Acceptance and Commitment Therapy training for clinicians: an evaluation
Abstract
The third wave of cognitive behavioural therapies has a developing evidence base and there is an increasing demand for specialist training. However, methods for training clinicians have not yet been evaluated in terms of effectiveness and usefulness. This evaluation seeks to assess: (1) the effectiveness of one-day introductory Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) workshops for clinicians in a NHS setting in terms of increasing knowledge of ACT; (2) the impact of experiential techniques as a method for delivering ACT training. A total of 73 participants took part in the workshops and completed questionnaires were administered pre-workshop and post-workshop; a further 29 participants completed follow-up questionnaire after 12 months. Participants demonstrated an increase in ACT knowledge, indicated that their interest had been stimulated, viewed the workshop positively and reported that their clinical work had been influenced by the workshop. In terms of the training process, experiential techniques are integral to ACT practice and training. Participants reported that their training experiences and engagement with the training group had not been aversive. Moreover, there was no evidence that participants’ own levels of experiential avoidance had affected training outcomes.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
To assess whether therapists achieve sufficient knowledge of ACT principles, knowledge of ACT processes will be assessed after training.
“To assess whether therapists achieve sufficient knowledge of ACT principles, we will assess knowledge of ACT processes after training [43].”
Cites
Acceptance and commitment therapy: model, processes and outcomes
Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2005.06.006 · Cited by 6,587 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Whether or not ACT is viewed as an extension of CBT approaches (Hofmann & Asmundson, 2008) or an entirely new third-wave treatment (Hayes et al. 2006) it stimulated interest in clinicians from a predominantly CBT background.”
BackgroundInfluential(1999) · Cited by 5,934 · see citing works
Acceptance and mindfulness-based therapy: New wave or old hat?
Hofmann, S. G., & Asmundson, G. J. G. (2008) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2007.09.003 · Cited by 665 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Whether or not ACT is viewed as an extension of CBT approaches (Hofmann & Asmundson, 2008) or an entirely new third-wave treatment (Hayes et al. 2006) it stimulated interest in clinicians from a predominantly CBT background.”
BackgroundRakovshik, S. G., & McManus, F. (2010) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.004 · Cited by 281 · cited 1× · see citing works
“As suggested by Rakovshik & McManus (2010), this evaluation would be best conducted using randomization, blind assessment and measures of known reliability and validity.”
MethodBennett–Levy, J., Turner, F., Beaty, T., Smith, M. B., Paterson, B., & Farmer, S. (2001) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465801002077 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Varra, A. A., Hayes, S. C., Roget, N., & Fisher, G. (2008) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.76.3.449 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 7 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Frank, H. E., Becker‐Haimes, E. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2020) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/cpsp.12330 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
Zhang, Z., Leong Bin Abdullah, M. F. I., Shari, N. I., & Lu, P. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0267887 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“Participants in ACT workshop exhibited not only increase in knowledge regarding ACT, but also develop interest for further learning and utilize ACT concepts and utilize ACT practices in their clinical work [70].”
MethodA preliminary evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) training in Sierra Leone
Stewart, C., G. White, R., Ebert, B., Mays, I., Nardozzi, J., & Bockarie, H. (2016) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2016.01.001 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Jolley, S., Johns, L. C., O’Donoghue, E., Oliver, J., Khondoker, M., Byrne, M., Butler, L., De Rosa, C., Leal, D., McGovern, J., et al. (2020) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjc.12265 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Self-citationSmith, S. G., Ellison, R., Hall, L., Clark, J., Hartley, S., Mason, E., Metherell, J., Olivier, C., Napp, V., Naik, J., et al. (2022) · Pilot and Feasibility Studies · doi:10.1186/s40814-022-00985-6 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
“ACTKQ is an assessment of therapist knowledge of the principles of ACT.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialGiovannetti, A. M., Messmer Uccelli, M., Solari, A., & Pakenham, K. I. (2022) · Disability and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/09638288.2022.2025926 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Enhancing supervisory relationships with values and committed action training
Hess, A., García, Y., Gould, E. R., & Catagnus, R. M. (2022) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2022.10.009 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Pakenham, K. I., Scott, T., & Uccelli, M. M. (2017) · International Journal of MS Care · doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2016-080 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Graham, C. D., Ellison, R., Hall, L. H., Clark, J., McNaught, E., Green, S. M. C., Wilkes, H., Robson, G., Lorentz, I., Holmes, L., et al. (2024) · Psycho-Oncology · doi:10.1002/pon.6349 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Montesinos, F., Páez, M. B., McCracken, L. M., Rodríguez‐Rey, R., Núñez-Nagy, S., González, C., Díaz-Meco, R., & Hernando, A. (2019) · British Journal of Pain · doi:10.1177/2049463719884589 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Showing up for class: Training graduate students in acceptance and commitment therapy
Moyer, D. N., Murrell, A. R., Connally, M. L., & Steinberg, D. S. (2016) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2016.12.001 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Development of an ACT prototype for therapeutic skill assessment
Long, D. M., & Hayes, S. C. (2018) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.06.008 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Evaluating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Baik, K. D. (2015) · ScholarWorks@BGSU (Bowling Green State University) · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Samstag, L. W., & Norlander, K. (2019) · Psychoanalytic Psychology · doi:10.1037/pap0000239 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Huish, E., Donnelly, O., & Marks, E. M. (2024) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/jcp-2022-0030 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Learning gains from a one-day training in acceptance-based behavior therapy
Gu, G., Roemer, L., Suvak, M., Liverant, G., & Orsillo, S. M. (2021) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506073.2020.1829026
Effective Training and Delivery of ACT
Walser, R. D., & Wharton, E. (2022) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197550076.013.25
Ragnarsson, E. H., Lindgren, A., Johansson, M., Hellner, C., Nordgren, L. B., Forster, M., & Lundgren, T. (2026) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2026.100982
- Authors
- Richards, R., Oliver, J. E., Morris, E., Aherne, K., Iervolino, A. C., & Wingrove, J.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Oliver, Joseph E.
- ORCID
- Morris, Eric
- Venue
- The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2011-07-27
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 114-121
- ISSN
- 1754-470X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1966906568
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Counseling Practices and Supervision
- Keywords
- acceptance and commitment therapy, clinician training, experiential techniques, training effectiveness, experiential avoidance, workshop evaluation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
