Trauma-Focused ACT: A Practitioner’s Guide to Working with Mind, Body, and Emotion Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

by Russ Harris

“ Trauma-Focused ACT is going to go down as one of the great contributions to the field of trauma-informed care.”
—Kirk Strosahl PhD, cofounder of ACT

Trauma-Focused ACT (TFACT) provides a flexible, comprehensive model for treating the entire spectrum of trauma-related issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction, depression, anxiety disorders, moral injury, chronic pain, shame, suicidality, insomnia, complicated grief, attachment issues, sexual problems, and more. Written by internationally acclaimed ACT trainer, Russ Harris, this textbook is for practitioners at all levels of experience, and offers exclusive access to free downloadable resources—including scripts, videos, MP3s, handouts, and worksheets. Discover cutting-edge strategies for healing the past , living in the present , and building a new future . With this compassion-based, exposure-centered approach, you’ll learn how to help your

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Counselling, Mental Health, Self Help, Personal Development, Social Work

400 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2021

About the author

Dr Russ Harris is a medically-qualified doctor, stress consultant, executive coach, trainer, author, and a leading authority in the powerful new paradigm of Psychological Flexibility. (This is a revolutionary new development in human psychology that enhances performance, reduces stress, and improves health and wellbeing.) Dr Russ regularly presents workshops on Psychological Flexibility at both national and international psychology conferences, and has a thriving business traveling around Australia running training seminars for psychologists, coaches and a variety of health professionals.

Dr Russ's first book, 'The Happiness Trap', was published in Australia in March 2007, and is already well on the way to becoming a bestseller. (The title reflects a key theme in the book - that popular ideas about happiness are misleading, inaccurate, and actually make us miserable in the long term.) He is currently completing his second book 'From Fear To Fulfilment' - which is also the title of his most popular talk.

Back in the early nineties, when Russ was a GP in Melbourne, he moonlighted as a stand-up comedian, and as well as appearing regularly on the Melbourne comedy circuit, he featured on TV shows such as Tonight Live with Steve Vizard, and The Mid-Day Show with Ray Martin. As a result of this experience, his talks are fast-paced, engaging and humorous - as well as being action-packed with information, tools, and techniques for reducing stress, enhancing performance, and increasing vitality.

Reviews

[Paul]

It's perfect as a manual for a therapeutic modality can be: it's engaging, research-informed, but not too dense in theory, and full of valuable techniques and transcripts. Also, how the approach addresses trauma seems very established and straightforward. Recommend it to anyone specializing in CBT and existential-humanistic approaches. However, by the middle of the book, the diversity of microtechniques and various acronyms eventually becomes so overwhelming that its core ideas start to lose their punch. :(

[Claudia]

A really elaborate work, yet full of practical tips, exercises and resources every therapist needs. I enjoyed it and it added value to my professional and personal skills.

[Brette C]

I like ACT, and Russ makes it cheesy, but approachable. A good text to continue to reinforce the basics, with lots of little tools and tricks I like. Nothing groundbreaking in here if you have a good sense of ACT and trauma work.

[K Hue]

Another great ACT book by Russ Harris! Especially appreciate the scripts and examples for therapists to learn from. Lots of great examples.

[Jeremy]

A fantastic read, very digestible bite-sized chapters on how to work with a range of presentations using ACT. This will be a book that I continually look back to in its immense practicality.

[Raquel Coelho]

Another practical and thorough book by Russ Harris. I think this book can be used by practitioners as well as lay people wanting to self develop and become more emotionally flexible.

[Sindhu BS]

Russ is a gifted writer, and there is no one like him in the psychology community. Trauma is such an important topic especially after the world has been hit by the covid-19 pandemic, it has become absolutely essential for us therapists to hone our skills in working with trauma. Acceptance and commitment therapy is the fastest growing evidence-based therapy in the world right now, and to have access to trauma-focused ACT work is amazing. This book is aimed at therapists and offers you everything you are looking for to practice more effectively.

[Maxim]

this book with many amazing techniques is another proof that best therapist can be very neurotic themselves - Harris perfectionist tendencies are overwhelming although his meticulousness was very appreciated

[Justin]

I am new to ACT in general so perhaps I would have learned more if I started with that. I did have a hard time with this book as it didn't seem super practical seemed to rely on lengthy dialogues other than detailed explanations.

[Chantel Bruha]

One of my favorite clinician reads so far. Practical strategies with companion handouts to facilitate learning and most of them are client-friendly.

[Victoria]

Great book! Really enjoyed the structure and ease of the book.

[Evil Secret Ninja]

Great introduction to ACT and how to apply it to Trauma work I am not sure I agree with everything in it but that is true for most treatment books.

[Robert Bogue]

ACT is the acronym for “acceptance and commitment therapy.” It’s a therapy that’s evidence supported. That’s a big deal. Trauma Focused ACT: A Practitioner’s Guide to Working with Mind, Body, and Emotion Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is designed as a guide for using this proven technique with trauma patients. The author, Russ Harris, offers a different book that’s more focused on the fundamentals of ACT without the specialization towards patients with trauma, but I chose this work because I wanted to see what could be done before a traumatic experience developed into a mental health problem. How can we stop the trauma from eating away at a person?

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[Karem]

Wonderful!

[Fatma38]

Uzun soluklu terapi gibi bir okumaydı. Ağzına sağlık sevgili Russ Harris, keyifle okudum.