Utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in the Treatment of Addictions

Event Description: 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has grown in popularity in the recent decade. Research has documented its efficacy in treating a variety of mental health and addiction-related concerns. ACT belongs within the third wave of behavioral therapies. Third wave therapies emphasize mindfulness, emotions, acceptance, the relationship, values, goals, and meta‐cognition. ACT aims to help clients behave, or act in ways, that are flexible to their environment, their inner emotional states, with current thoughts, and to help them clarify and live within the value systems they hold. 

ACT views addiction as a learned behavior that overtakes the healthy functioning of individuals. Using ACT with clients with substance use disorders can help clients explore how they behave to avoid pain and suffering associated with thoughts and emotions. Helping clients understand the connections between how they feel, think, and behave can help them change their relationship to previous behaviors likes drinking and drug use. 

This presentation will explore briefly the theoretical underpinnings of ACT, explore how ACT conceptualizes substance and process-related addictions, and include interventions that clinicians can use to introduce ACT practices within treatment.


Course Objectives:

  • Understand the theoretical underpinnings of ACT
  • Analyze how ACT conceptualizes substance and process related addictions
  • Identify interventions to use within the treatment of substance use disorders

 

CEU Hours: 1.0 CEU hours approved by IBADCC

Registration Fee: $10 for members/$20 for non-members

Instructor(s)

Chad M. Yates, Ph.D., LPC

Dr. Chad Yates joined the ISU Department of Counseling in the Fall of 2013. He received his Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from Kent State University and his M.A. in Community Counseling from the University of Toledo. Before coming to ISU Chad worked as a mental health and substance abuse counselor in Kent, Ohio. Chad’s counseling experience includes working with individuals with substance use disorders, intimate partner violence, families, and as a generalist treating many diverse client concerns.