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ACT & Ethics: Acceptance-based Approach to Ethics for Mental Health Workers
Oct
1

ACT & Ethics: Acceptance-based Approach to Ethics for Mental Health Workers


Friday, October 1, 2021 at 9 AM - 12:15 PM EDT

This is no ordinary ethics workshop! It doesn’t focus on risk and legalities, and it won't leave you stressed about your capacity to keep up with every detail of your ethics code. This workshop is about using mindfulness and acceptance skills to integrate your personal and professional ethics into your work - every day, moment to moment. It is about approaching ethics in a way that is personally and professionally meaningful. Specifically, this 3-hour training is designed to provide a mindful perspective to the ethical guidelines for mental health professionals. We'll use the basic tenets of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to explore how ethical dilemmas can be considered from a stance of mindful awareness, acceptance, and psychological flexibility. We'll provide examples of challenging situations, including some relevant to the COVID pandemic, and discuss how processes such as experiential avoidance and fusion may contribute to negative outcomes. We'll also consider how approaching these situations from a mindful, accepting stance may increase the likelihood of actions that are consistent with ethical standards. Finally, we'll use experiential exercises to encourage participants to connect with their values surrounding ethical work and their identities as ethical scientists and practitioners. Attendees will participate in large group didactic instruction and will also have the opportunity to discuss ethical dilemmas in small groups.