Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Foundation and Overview - The Psychology of Doing What Matters — Even When Life Hurts

Australia · CEU points & talks · Psychologists

Australian psychologists, deepen your therapeutic toolkit with this ACT foundation talk by Dr Ute Liersch. Explore how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy builds psychological flexibility in clients experiencing grief and loss, and learn to guide them in doing what matters. Gain practical skills in case conceptualisation and therapeutic presence, understanding ACT's unique approach to suffering and meaning.

This talk introduces the foundations of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for practitioners who work with clients experiencing grief and loss, supporting them to develop psychological depth and flexibility. Combining theory, clinical application, and lived insight, Dr Ute Liersch guides you through the central frameworks of ACT, including theoretical foundations and constructs as well as emotional, behavioural and cognitive processes. Insights into how language creates both meaning and suffering, how inflexibility shows up in clinical practice, and how ACT differs from CBT are explored.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the foundations of ACT and its connection to RFT
• Identify the six key processes of psychological inflexibility and flexibility
• Distinguish between ACT and CBT in relation to cognition and belief
• Apply core ACT principles to case conceptualisation and therapeutic presence