Frame by Frame: Deepening authentic practice in ACT - A 3 day Intensive
About this Event
Our approach to ACT is grounded not only in behavior analytic principles and RFT, but in a view of our work as promoting wellbeing, resilience, and thriving—a view that places psychological flexibility as the aim of all that we do. We define ACT as just that—the promotion of psychological flexibility within cooperative contexts for change, based on a contextual functional analysis: an analysis that considers influences at every level from the self to the groups, systems and cultures that shape our practice.
In Frame by Frame, you'll learn to apply Contextual Functional Analysis and what it means to practice ACT as a behavior analyst across the populations and contexts relevant to your practice — early intervention, school-aged children, adolescent and adult populations, parent collaboration, staff training, supervision, professional development. We’ll work through cases together over three full days, giving you a depth of practice and connection that is difficult to achieve in an online format.
Over the last decade we have been developing and building on the case conceptualization framework published in our book, Understanding and Applying Relational Frame Theory, creating the tools we wish had been available as we began to integrate ACT and RFT into our practices. And we developed Frame by Frame as the workshop we wish had been available to us then as well.
Perhaps, like us, you’ve run into roadblocks on your ACT journey, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve hit a plateau. Perhaps you have been integrating ACT into your practice for some time but you want to elevate your practice and level of expertise. Or maybe you’ve been reading about ACT, taken a training or two, but you’re stuck in terms of how to connect or apply what you’ve learned to your work with clients, and you don’t know where to start. These are the issues we’ve encountered ourselves—in our clinical practices, in case consultation and coaching others, and in working with organizations to improve clinical systems.
Often the problem isn’t that you don’t “know enough”, but that you need a roadmap for practicing flexibly and fluently—a coherent, conceptually systematic framework for conceptualizing cases and developing contextually senstive, responsive interventions that go beyond hexaflex-based curricula, protocols or exercises.
The framework we will offer during this workshop rests on all three key elements of our definition of ACT: a focus on psychological flexibility, cooperation, and contextual functional analysis. You will consider relevant component repertoires that support psychological flexibility— from early foundations emerging from infancy, through complex language—and the functional relations that influence these repertoires at all levels (self, individual, groups, systems and culture). Finally, you will consider the importance of establishing nurturing environments and relationships that support psychological safety, learning, and healthy development. The “ACT stance” plays a critical role in this process, regardless of role or client population: that is, it supports the creation of cooperative contexts for behavior change.
We’ll be fostering the same kind of context for growth with you in Toronto—a nurturing space to learn together, practice authentically, and collaborate in real time with peers who value a strengths-based, compassionate approach. A space in which "the learning is not separated from the learner, the knowledge from the knower, the practice from the practitioner."
What you'll come away with
A case conceptualization framework that supports the integration of ACT and RFT across populations, contexts, and professional roles — without limiting practitioners to a specific assessment tool or curriculum. You'll explore a new way of approaching cases during the workshop, and you'll leave with a way of thinking about your work that brings together what you already know into a coherent analytical process.
You'll also leave with a concrete plan for what's next: what you'll do in the next days, weeks, and months to continue developing your skills, as well as connections to other practitioners sharing the journey.
Scope of competence & practice
We address scope of competence and practice directly throughout the workshop, as well as during an optional evening session. You will be invited to apply what you are learning during the workshop to your specific role, the kinds of services you provide, and the client populations you serve.
Who this workshop is for
Practitioners: RBAs/BCBAs, mental health providers or other professionals with a behavior analytic background, and some existing familiarity with ACT, that want to deepen their understanding of how ACT, RFT, and behavior analytic practice connect — as a unified approach to promoting psychological flexibility within cooperative contexts for change. Whether you're working in early intervention, school consultation, organizational behavior management, supervision, or clinical practice, the framework applies.
You don't need to leave behind what you've already learned in order to be here. Contextual Functional Analysis builds on what you know. If you've learned ACT through the hexaflex, we'll help you see how that connects to a functional, contextually grounded analysis and case conceptualization. If you already have a strong foundation in RFT, we'll help you put that understanding to work in case reasoning. And if you’re only just beginning in ACT or can barely remember what RFT stands for, we’ll help you get started in a conceptually systematic way! You already understand how functional analysis works in an ABA practice—we’ll help you broaden and extend that logic to capture the full context influencing behavior. There's real consilience across these traditions, and drawing that out is part of what we're here to do.
Continuing education
23 CEUs available—including 4 ethics, 3 supervision.
Free Parking and catered light coffee/ continental breakfast and full lunch provided
This event is hosted by Shining Through Centre and co-sponsored by our partner Applied Behavioural Interventions (ABI)
For group sales contact the centre.
Agenda
Day 1 ACT and RFT Foundations
Info: We begin by setting the foundation for our work together, establishing a common language for discussing ACT as the promotion of psychological flexibility within cooperative contexts for change, grounded in contextual functional analysis. We’ll define terms behaviorally, establish psychological flexibility as the aim of ACT and as central to socially valid practice, and ensure everyone has a grounding in the theoretical foundations of ACT in terms of relating as an operant. And, we’ll help you connect the dots in terms of ACT models like the hexaflex and DNA-V, and how they can be viewed from a fully functional perspective.
We’ll also introduce our Contextual Functional Analysis framework. You’ll start to conceptualize cases from this perspective, determining what psychological flexibility would look like for a client (and/or for yourself) and developing overarching, socially valid goals focusing on measurable behavior change.
Day 2 Repertoires of Psychological Flexibility
Info:
Day two unpacks the many component repertoires that are involved in psychological flexibility, and cooperation with a developmental focus that allows ACT to be applied across the age span, based on meeting every client where they are at in terms of existing skills. We’ll begin with describing foundations for psychological flexibility that are established in early childhood, moving on to foundations for healthy selfing as well as the complex selfing repertoires involved in psychological flexibility as a language repertoire. We’ll be defining and describing how rule-governed behavior is involved in both psychological flexibility and inflexibility, and exploring foundations for valuing as well as valuing as rule-governed behavior. At every point, we’ll be discussing the importance of nurturing environments and prosocial interactions to the development of psychological flexibility.
Day 3 Scaling Up and Zooming Out
Info: Our final day focuses on how interlocking contingencies at all levels support and hinder psychological flexibility and cooperation. We return to more deeply consider the ACT Stance, prosocial principles, and the relevant speaking and listening repertoires that are necessary to establish task agreement and a working alliance with clients and to establish prosocial practices within groups. We’ll also extend the discussion to how systems and cultures exert influence over behavior, supporting or hindering psychological flexibility and cooperation. And, we’ll consider the importance of sustainability in all that we do—supporting sustainable practices for ourselves, as well as for clients, caregivers, and staff.
You’ll complete your case conceptualization through Contextual Functional Analysis with a consideration of these larger levels of influence, including how individuals also influence groups and systems, and how you can plan for prosocial change.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
CAD 600.00 to CAD 750.00
