Unhelpful perfectionism and unhealthy people-pleasing (often called “fawning”) are extremely common patterns of difficult-to-treat behaviour. Fuelled by harsh self-judgment, high experiential avoidance, and fusion with rigid rules, such behaviours often play a major role in depression, anxiety, “stress”, “burnout”, relationship issues, and trauma. And by itself, ACT is rarely enough for these kinds of problems; for effective outcomes, clients usually need to develop additional skills such as how to say no, make assertive requests, or set boundaries. This advanced level 6-week training shows you how to apply ACT effectively with perfectionism, people-pleasing, or both (they often co-occur), while smoothly incorporating additional skills-training as required.
Russ will guide you through the fluent, flexible use of ACT to effectively target all aspects of perfectionism and people pleasing, including:
harsh self-judgment and deep-seated unworthiness
common fears (e.g. of making mistakes, disapproval, rejection, negative evaluation, hostile reactions)
procrastination
worrying and rumination
excessive risk-aversion;
excessive self-sacrifice to get good results or appease others
rigid rules about always needing to achieve excellence or put others first or look good
difficulty saying no or making requests or setting boundaries
difficulty carving out time for oneself
difficulty setting realistic goals
a fragile sense of self based on achievement and/or positive feedback
fusion with “should”, “must”, and “have to”
and soooo much more.
So if you already know ACT basics and you want to upgrade and streamline your skills to work efficiently, compassionately and creatively with perfectionism and people-pleasing, this is the course for you.
There are twelve-hours of training, delivered over six weeks, with two hours of new material released each week. And you’ll have access to all course materials for 12 months 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, 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 a fully supported 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 trainer).
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, counselors, 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.
There are 12 CE/CME hours available (see Learner Notification here). Prior to registering, please visit the FAQs to review CE/CME details, course objectives, speaker/planner conflict of interest disclosure and more.