ACT for Trauma: PTSD and Beyond

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Last Updated Dec 8, 2022|

ACT for PTSD: Acquiring Treatment Skills

By Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D.

This presentation is an excerpt from the online course “ACT for Trauma: PTSD and Beyond”.

Highlights

  • Be proficient in other evidence-based treatments for PTSD and related problems.
  • The trauma therapist needs to have a variety of tools.
  • Reading books and attending training isn’t enough.
  • Peer consultation or ongoing professional consultation with peer-reviewed ACT trainers will help ensure that implementation is effective.

 

Transcript

I want to be clear that although we’ve now worked through a whole course on how to apply ACT to posttraumatic problems like PTSD, there are several other effective psychological treatments for these issues. And I’m a big fan of evidence-based treatments, like prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and seeking safety.

References

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

The well-rounded trauma therapist will make sure to have broad skills across these approaches, even if she plans to specialize in ACT. You’ll want to have multiple arrows in your quiver of powerful treatment approaches. And you don’t want to neglect the existing treatments just because ACT may resonate strongly with you.

References

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

So, for example, I have frequently done cognitive processing therapy and simply adapted it so that during the parts around disputing dysfunctional thoughts, instead, we approach that with a defusion perspective.

References

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Or similarly, when doing repeated exposures in an exposure-based treatment, again, we work on that through an acceptance and defusion lens as opposed to one that is working on reducing symptomatology or helping anxiety go away.

It’s important to have those skills.

References

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

It’s important to have the skills around crisis survival and even some basic emotion regulation skills and emotion labeling skills from DBT. You want to make sure that you also are able to use those treatments and take what’s useful for them as you apply ACT to the same problems.

References

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Another area for consideration involves taking the opportunity to become part of the broader ACT community. With the current state of technology, even the most remotely stationed clinician can become part of an online community of professionals who share an interest in the application of ACT around the globe.

You can use these groups like a book club, or reading articles, or it can serve a case consultation function, or it can simply provide a venue within which you can problem solve systemic implementation issues related to ACT. And truly, these days, even locality isn’t a limiting factor anymore given that everyone is so comfortable now with video conferencing technology that these kinds of consultation groups can be created virtually, even internationally, using free video teleconferencing programs.

References

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Information about online resources, including Listservs and special interest groups, can be found at contextualscience.org. Many local chapters and special interest groups have been developed around the world and are associated with established professional organizations. In addition, wherever there are 2 interested ACT therapists who are within driving distance of one another, a local ACT peer consultation group can be formed.
 
References

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

Therapists who want to learn ACT, but without access to ongoing supervision and training resources, can take heart. There’s empirical evidence to support the idea that just being trained in ACT may be enough to make a clinical difference—even when the ACT therapist is not an expert and adherence and competence may not yet be fully present. There are data to show that even therapists who are only able to receive a limited amount of training or supervision in ACT may be able to positively impact the functioning of their clients.

References

Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.

So, some key points. Even if you’re entirely taken by the ACT approach and can easily see how it can be applied to trauma treatment, I strongly encourage you to also be proficient in other evidence-based treatments for PTSD and related problems. The well-rounded trauma therapist needs to have a variety of tools that can be used with the complex presentations that trauma survivors often demonstrate.

But just reading books and attending trainings is likely not enough. What reads well on the page will likely take a different form in person in treatment. Finding opportunities for peer consultation or ongoing professional consultation with peer-reviewed ACT trainers will help ensure that implementation is effective, even when the client’s presentation is complex and session developments are unexpected.

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