Treating Trauma: The ACT Matrix

ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 1.08 hours 

CE CREDITS: 1.00 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health Practitioners

LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION: Intermediate

PREREQUISITE(S): None

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of audio components. In order to request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, learners must complete a pre-test (not scored), progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post-test. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.

FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:  This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.

GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.

PARTICIPATION COSTS:  The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.

COURSE CREATION DATE: 7/28/2020

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain at least two functions of trauma responses using nonjudgmental language
• Apply the ACT Matrix to build a collaborative treatment plan with clients
• Describe at least three core yearnings and how trauma affects them

1. Introduction
2. What is trauma?
   1. Six core human yearnings
   2. Coherence & how trauma affects it
3. Function vs. Reason
   1. ABCs of human behavior
   2. A functional contextual approach to behavior 
   3. Looking for function
4. Setting up the collaborative framework: The ACT Matrix
   1. Introducing the ACT Matrix
   2. Establishing the basic metaphor
   3. Sorting out life experience
   4. Identifying stuck loops
5. Analyzing the function of behavior
   1. Using the ACT Matrix as a lens to help understand behavior
   2. Assessing function across three domains
6. Addressing Core Yearnings
   1. How the ACT Matrix provides a sense of coherence
   2. How the ACT Matrix establishes clear orientation
7. Practicing awareness of thoughts, feelings, and memories
   1. Sorting inner experience into the matrix
   2. Working along the vertical line
   3. Applying experiential acceptance and cognitive defusion skills
8. Long term change
1. Integrating the ACT Matrix into daily life