Acceptance Training

Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is an acceptance-based stress management training course designed for groups of individuals.  ACT has been thoroughly researched and found to be effective in improving individual well-being, reducing stress and enhancing performance. The main purpose of the training is to improve participants' well-being by developing skills for accepting things that cannot be changed and changing things that can.

Course objectives:

• Discriminate between things that can be changed and those that cannot be changed, which must be accepted
  
• Accept: Develop psychological acceptance, the ability to observe internal events (thoughts and feelings) without engaging with them, in order to accept things that cannot be changed
  
• Change: Clarify values and goals and commit to making changes in order to achieve goals in the face of any uncomfortable thoughts and feelings that may occur
  
• Understand responses to pressures, what triggers the stress response and how you currently deal with stress
  
• Recognise that a common reaction to stressful situations is to take the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings evoked literally and to attempt to avoid, change or combat them (which tends to entangle us in our internal world, leading to greater distress and deflecting energy away from pursuing valued goals)
  
• Find new, more helpful strategies for dealing with stress and stressful situations
  
• Understand a range of techniques, including metaphors and stories, individual reflection, relaxation and mindfulness meditation
  Establish new patterns of acceptance and change behaviours in order to deal more effectively with life

There is a high level of interaction and the format of the course (three separate sessions) allows delegates to practice what they have learnt between sessions.  This approach provides enhanced learning and ensures the skills learnt become a habitual part of participants' lives.

Duration: 3 half days (generally offered in a 2 + 1 format: two half-day sessions on consecutive weeks followed by a follow-up half-day session 3 months later)

Max no of delegates: 15

Content:

Module 1

• What is stress and what causes it
• How we usually deal with stress
• Identifying what causes us stress
• Acceptance as a stress management strategy
• Distinction between what can be changed and what cannot be changed, but must be accepted

Module 2

• Discussion/development of exercises carried out since module 1
• Identify values and goals
• Commitment to achieving goals
• Exercises to build acceptance
• Ways of using acceptance to achieve goals

Module 3

• Discussion/development of exercises carried out since module 2
• Practising acceptance techniques
• Building acceptance as an ongoing process

Exercises will be provided for participants to carry out between sessions - paper-based and audiotape exercises

Costs:

• £2,100 plus VAT and travel expenses for the three-module course for one group (£140 per person for the full course, £700 per half day).
  
• £3,300 plus VAT and travel expenses for two groups if we run the training modules for the groups on the same days (£110 per person, £1,100 per day).