ACT for ADHD

The diagnosis of ADHD keeps rapidly rising, and while ADHD comes with many strengths - such as courage, creativity, spontaneity, energy, sociability, originality – it also comes with many problems. The good news is, with its flexible format, and easy-to-adapt core processes, ACT is ideally suited for making a difference – especially when delivered from a neuro-affirming stance.

For example, we can use ACT to scaffold executive functioning, break through task inertia, and create all sorts of quick’n’easy mindfulness practices ideal for clients who can’t sit still, can't focus, or find it almost impossible to meditate.

This advanced level four-week training shows you how to apply ACT effectively with every common aspect of ADHD, and how to work with clients who have dual or triple diagnoses (e.g. ASD and ADHD). Although the course focuses on adults, everything covered is relevant and easily adaptable to adolescents and youth.

The course will begin with an overview of the principles of neurodiversity-affirming therapy (including minority stress theory and medical vs. social models of disability), explain why ACT is so well suited to this approach, and explore how to adapt your way of working to meet the diverse needs of neurodivergent clients. Russ will then guide you, step-by-step through the fluent, flexible use of neuro-affirming ACT with:

• inattention & distractibility

• problematic hyperfocus

• disorganisation

• task inertia

• fatigue & burnout

• forgetfulness

• impulsivity

• emotion dysregulation

• rejection sensitive dysphoria

• self-judgment and shame

• rumination & worrying

You’ll learn how to:

• introduce simple attention-training and refocusing exercises, that can easily be done, any time, any place

• avoid the problems and pitfalls of ‘traditional’ mindfulness meditation

• create simple, easy-to-do mindfulness exercises, ideal for clients who find it hard to sit still and be silent

• implement simple but effective strategies to overcome inertia and break through procrastination

• introduce powerful motivational strategies to help clients initiate and complete tasks and progress towards important goals

• work ‘bottom up’: interoception, body awareness, somatic mindfulness

• scaffold executive functioning skills

• interrupt impulsivity and compulsivity

• help clients to interrupt hyperfocus in contexts where it’s problematic, and refocus attention on what’s most important, in terms of the client’s values

• practice effective, ACT-congruent emotion regulation

• defuse from self-judgment and shame, and develop self-acceptance and self-compassion

• effectively interrupt rumination & worrying

• use ‘pacing and resting strategies’ (including ‘spoon theory’) to address chronic fatigue and burnout

• use simple defusion strategies to rapidly undermine self-defeating belief systems

• use sensory self-soothing strategies

• work with dual or triple diagnoses

We will also cover issues that commonly co-occur in neurodivergent clients, such as:

• sensory overload

• stimming

• masking & unmasking

• the ‘double empathy’ problem

• and soooo much more!

Please note: we will not cover diagnosis and assessment. Instead, the course focuses on practical intervention: tools, techniques, principles and strategies that you can use effectively with any client, whether they have a formal diagnosis or not. So if you already know ACT basics and you want to upgrade your skills to work efficiently, compassionately and creatively with ADHDers, this course is for you. 

This is a twelve-hour training, delivered over four weeks, with 3 hours of new material released each week. You’ll have access to all course materials for 22 weeks in total, so it’s no problem if you fall behind.

Each week, Russ will take you step-by-step through the core principles of ACT for ADHD, supported by instructional videos, engaging animations, videos of therapy sessions, written materials, audio recordings, client handouts and worksheets, and interactive quizzes to test your learnings as you go.

To complete your interactive experience, the course also includes an interactive forum where you can ask questions daily, and share your experiences with Russ and your peers from around the world.

Before Taking This Course

This is an advanced level course, which assumes at least a beginners-level knowledge of ACT. Before enrolling, you must do at least one of the following:

• Attend an introductory level 2-day ACT workshop (with any ACT trainer;  it doesn’t have to be with Russ).

• Complete the online ACT for Beginners course.

• Thoroughly work through a beginners-level ACT textbook from start to end, such as ACT Made Simple, 2nd edition or Learning ACT. (This means not just reading it, but actively doing the experiential exercises. An ACT self-help book such as The Happiness Trap or The Reality Slap will not suffice; it must be a textbook).

This course is open to any professional who works with physical or psychological health. This includes therapists, coaches, counsellors, physicians, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, physios, dietitians, occupational therapists, youth workers, BCBAs, speech therapists, and any other type of health professional - as well as students and researchers in these fields.