Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based behavioral therapy that helps people respond more effectively to difficult thoughts, emotions, and life experiences. Rather than trying to eliminate distress, ACT teaches psychological flexibility, the ability to stay present, open up to emotions, and take actions guided by personal values. 

ACT combines mindfulness, acceptance strategies, and behavior change techniques to support meaningful, lasting change across a wide range of mental health challenges.

Russ Harris explains more in What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

All our ACT courses are designed for mental health professionals, those who are licensed, interning or studying in the field, both undergraduate and postgraduate. This can include but is not limited to counselors, coaches, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, GPs, OTs, social and youth workers.

If you’re somewhat new to ACT, we highly recommend the ACT For Beginners course, to build a strong foundation in basic knowledge and core skills. But it’s not essential - if you work with particular client populations or presentations and want to dive into one of the other ACT courses, you can!

If you ONLY do the core content, and nothing else, expect to spend between 2-3 hours a week on our ACT courses, which are between 4-6 weeks long. But if you want to learn in more depth - taking notes, replaying videos, going through some or all of the bonus modules and optional extra materials - you'll need to allow at least 2 or 3 extra hours for each week of content. 

You will have 12 months access to all content, so there's no need to rush through reviewing and looking at optional extra materials.

The course contains many audio and text materials, from recordings of experiential exercises to eBooks on important topics. You can keep all of these materials – and you can freely share all the handouts, worksheets, and audios with your clients.  For the video materials, you will have one year of unlimited access.

Russ Harris checks the forum regularly throughout the week to reply to questions and discuss ideas. Please allow a few days for him to answer your question, but he’s often in there daily! 

The forum will be open for 3 months after your course commences and after this time, it will be read only access.

Yes, for sure. Let’s face it: most health practitioners are eclectic in their approach. So the ACT courses provide practical, flexible ACT tools and strategies you can easily use in conjunction with other models.

Good question. Here’s Russ in his own words:

“These courses are radically different to my books in the same way that a travel brochure differs from a holiday, or a recipe differs from a meal: reading the words doesn’t even come close to living the experience.

It’s also different to my in-person workshops in two major ways:

a) it’s far more in-depth and immersive – because of the many videos of therapy sessions, the multimedia learning format, and the copious bonus materials,

b) you have my ongoing guidance on a daily basis for twelve weeks. Yes, no virtual assistants or chatbots -  every day, you can ask me questions and get my direct feedback.”

You’ll have access to course content as it is released, including engaging videos, experiential exercises, and a resource-packed library with articles and downloadable PDFs. Just note that lesson content is only accessible during your course access period.

You’ll also have exclusive access to the forum, an incredible opportunity to engage with Russ Harris and connect with fellow students. The forum will be open for 3 months from the course start date and we encourage you to ask questions and share feedback for a richer learning experience.

After 3 months, forum access will be read-only, but you’ll continue to have access to all course lessons and library materials for an additional 9 months (12 months in total).

During this period, you can revisit the content, complete any unfinished work, and explore bonus materials at your own pace.