Developing Functional Skills—Participants will learn and apply the Three Rs of Contextual Functional Analysis (Lucas) to client problems and goals. They’ll leave with a clear, concise, and practical tool for completing a functional analysis that allows them to select interventions with greater precision.
Practicing Creative Hopelessness as an Ongoing Process – Participants would learn that creative hopelessness is not merely something done once early in therapy but an ongoing response to inflexible behavioral patterns. They’d identify examples of psychological inflexibility throughout therapy and practice a coherent approach to undermining excessive control/avoidance.
Enhancing Exposure Therapy with Psychological Flexibility – Participants would learn a functionally contextualist consistent approach to exposure therapy. Many therapy clients suffer from chronic anxiety as a result of learning to excessively control fears of losing control, preventing imagined catastrophes and attempting to eliminate uncertainty. By building on traditional approaches to exposure, participants will learn how to recognise threat-based stimuli and avoidant intentions to cultivate a safe and courageous context to experiment with novel responses to fear.
Objectives:
1. Developing Functional Skills Using Contextual Functional Analysis: Participants will learn and apply the Three Rs of Contextual Functional Analysis (Lucas) to client problems and goals, leaving with a practical tool for precise intervention selection.
2. Practicing Creative Hopelessness as an Ongoing Process: Participants will understand that creative hopelessness is a continuous response to inflexible behavioral patterns, identifying psychological inflexibility throughout therapy and practicing strategies to undermine excessive control and avoidance.
3. Enhancing Exposure Therapy with Psychological Flexibility: Participants will learn a functionally contextualist approach to exposure therapy, recognizing threat-based stimuli and avoidant intentions to create a safe environment for experimenting with new responses to fear.
Competencies Acquired:
1. Functional Analysis Skills: Proficiency in using the Three Rs of Contextual Functional Analysis to conduct functional assessments and select precise interventions.
2. Ongoing Application of Creative Hopelessness: Ability to apply creative hopelessness as an ongoing therapeutic strategy, identifying and addressing psychological inflexibility throughout the therapy process.
3. Advanced Exposure Therapy Techniques: Enhanced skills in conducting exposure therapy with a focus on psychological flexibility, creating a safe and courageous context for clients to confront and respond to fear.
Bibliographic Titles:
1. Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2016). *Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change* (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
2. Eifert, G. H., & Forsyth, J. P. (2005). *Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: A Practitioner’s Treatment Guide to Using Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Values-Based Behavior Change Strategies*. New Harbinger Publications.
3. Lucas, C. (2019). *Contextual Functional Analysis: A Comprehensive Guide for Behavior Analysts and Therapists*. Behavior Analyst Press.
4. Hayes, S. C., & Smith, S. (2005). *Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy*. New Harbinger Publications.
5. Luciano, C., & Valdivia-Salas, S. (2016). *Developing Skills in Contextual Behavioral Science: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Applying ACT, RFT, and Contextual Functional Analysis*. Context Press.
Jim Lucas
I’m Jim Lucas, and I live and work in Birmingham, UK. I work as an ACT Therapist, Supervisor and Trainer through 121 consultations and an online community. I’m author of the ACT Roadmap and SEED: An ACT Supervision Model.