. She has provided supervision and training for VA and Stanford psychiatry residents, medical students, and psychology trainees in ACT, DBT, and MI. Dr. Wharton trained at the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, San Francisco VA, UCSF, and Palo Alto VA. Dr. Wharton has also served as the Member-At-Large Director for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Wharton has given lectures and trainings for the Palo Alto VA, Stanford University, and the Association for Contextual and Behavioral Science. Dr. Wharton has published papers and book chapters on ACT for PTSD, ACT for moral injury, mindfulness practices for anxiety disorders, and group trauma-focused CBT for parents of preterm infants.

View Dr. Wharton's Website