ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) is a therapeutic approach that stands out among the third-wave cognitive-behavioral therapies. This approach focuses on increasing psychological flexibility, meaning developing behaviors that bring a person closer to who and what is important to them, while being willing to accept feelings, emotions, and thoughts as they are in the present moment (Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson, 2011).

This course is designed for professionals in mental health rehabilitation across a variety of services and psychiatric disorders.

The overarching goal of this course is to enable participants to achieve personal and professional growth and rehabilitation, understand the flexibility model, and create opportunities for meaningful, value-driven lives in an ever-changing and complex reality.

The principles of the ACT approach align with the recovery approach, by placing humanity at the center, empowering the individual, and thereby promoting rehabilitation and recovery. Research has found that it contributes to increased functioning and the implementation of living alongside the illness (Johns et al. 2016). Furthermore, increasing the psychological flexibility of the professional allows them to cope with emotional pain and discomfort, while inviting them to act with openness, curiosity, gentleness, and generosity towards themselves and towards those who are coping.

What Makes This Course Unique: A combination of learning and experiential practice. The Act course invites you to engage in exercises individually, in pairs, and in small groups. The course will include lectures, demonstrations, videos, and experiential exercises.

Course Coordinator: Limor Atar, M.Sc.OT, occupational therapist and specialist in mental health rehabilitation. Cognitive Behavioral Therapist (CBT), practitioner of third-wave approaches including ACT and DBT. She trains professionals and serves as a lecturer. She runs a private practice treating children, adolescents, and adults. She formerly led the Israeli chapter of ACBS, the global umbrella organization for ACT practitioners.

Course Objectives: To enable therapists to grow personally and professionally by familiarizing themselves with the Psychological Flexibility Model, to cultivate an eclectic approach, and to develop therapeutic skills based on this approach.

• Introduction to the philosophical-theoretical basis for ACT therapy – Relational Frame Theory, applied behavior analysis, and an overview of the approach's development and the latest research.
• Introduction to the approach's model and the six processes for psychological flexibility: acceptance, cognitive defusion, contact with the present moment, flexible self-as-context, values identification, and committed action.
• Acquisition of therapeutic skills and tools – matrix, metaphors, and experiential exercises.
• Implementing the approach in rehabilitation work and connecting it to the recovery approach.

Course Structure: 8 sessions, each lasting 6 academic hours.

Participants: Professionals with at least a year and a half of experience in a rehabilitation role in various settings.

Course Requirements: Mandatory Attendance – 90%

• Active participation in meetings, discussions, classroom exercises, and group activities.
• Preparation of assignments throughout the course.
• Presentation of the final assignment in class: In-class facilitation of one exercise from the bibliographic sources in groups of three students, including the presentation of the exercise, facilitation, and connection to theory and application.

Admission Requirements

A professional actively working for at least one and a half years in various rehabilitation settings.

The number of participants in the course is limited.

       Johns, L. C., Oliver, J. E., Khondoker, M., Byrne, M., Jolley, S., Wykes, T., Candice, J., Butler, L., Craig, T. & Morris, E. M. (2016). The feasibility and acceptability of a brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) group intervention for people with psychosis: the ‘ACT for life’ study. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 50, 257-263.

     Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2011). Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change. Guilford Press.

     Hayes, S. (2019). A Liberated Mind: The essential guide to ACT. Random House

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