Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a powerful, evidence-based approach shown to be effective in treating substance use disorders, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and other transdiagnostic conditions. Rather than fighting urges or labeling substance use as moral failure, ACT helps clients shift their relationship with difficult thoughts, emotions, and memories: reducing experiential avoidance and promoting meaningful change.

This engaging, hands-on workshop introduces clinicians to the core principles and processes of ACT through the lens of substance use treatment. Grounded in over 1,000 randomized controlled trials, ACT empowers clients to build psychological flexibility and take values-based action, even in the face of internal distress.

Participants will learn how to:

• Disrupt rigid, compulsive behavioral patterns

• Support willingness and mindful awareness in the moment

• Apply the six ACT processes to reduce harm and foster recovery

• Use experiential exercises and metaphors to deepen client insight

With live demos, clinical exercises, and practical strategies, this training will equip you to integrate ACT effectively into your work with clients navigating substance use challenges, helping them move from avoidance to intention, and from suffering to purpose!

Attendance and Location Details

Date and Time

**This is a 6-CE online seminar delivered virtually in real-time via an industry-standard webinar platform**

Friday, March 27, 2026 10:00am to 5:30pm CST / 11:00am to 6:30pm EST / 8:00am to 3:30pm PST

*Live Webinar Attendees: Zoom link and course materials will be made available to you 24-48 hours prior to event date

Agenda:

10:00am – 11:30am CST – Lecture: The Theoretical Basis for ACT in Substance Use Disorders

• Review of empirical evidence for ACT in SUD treatment
• Functional Contextualism and its application to substance use behaviors
• Psychological Flexibility as the core goal of ACT for SUD
• Control as the problem in SUD: The paradox of craving and avoidance
• The Hexaflex applied to core addictive processes

11:30am–11:45am CST – Break

11:45am–1:15pm CST – Lecture and Clinical Case Study: Acceptance and Values for SUD

• Moving from control and resistance to willingness to experience difficult emotions
• Shifting from a goal of urge/symptom elimination to values-based living
• Willingness experiential practice: Making space for cravings in service of recovery

1:15pm–2:15pm CST – Lunch Break

2:15pm–3:45pm CST – Lecture and Skills Practice: Committed Action and Defusion for SUD

• Values-based behavior change and relapse prevention
• Designing committed action plans for high-risk situations
• Defusion practices to distance from substance-related thoughts and cravings
• Experiential: Creating your own defusion strategy for addictive thoughts

3:45pm–4:00pm CST – Break

4:00pm–5:30pm CST – Live Therapy Demonstration and Experiential Exercises: Self-As-Context and Mindfulness for SUD

• Moving from fused, “addict” self-concept to self-as-context
• From rumination and shame to present moment awareness
• Mindfulness exercises for tolerating urges and difficult emotions
• Demonstrating each core ACT process through SUD role-play
• Demo Debrief and Final Review

Objectives:

This training will provide participants clinical knowledge and tools to:

a). After completing this training, participants will be able to describe the core tenets, principles, and underlying theory of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as applied to substance use disorders.

b). After completing this training, participants will be able to list and define each of the six core processes of psychological flexibility in ACT.

c). After completing this training, participants will be able to illustrate how ACT interventions support individuals with substance use disorders in reducing experiential avoidance and engaging in values-based behavior.

d). After completing this training, participants will be able to identify how to move fluidly between ACT core processes during clinical interactions.

e). After completing this training, participants will be able to explain how each ACT core process addresses common mechanisms underlying substance use and relapse.

f). After completing this training, participants will be able to describe how to incorporate experiential exercises into treatment for substance use to increase willingness, reduce reactivity, and support sustained recovery.

Target Audience:

The target audience for this event includes psychologists, social workers, counselors, MFT’s, psychiatrists and other clinical mental health professionals.

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Instructor(s): Emily Wharton, PsyD

Material Author(s): Emily Wharton, PsyD

Dr. Emily Wharton is a Clinical Psychologist providing psychotherapy to individuals and couples in her private practice, and a Clinical Instructor at the Cognitive Behavior Institute, where she teaches courses in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Dr. Wharton has also served in roles of Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, and licensed clinical psychologist in the Palo Alto VA. She has provided supervision and training for VA and Stanford psychiatry residents, medical students, and psychology trainees in ACT, DBT, and MI. Dr. Wharton trained at the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, San Francisco VA, UCSF, and Palo Alto VA. Dr. Wharton has also served as the Member-At-Large Director for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Wharton has given lectures and trainings for the Palo Alto VA, Stanford University, and the Association for Contextual and Behavioral Science. Dr. Wharton has published papers and book chapters on ACT for PTSD, ACT for moral injury, mindfulness practices for anxiety disorders, and group trauma-focused CBT for parents of preterm infants. Learn more about Dr. Wharton at www.DrEmilyWharton.com/about-me.

For additional information about this course, the instructors, or the material authors, please contact Content Assistance at content@onlinececredits.com.

Course Materials & Delivery Method:

• Course Materials (including the link to view the scheduled live webinar) are made available to all registered attendees 24-48 hours before the event start time. 
• This training is interactive and provides opportunities to ask direct questions to the trainer as well as request immediate help from staff if needed. The attendee will view the presentation in real-time from their connected device via an industry-standard internet webinar platform.

CE Approvals:

Online CE Credits has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6795. Programs that do not quality for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Online CE Credits is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Mind Works Professional Education, Inc. DBA Online CE Credits, #1974, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: July 23, 2024 – July 23, 2025. Social workers completing this course receive 6 clinical continuing education credits.

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