About this course

Learning Objectives

• Describe developmental factors important to adapting ACT for children and adolescents
• Explain the ACT model in the conceptualization of mental health concerns in children and adolescents
• Identify differences between the use of ACT with youth and adults
• Role-play metaphors and experiential exercises adapted for children and adolescents for each ACT process
• Apply knowledge from training to target common barriers in working with children and adolescents
• Strategize methods for working with parents and family members using an ACT model

Learning Levels

• Beginner
• Intermediate

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Michael Twohig, PhD

  Professor of Psychology, Utah State University

  Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in the state of Utah and a Professor of Psychology at Utah State University, where he co-runs the ACT Research Group (with Dr. Levin). He received his B.A. and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno, and completed his clinical internship at the University of British Columbia Hospital. He is past-President of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science, the organization most associated with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). His research focuses on the use of ACT across a variety of clinical presentations with an emphasis on obsessive compulsive and related disorders. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, many book chapters, and 9 books, with the most recent being ACT in Steps (with Levin and Ong) and the Anxious Perfectionist (with Ong). His research has been funded through multiple sources including the National Institute of Mental Health and the IOCDF. In 2022, he was rated as currently the most productive author on ACT and USU was the most productive institution in the world.

• 

  Julie Petersen, MS

  Doctoral Student, Department of Psychology, Utah State University

  Julie Petersen is a doctoral student in the combined clinical/counseling psychology program at Utah State University. She received her B.S. in psychology from Haverford College in 2016 and her M.S. from Utah State University in 2021. Her research is centralized around the treatment of obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders, particularly for children and adolescents, using acceptance and commitment therapy. She has published 30 book chapters and peer-reviewed papers and is a co-editor for the Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (in press). Her work has been recognized by the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS).

References

• Petersen, J.M., Barney, J.L., Fruge, J.E., Lee, E.B., Levin, M.E., & Twohig, M. P. (in press). Longitudinal outcomes from a pilot randomized controlled trial of telehealth acceptance-enhanced behavior therapy for adolescents with trichotillomania. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders.
• Petersen, J.M., Davis, C.H., Renshaw, T.L., Levin, M.E., & Twohig, M. P. (in press). School-based acceptance and commitment therapy for adolescents with anxiety: A pilot trial. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.
• Petersen, J.M., Zurita Ona, P., Blythe, M., Möller, C.M., Twohig, M.P. (2022). Intensive outpatient acceptance and commitment therapy with exposure and response prevention for adolescents. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 23, 75-84.
• Petersen, J.M., Barney, J. L., Barrett, T.S., Lensegrav-Benson, T., Quakenbush-Roberts, B., & Twohig, M.P. (in press). Values engagement as a predictor of eating disorder severity in female adolescents with eating disorders. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention.