Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) – Apply Today
Tuesday, September 8 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
The application window for the next Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) Skills Group opens on Tuesday, September 8.
The group will run for 8 weeks, starting Monday, October 19 through Monday, December 7.
Skills Groups are workshops that focus on teaching strategies for success in various aspects of daily life. Participants have the opportunity to practice these strategies with the support of facilitators and fellow group members. These groups are designed for Autistic youth and adults who are able to attend sessions without needing a support person or aide present.
To learn more about Skills Groups and ACT, in particular, please read the description that follows or visit the Skills Group page on our website.
Look for the Expression of Interest link on this page on September 8.
What is Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT)?
Have you ever felt like you were acting on “autopilot,” lost in your thoughts and not noticing the world around you?
Have you ever felt like your difficult thoughts and feelings (such as sadness and anxiety) were in control of you, and getting in your way?
Have you found that the things that matter to you in your life don’t get done as much as you’d like?
Do you struggle with motivation?
The skills we teach in Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) can help.
ACT is an evidence-based approach that increases your capacity to be in the present moment, your ability to be able to accept and work with difficult thoughts and feelings, and helps you get in touch with what matters to you. ACT teaches you to reduce the struggle with unwanted experiences. When our thoughts and emotions are all over the place, ACT teaches us to anchor so that we can weather the storm.
This all comes together to help you lead a more rich and fulfilling life, where you are in touch with the present, and work on the things that matter to you.
This is accomplished through six core skills:
- Contact With the Present Moment: being present, and aware of your current internal and external world; flexible attention
- Acceptance/Willingness: making room for unwanted/unpleasant feelings, thoughts etc., without trying to change them
- Unhooking (defusion): stepping back from and observing thoughts and feelings, without being caught up in them; noticing thoughts and feelings and deciding if you should pay attention to them, or just let them be
- The Observing Self: contact with part of you that is always there; is an observer of thoughts, feelings, memories
- Values: clarifying what matters to you, the person you want to be, the things you want to do
- Committed Action: Life is in the doing; committing to yourself to ACT in the direction of value-driven goals
ACT is an attention-training program where you will learn to strength your attention ‘muscles’ and how to flexibly direct your attention where you want it to go.
Research has proven ACT can be effective with a diverse range of people (including autistic people, teachers, caregivers and support workers) and conditions (including ADHD, trauma, substance abuse and psychosis).
Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is eight sessions, once per week on the same day and time. Each session is approximately 90 minutes long.
You will have the opportunity to learn and share in a safe and supportive environment.
