Trauma-Focused ACT
Somatic-focused, exposure-based, and incredibly practical course with learning support from Dr Russ Harris.
About the course
Start date
Starts 10 March 2026Time
16hrs | 6 weeksWho this course is for
For Mental Health Professionals, Health ProfessionalsAccreditation
16 CE | CMETrauma-Focused ACT: Working With Mind, Body and Emotion
Trauma-Focused ACT (TFACT) is a flexible, comprehensive approach, useful for the entire spectrum of trauma-related issues, including PTSD, moral injury, addiction, ‘resistant depression’, chronic pain, shame, suicidality, insomnia, attachment disorders, and more. It’s both a bottom-up and top-down and approach: at times, focused on the body (somatic awareness, interoceptive exposure, posture, movement, etc.), and at other times, working with cognition and emotion (values, defusion, acceptance, self-compassion, etc.).
In this online course, Dr Russ Harris shows you how to apply TFACT quickly and effectively, to help your clients find safety and security in their bodies, unlearn old physical responses to trauma, overcome abnormalities of arousal, shift from self-hatred to self-compassion, break free from dissociation, recover from numbness and emptiness, and steadily build richer, fuller lives.
$690
Starts 10 March
Trauma-Focused ACT
Learn TFACT with World-Renowned Trainer & Author, Dr Russ Harris
In 2015, Dr Russ Harris, author of the best-selling textbook Trauma-Focused ACT, created a 10-hour ACT protocol for the World Health Organization, for use in refugee camps. The WHO have published three RCTs on this protocol, showing it not only reduces PTSD and depression (for refugees with multiple traumas, still living inside the camp) but also prevents the onset of mental illness in those at risk. As Kirk Strosahl, PhD, cofounder of ACT said, “Trauma-Focused ACT is going to go down as one of the great contributions to the field of trauma-informed care.”
A world-leading trainer, Russ is famous for making ACT accessible and practical. He has written ten books on ACT, of which his best known is the million-copy best-seller, The Happiness Trap. Through fun and engaging video lessons (if you know, you know!), powerful therapy demonstrations, and ongoing interactive discussions in the forum, Russ will guide you, step-by-step, through every aspect of TFACT, across a broad range of issues. (And you’ll also learn how to integrate it with other trauma therapies, such as EMDR, IFS, CPT, and PE.)
Why Is TFACT So Flexible For Working With Trauma?
In everyday clinical practice, it’s quite uncommon for clients to present with a clear-cut diagnosis of PTSD. Far more commonly they present with relationship issues, social withdrawal, addictions, chronic pain, insomnia, shame and self-loathing, ‘resistant depression’, anxiety, and so on. TFACT can be flexibly applied with all these issues and more, because it’s not a protocol or a treatment specific to PTSD. It is a compassion-based, exposure-focused approach which is:
trauma-informed: drawing upon relevant fields, such as evolutionary science, Polyvagal theory, attachment theory, and inhibitory learning theory
trauma-aware: attuned to the possible role of trauma in a wide range of clinical issues
trauma-sensitive: alert to the risks of experiential work, especially mindfulness meditation
bottom-up or top-down as required
easily modified and adapted to suit each unique client and their own unique problems
easily integrated with other trauma therapies
What You’ll Learn in Trauma Focused ACT
With this compassion-based, somatic-oriented approach, you’ll learn how to help your clients:
Find safety and security in their bodies
Overcome hyperarousal and hypoarousal
Break free from dissociation
Shift from self-hatred to self-compassion
Rapidly ground themselves and reengage in life
Unhook from difficult cognitions and emotions
Develop an integrated sense of self
Resolve traumatic memories through “inner child” work and flexible exposure
Connect with and live by their values, and engage fully in life here and now
Experience post-traumatic growth
And so much more!
A Practical Learning Experience Designed for Clinician Flexibility
Trauma-Focused ACT is intensely practical, with a strong emphasis on skills-development. It will help you become more flexible, fluent and creative in ACT, so you can work effectively with the entire spectrum of trauma: simple, complex, acute or chronic.
You’ll learn how to use TFACT to effectively address: hyperarousal, hypoarousal, fractured sense of self, shame, guilt, self-judgment, self-loathing, aggression, withdrawal, dissociation, flashbacks, nightmares, helplessness, hopelessness, self-defeating narratives & schemas, social disengagement, relationship issues, self-harming, and more.
Prerequisites
This course assumes at least a beginners-level knowledge in ACT. Before enrolling, we recommend you do at least one of the following:
Attend an introductory level 2-day ACT workshop (with any ACT trainer).
Complete Russ's online ACT for Beginners course
Work through a beginners-level textbook, such as ACT Made Simple.
There are 16 CE/CME credits available for Trauma-Focused ACT (see Learner Notification). If you would like to request an invoice, please fill out a form here.
What You'll Learn
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