Available now
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Everyday Practice
4-hour self-study CE course
Clear questions, no tricks. Scout points out the key concepts so you can pass and get back to your clients.
CE hours
4
Format
Self-study (reading)
Post-test
15 questions, 70% to pass
Price
$9
About this course
This course is an introduction to ACT’s model and core processes. It is not ACT certification. There is no single certifying body for ACT, and completing this course does not make anyone an ACT therapist or trainer.
This course presents ACT and the research on it, including its debates, and does not endorse or reject it, or rank it above or below CBT.
The next step after Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Everyday Practice. This course starts where cognitive restructuring ends and explains how ACT works with a client’s relationship to thoughts and feelings rather than their content. Topics:
- Where ACT came from, psychological flexibility, and functional contextualism and relational frame theory in plain terms
- The hexaflex: the six core processes and the six inflexibility processes they reverse
- Experiential avoidance, the control agenda, and creative hopelessness
- Cognitive defusion techniques, and how defusion differs from cognitive restructuring
- Present-moment contact and self-as-context (the observing self)
- Values versus goals, committed action, and exposure in ACT terms
- Case formulation with the hexaflex, the matrix at a conceptual level, session structure, and brief, group, and telehealth formats
- A “Critical appraisal: both sides” section: supportive meta-analyses beside Öst’s critiques, the published replies, and head-to-head trials with CBT
- Competence, informed consent that explains ACT’s aims, and cultural fit in values work
Fully state-neutral: no state law content. Nine sections, with worked cases, FAQs, and key points. Color and Print Friendly PDFs. $9.
CE credit is awarded after you complete the reading, pass the post-test at 70% or higher, and complete the evaluation.
Learning objectives
A sample of what you will be able to do after completing this course:
- Define psychological flexibility and contrast changing thought content with changing one's relationship to thoughts.
- Name the six core ACT processes and the inflexibility process each is meant to reverse.
- Explain experiential avoidance and the purpose of creative hopelessness.
- Apply a defusion technique to a client statement and contrast defusion with cognitive restructuring.
- Describe present-moment contact and self-as-context in plain language.
- Distinguish values from goals and describe committed action, including willingness and exposure.
- Build a simple ACT formulation from a vignette using the hexaflex.
- Summarize meta-analytic findings for ACT and the main methodological criticisms.
- Compare ACT and CBT outcomes using the same evidence standards.
- Apply competence, informed consent, and cultural considerations to the use of ACT.
Who this course is for
Target audience: licensed mental health clinicians and registered associates in California, Oregon (LPC and LMFT), Texas, and Washington, including LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, LPC, LMHC, LEP, AMFT, ASW, and APCC.
Course schedule
Self-study. Self-paced reading with a post-test. No fixed calendar dates. Allow about 4 hours of CE time.
Provider approval period for John Oliver Ycaro, CAMFT CEPA Provider #10072759: June 15, 2026 through June 1, 2027 (renew as required to keep offering CE).
Instructor
John Oliver Ycaro, LPCC (also the course developer and CE provider). About 10 years of clinical experience in community mental health and private practice. Expertise relevant to this course: outpatient clinical work with individuals, couples, and families in community mental health and private practice.
Under CAMFT CEPA rules, the named instructor meets instructor qualifications by current related licensure and a related master’s degree (and related practice experience). A current CV is kept in the provider’s CE records.
How it works
- Enroll through the secure Payhip checkout. You get the course right away.
- Read the self-study text at your own pace.
- Take the online post-test (70% to pass; retakes free) and confirm you did the work yourself.
- Complete a short course evaluation (required for CE credit).
- Receive your certificate by email within 1 business day after you pass and complete the evaluation.
Completion records are kept for at least 4 years.
Price
$9
Pay securely on Payhip. CE credit is awarded after you complete the reading, pass the post-test at 70% or higher, and complete the evaluation.
CE information
Course meets the qualifications for 4 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
John Oliver Ycaro is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs. John Oliver Ycaro maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.
- CAMFT Provider #: 10072759
- Instructor: John Oliver Ycaro, LPCC
- Format: Self-study (reading), with an online post-test
- CE hours: 4
- Passing score: 70%
- Certificate: Emailed within 1 business day after you pass the post-test and complete the evaluation, as a PDF you can print or save
- Cost: $9
Licensed outside California? Offered by a CAMFT CEPA-approved provider (#10072759). Washington, Texas, and Oregon do not pre-approve CE providers; this course is designed to meet their general CE rules (WAC 246-809-610; 22 TAC 681.140 and 801.261; OAR 833-080-0041). In Oregon, this applies to LPCs and LMFTs only. It does not satisfy any state’s specific mandated topic. Check with your board.
Provider mailing address: 200 San Mateo Ave, Los Gatos, CA 95030
Policies
Refunds / cancellation
You can get a full refund within 3 days of purchase as long as you haven't started the post-test. After you start the post-test, or after 3 days, we’re not able to offer a refund.
Accommodations
If you need a disability accommodation (for example a screen-reader-friendly file, larger print, or extra time on the post-test), email oliverycaro@losgatosmentalhealthclinic.com. We respond within 5 business days. There is no charge for accommodations.
Grievances
If you have a concern about the course, email oliverycaro@losgatosmentalhealthclinic.com. You will get a written response within 14 days. If it is not resolved, you can contact CAMFT at cepa@camft.org.
Activities not for CE credit
CE credit is awarded after you complete the reading, pass the post-test at 70% or higher, and complete the evaluation.
About the instructor and provider
John Oliver Ycaro, LPCC, is in private practice in California and has about 10 years of experience in community mental health and private practice.
Disclosure: John Oliver Ycaro is the instructor, course developer, and CE provider and earns income from course sales.