The ACT Experience: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills and Concepts.

Registration is now closed - we hope to see you next time!

In this workshop, learn the basics of acceptance and commitment therapy with Todd Schmenk, an ACT practitioner, as he combines both skills and concepts into an experiential presentation, so you can start applying them right away in your practice.

To make the learning process effective and engaging, you’ll first develop a personal understanding of each new concept through an experiential exercise with ready-to-use interventions.  Then you will explore its theoretical underpinnings that can help you target these processes with clients.

Through this combined approach, you’ll gain a solid footing to start using ACT within your own life and in your work with clients — regardless of what therapy modalities you currently use.

Many clinicians wonder whether they can use ACT with clients without having to completely change their established style of therapy. The good news is that, because ACT is a transdiagnostic, process-based approach to therapy, it can be integrated within the context of CBT, DBT, and many other therapy modalities.

• Objective 1 Describe the six processes that underlie psychological flexibility
• Objective 2 Describe and demonstrate the ACT therapeutic relationship and its core competencies
• Objective 3 Describe how to use the six core processes in both application and in case conceptualization
• Objective 4 Describe and demonstrate how acceptance and diffusion work together in supporting openness to experience
• Objective 5 Describe and demonstrate how present moment and self-as-context assist in establishing awareness
• Objective 6 Describe and demonstrate how values and committed action support meaningful living

About the Speaker

Todd Schmenk is a Licensed mental Health Counselor, writer, and speaker who works out of his private practice, AQAL Therapies, in the Providence area.  He specializes in the treatment of anxiety-related issues, chronic health conditions, and couples counseling.

Since 2015, he has had extensive training with ACT including working with Steven Hayes, Kelly Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl, the originators of the ACT approach.  He is a member of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) and an ACT trainer candidate who regularly runs ACT consultation groups and supervision in the New England area.  He is also a member of the Rhode Island Medical Corp, where he supported first responders during the covid epidemic.

He is the Author of Team Positive: How to Build Support for Someone Coping with Chronic Illness, a self-help book that incorporates ACT concepts and skills for those diagnosed with an illness like cancer or Crohn’s disease and their families.

He lives in Warwick with his wife, cat, and can often be found on the dance floor swing dancing, playing his violin and guitars at a variety of locations, or in his woodshop refining his skills as a woodworker.

• Advanced Registration is REQUIRED - this event will be limited to 75 registrants. $45 for RIMHCA members, $65 for non-members
• RIMHCA Membership must be up-to-date - please contact Ashley@RIMHCA.org with any questions about your membership status!
• 3 CEUs will be offered for LMHCs, 3 CEs are approved for LICSWs. Registrants will need to attend the entire presentation and submit an evaluation in order to receive their CEUs.
• No refunds will be provided after Wednesday, November 23rd. Refunds will incur a $2 processing fee.
• RIMHCA Seminars will follow state guidelines on COVID-19 according to transmission rates. We will send an update if needed if masks become required.
• If you are registering on behalf of someone else, please fill in THEIR name and email address at the top of the form, and then follow up with your payment information below.