ACT in a Nutshell

You may have noticed I did not post last week. I took the week off from social media and connected to others through  face to face  meetings. Since I am an extrovert, I love to be with people. Hence,  I gave myself a break and did some self-care.

As part of my self-care, I met with Tamara Suttle and  had a wonderful time talking over lunch. It was quite playful. She mentors and coaches therapists who are in private practice. She also has her own successful private practice. I am glad to know her as she is a wealth of information and a kind person who is dedicated to her profession. One thing for sure, Tamara advocates good self-care as part of providing good client care.  

Part of my self-care is asking you to give me a helping hand.  I am in search of more mental health humor to share with you on Toons-day Tues-days. Hence, if you have a cartoon or a joke you like send it my way. I will give you credit. I can’t promise you I will post but I will give it serious consideration. You can email me at brenda@creatingyourbeyond.com. 

Meanwhile, I have been working with my colleague Christine Allison on preparing for our next workshop, ACT in Nutshell. ACT stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy  Training. Check out the workshop page for details. There’s only a few weeks left to sign up.

While preparing for the workshop I am enjoying working with Christine. She is a pleasure to be around. She is  funny and laughs easily. At the same time  she is efficient and knowledgeable. Also, I love her eye for detail, something I want to improve on for myself.

Since I have a high level of integrity,  it is important that I collaborate with people who have similar values of honesty, kindness and authenticity. Consequently, Christine and I make a great team.

Anyway, during the workshop we will teach you about the basics of ACT and then guide you through a mindfulness exercise based on ACT. You might be asking yourself, “Why learn ACT? 

According to SAMHSA¹,  ACT is listed in the NREPP²  as an empirically supported method for treating the following:

Imagery

• Reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety
• Relieves symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 
• Reduce obsessions or repetitive behaviors of OCD
• Improves coping skills for workplace stress (see below)
• Increases the effectiveness of chronic pain management.
• Relieves distress associated with delusions and hallucinations
• Increases the success of smoking cessation

Mindfulness skills are one of the tools you will learn. According to Mind Tools using  mindfulness, meditation and imagery leads to effective stress management on the job.

1.  SAMHSA: The United States Substance  Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminstration
2. NREPP:  National Registry of Evidenced-based Programs and Practices

(c) 2011 Brenda Bomgardner, MA, NCC