Chat with Paul Flaxman about the ACBS World Conference

Another guest - I'm on a roll. This time I welcome Dr Paul Flaxman to People Soup. We talk about the upcoming ACBS Conference in Montreal and give a glimpse of the research we'll be presenting about ACT Training in the Workplace. At the conference we're also planning to share the development of our ACT in the Workplace protocol.

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Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket

ACBS Conference

Blurb about our Symposium

115. ACT in the workplace: Understanding how ACT interventions improve employees' mental health Symposium (1:20-2:50pm) 
Location: Rue Sainte-Catherine 

Chair: Paul Flaxman, Ph.D., City, University of London 
Discussant: Frank Bond, Goldsmiths, University of London 
Presenter: Ross McIntosh, City, University of London

There is growing interest in the use of ACT to help improve mental health in workplace settings. Previous studies have shown that ACT is effective in improving workplace well-being, and the beneficial effects are often mediated via increases on general measures of psychological flexibility. However few studies have offered more in depth explorations of how ACT improves employees’ functioning. This symposium reports three intervention studies seeking to address this issue. 

The first paper is a mixed methods study, evaluating the effects of a 4-session ACT training programme on teachers’ mental health; 34 of these participants were interviewed to understand how ACT-based processes are manifesting in employees’ daily life. 

School teachers’ experiences of a workplace ACT intervention - mixed methods study.

Dr. Paul Flaxman, City, University of London; Ross McIntosh, City, University of London; Shannon Horan, City, University of London; Jeff Salter, Mind the Gap Transformations; Dr. Julia Yates, City, University of London.

The second study explored various potential processes of change, including increases in positive affect, behavioural activation and cognitive defusion. The findings indicate the defusion is an influential process of change in these brief interventions. 

ACT in the workplace: Exploration of multiple processes of change. Dr. Paul Flaxman, City, University of London Dr. Nigel Guenole, Goldsmiths, University of London; Dr. Joda Llloyd, Goldsmiths, University of London; Professor Frank Bond, Goldsmiths, University of London.

Finally, study 3 directly compares ACT and mindfulness training in a workplace setting. The results suggest that ACT and mindfulness training improve employees’ mental health via similar processes of change. 

A randomized controlled comparison of worksite applications of ACT and mindfulness training: Investigating attentional and attitudinal mediators of change. Paul Flaxman, City, University of London; Dr. Vasiliki Christodoulou, Cyprus Mental Health Services; Dr. Joe Oliver, Contextual Consulting, UK; Dr. Eric Morris, La Trobe University; Dr. Nigel Guenole, Goldsmiths, University of London.

Educational Objectives: 1. Describe how ACT processes manifest in employees’ daily lives. 2. Assess ACT’s processes of change when delivered in workplace settings. 3. Explain how ACT compares to a similar-length mindfulness training program in a workplace context. 

My pre-conference workshop

Using metaphor in training psychological flexibility – 
Niklas Törneke, M.D., Carmen Luciano, Ph.D., Kelly Koerner, Ph.D.

The workshop we are particularly interested in 

Sunday

140. ACT in Groups Workshop (9:00am-12:05pm) 
Components: Experiential exercises, Didactic presentation 
Categories: Clinical Interventions and Interests, 
Group Therapy Target Audience: Interm., Adv. 
Location: Av. Laurier / Av. Viger S U N D A Y 
M. Joann Wright, Linden Oaks Medical Group 
Darrah Westrup, Private Practice 

Article from Nursing Times - click here

 Authors: Teresa Jennings is consultant clinical psychologist at Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust; Paul E Flaxman is reader in organisational psychology at City, University of London; Kath Egdell is staff counsellor, Simon Pestell is clinical psychologist; Elaine Whipday is counselling psychologist; and Alison Herbert is CBT therapist, all at Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust.