ACT in Practice: Case Conceptualization in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is more than just a set of techniques for structuring psychotherapeutic treatment; it also offers a new, insightful, transdiagnostic approach to case conceptualization and to mental health in general. Learn to put this popular new psychotherapeutic model to work in your practice with this book, the first guide that explains how to do case conceptualization within an ACT framework.

ACT in Practice offers an introduction to ACT, an overview of its impact, and a brief introduction to the six core processes of ACT treatment--the six points of the hexaflex model and its pathological alter ego, the so-called inflexahex. It describes how to accomplish case conceptualizations in general and offers précis of the literature that establish the importance and value of case conceptualization. This guide also offers possible alternative case conceptualization for cases from different therapeutic traditions, a great help to therapists who come from a more traditional CBT background. Exercises throughout help you to evaluate the information you have just learned so that you may effectively integrate ACT into your practice.

Patricia A. Bach, Ph.D., received her doctorate from the University of Nevada in 2000. She is assistant professor of psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where she does ACT and RFT research and trains students of clinical psychology. She practices ACT at the MidAmerican Psychological Institute and trains ACT therapists.

Daniel J. Moran, Ph.D., BCBA, received his doctorate from Hofstra University in 1998. He began his training in acceptance and commitment therapy in 1994 and founded the MidAmerican Psychological Institute in Joliet, IL in 2003. He is the director of the Family Counseling Center, a division of Trinity Services, where he trains future clinicians and practices clinical behavior analysis.

Foreword writer Steven C. Hayes, Ph.D., is University of Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, and author of numerous books, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Relational Frame Theory, and Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life, as well as hundred of articles and book chapters on related subjects.

Daniel J. Moran, PhD, BCBA, received his doctorate from Hofstra University in 1998. He began his training in acceptance and commitment therapy in 1994 and founded the MidAmerican Psychological Institute in Joliet, IL in 2003. He is the director of the Family Counseling Center, a division of Trinity Services, where he trains future clinicians and practices clinical behavior analysis.

Steven C. Hayes, PhD, is Nevada Foundation Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada. An author of 34 books and more than 470 scientific articles, he has shown in his research how language and thought leads to human suffering, and has developed acceptance and commitment therapy, a powerful therapy method that is useful in a wide variety of areas. Hayes has been president of several scientific societies and has received several national awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy.