Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for School-Based Mental Health Professionals

Friday, September 8, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Offered both in-person and virtually. In person at PCOE's Seavey Center (655 Menlo Dr, Rocklin CA). Workshop will be recorded and available for viewing up to 30-days later. 

Summary: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, also known as ACT, has been shown to be a promising intervention to address student mental health needs in schools. Acceptance involves choosing to make contact with difficult experiences, rather than avoiding them, struggling with them, or remaining painfully stuck. Whereas more traditional cognitive-behavioral modalities suggest that change occurs through such techniques as thought replacement or reinterpreting the meaning of a situation, acceptance practices approach situations with an open, flexible, and nonjudgmental posture combined with mindful awareness. Once we accept our current situation or circumstance, we can then take committed action to make change via goals that are in keeping with our values.

The objective of this interactive workshop is to instruct attendees on evidence-based ACT strategies to target student mental health concerns. Specifically, attendees will be:

introduced to the six areas of the ACT theory, including research backing, with focus on cognitive intervention;

provided with live demonstration of ACT techniques, with various developmental and population-specific adaptations in mind;

offered ways to use ACT techniques in their own lives and workplaces to help prevent burnout and compassion fatigue and increase wellness.

Participants will leave with hands-on, practical skills that they can begin to use immediately within the institutions they work.

Presenter: Melissa L. Holland, PhD, is a Professor and Program Coordinator of School Psychology at the California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) and has a private practice specializing in work with children, adolescents, and their families. She is both a licensed clinical psychologist and a certified school psychologist. Her publications and presentations focus on the emotional health of children and burnout and compassion fatigue for providers in the helping professions. She acts as a consultant in schools on the topic of social emotional learning and the use of mindfulness, cognitive, and behavioral strategies with students. A particular focus is the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for practitioners in the schools. She has worked extensively in the area of trauma and mental health in the schools, including clinical work, trainings for school districts, and research-related activities.

ACT Flyer Revised.pdf