Among Therapists: Practical Tips

This episode explains the practical value of creative hopelessness when working with PTSD clients. Dr. Sonja Batten provides practical tips on how to use creative hopelessness to enhance willingness, and employs the quicksand metaphor as a practical tool for explaining it.

Faculty: Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: Anderson García, Ph.D.

• Learn more about "ACT for Trauma: PTSD and Beyond" and earn 8 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: Creative Hopelessness and PTSD: The Quicksand Metaphor.

In this episode, Dr. Barbara Rothbaum shares an overview of in vivo exposure and explains how it promotes therapeutic change when addressing PTSD. In vivo exposure blocks negative reinforcement, previously fostered by avoidance, promoting self-agency and the understanding that feared situations are not dangerous per se.

Faculty: Barbara Rothbaum, Ph.D. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: David Barragán, M.A.

• Learn more about "Learning Prolonged Exposure for PTSD: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinicians" and earn 6.75 CE Credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: In Vivo Exposure Therapy for PTSD: The Essentials.

In this episode, distress tolerance skills are examined through the dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) lens. They should be used during crises, and as a way to avoid difficult outcomes, but not as a permanent solution as this could lead to avoidance. They are based on the idea of acceptance as a core concept in DBT.

Faculty: Stephanie Vaughn, Psy.D. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: Anderson García, Ph.D.

• Learn more about "DBT in Practice: Mastering the Essentials" and earn 5.5 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: DBT Distress Tolerance Skills: Tip Skill, Stop Skill, and More.

In this episode, Dr. D. J. Moran, Ph.D., talks about the six elements of the ACT inhexaflex model. Each of the six elements of the hexaflex model (acceptance, defusion, self-as-context, committed action, values, and mindfulness) has its opposite that explains what leads a client toward inflexible psychological repertoires.

Faculty: D. J. Moran, Ph.D. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: David Barragán, M.A.

• Learn more about "Demystifying ACT: A Practical Guide for Therapists" and earn 4.75 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: The Inflexahex Model and ACT: Six Converse Dyads to Understand Psychological Inflexibility.

In this episode of our series "DBT Expert Interviews: From Trauma to Eating Disorders," Dr. Kirby Reutter and Amy Dols, LPCC, explore how to teach and model validation with clients with substance use issues. They provide model examples of its use in group therapy as a precursor to improving self-validation.

Faculty: Kirby Reutter, Ph.D., Amy Dols, LPCC. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: Jazmin Soto, L.Psy.

• Learn more about "DBT Expert Interviews: From Trauma to Eating Disorders" and earn 8 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: DBT for Substance Use: Radical Acceptance, Grief, and Recovery-Interfering Behaviors.

In this episode of our series "The ACT for OCD Toolbox: A Guide for Therapists," we talk about experiential avoidance and its role in OCD. Experiential avoidance refers to an unwillingness to feel our internal experiences, and the ways we might therefore take steps away from them.

Faculty: Kate Morrison, Ph.D. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: Jazmin Soto, L.Psy.

• Learn more about "The ACT for OCD Toolbox: A Guide for Therapists" and earn 8.25 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: "ACT for OCD: What Is Experiential Avoidance?"

In this episode, Dr. Sonja Batten discusses practical strategies and relevant concepts to help increase a client's willingness and reduce their avoidance behaviors. With PTSD clients, avoidance is at the center of their symptoms and is a crucial issue to work on in therapy.

Faculty: Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: Anderson García, Ph.D.

• Learn more about "ACT for Trauma: PTSD and Beyond" and earn 8 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: Moving From Control and Avoidance Towards Willingness.

In this episode, Dr. Barbara Rothbaum shares a practical exercise for breathing retraining in prolonged exposure (PE) therapy. She guides us through the rationale of breathing retraining, and the exercise itself, as if we were in a PE session.

Faculty: Barbara Rothbaum, Ph.D. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: David Barragán, M.A.

• Find out more about "Learning Prolonged Exposure for PTSD: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinicians" and earn 6.75 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: Breathing Retraining in PTSD: A Practical Exercise.

In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Vaughn explains how the DBT hierarchy can be used to select and prioritize treatment targets and goals. She provides practical examples and describes the three types of behavior included in the hierarchy.

Faculty: Stephanie Vaughn, Psy.D. Host: Jessica Díaz, M.D. Script Editor: Anderson García, Ph.D.

• Learn more about "DBT in Practice: Mastering the Essentials" and earn 5.5 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: The DBT Hierarchy: Prioritizing Treatment Targets.

In this episode, D. J. Moran, Ph.D., outlines which information should be included in an ACT case conceptualization. Dr. Moran also explains the importance of learning to conceptualize our cases, as part of becoming more effective therapists.

Faculty: D. J. Moran, Ph.D. Hosts: Jessica Díaz, M.D., Flavio Guzman, M.D. Script Editor: David Barragán, M.A.

• Learn more about Demystifying ACT: A Practical Guide for Therapists and earn 4.75 CE credits.
• Prefer to read? Here's a text version: ACT Case Conceptualization: Assessing the Six Core Processes.