March 8, 2010 Video Newsletter

Below is the text version of the newsletter.


This is the ACT by Numbers (formerly Dr. Kevin Polk) newsletter. It’s about:

1. What’s happening in the program and at ACTbyNumbers.com,
2. Trainings that are coming up,
3. It provides a list of recordings available by Kevin and Jerold. 

I: The Program and ACTbyNumbers.com

Jerold and I continue to work both at refining both the Training and Therapy branches of ACT. 

It looks like we will be participating in a large ACT RCT starting this fall. Stay tuned.

We are also starting some basic Program Evaluation research on our four session (with unlimited follow-ups) protocol, blending in some imaginal exposure work with ACT.

Jerold and I (and the team) also changed the Matrix a bit in the last couple of weeks, hopefully improving the Valued Life Directions (Toward) side a bit. You can see it at http://actbynumbers.com. The dotted lines are for planned actions, the solid lines mean the action was completed. The three lines on the Toward side of the Matrix represent increased choices.

I have had a cold the last 10 days, so we took a break from making the videos for http://actbynumbers.com. We will get back to those soon.

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II: Training Dates

Two Online Trainings (Webinars) are coming up.

March 17 will be a repeat of the Beginning ACT with Trauma Memories (working toward naturally occurring Prolong Exposure). This covers the 4-session protocol Jerold and I developed. It shows how you can quickly set up the ACT process toward doing both In Vivo and Imaginal Exposure work with trauma memories. It’s neat because the client titrates the exposure, leading to very low dropout rates for the therapy.

March 24 will be an ACT for Valued Living training. This is both for professionals wanting to learn how to present the training and for the general public. This is the lighter side of ACT for the general public. How to get folks engaged in the process for increasing valued living.

The course catalog for the online trainings is at:

https://student.gototraining.com/6v8n2/catalog/109687771

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III: Recordings in the Store

The recording of  the "ACT with PTSD: A Naturally Occurring approach to Prolonged Exposure" webinar is now available for $9.95. Just click this link

http://www.payloadz.com/go/sip?id=1207513

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The video with Kevin and Jerold "ACT_by_Numbers(Health)" is available for $4.95. Just click this link...

http://www.payloadz.com/go/sip?id=1199113

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The four recordings of the Beginning ACT toward working with Trauma Memories webinar are now available at:

http://www.payloadz.com/go?id=1207591

They are $7.50 per training. Just click on them one at a time and return to the store page until you have selected all four.

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That’s it for now. I will send out another Newsletter in a week (or two or three).

Take care,

Kevin L. Polk, Ph.D.

www.actbynumbers.com

I just added a Book Online feature to the Store. Folks can schedule a Free, 30-minute consultation with me. The time will be verified, and if I am is not available, another time will be arranged.

Give it try!

Kevin

I just created an ACT by Numbers email course. Folks will be taken through five lessons in five days.

Kevin

April 27, 2010

Jerold and I have been talking a lot of research lately. Our idea is to do research on doable work with people. That is, work that both the clinician and the client are attracted to doing.  The concepts would need to be easy to teach and easy to track. Our current idea is to train folks in discrimination tasks, with each session pointing toward the homework that would be assigned. Something like this:

Session 1: 

a. Pretest

b. Hear a bit of the person's story.

c. Informed consent, including the ACT point of view (the Matrix).

d. Spend the rest of the session training noticing the difference between 5-senses experiencing and mental experiencing.

e. Homework: [Remember that homework can be done or not done, simply notice if you do or do not do the homework.] Notice your 5-Senses experiencing and Mental experiencing between now and the next session.

Session 2:

a. Review Homework

b. Review the ACT Point of View (Matrix)

c. Focus on the Suffering List and the Unworkable Change Agenda. This is training of the Unwilling (Away) side of the Willing vs. Unwilling discrimination task.

d. Discuss Suffering List Items as “Hooks” that can be noticed as they show up in life.

e. Homework: [Remember, notice if you do or do not do the homework.] Notice getting Hooked and what you do next.

Session 3:

a. Review Homework

b. Review the ACT Point of View (Matrix)

c. Focus on Values and Goals. This is training of the Willing (Toward) side of the Willing vs. Unwilling discrimination task.

d. Have the client choose a Value and plan a Goal.

e. Homework: [Remember, notice if you do or do not do the homework.] Notice if you do or do not do the Goal. Notice any Hooks that show up around the goal.

Session 4:

a. Review Homework

b. Do a Bus

c. Homework: [As always, you can do or not do the homework, simply notice doing or not doing it.] 1. Notice who is driving the bus. 2. Notice where you are driving the bus. 3. Notice what passengers (hooks) are showing up. 4. Notice your relationship with the passengers; enemy or old friend.

Three or four-weeks go by...

Session 5:

a. Post-test

b. Review Homework

c. Discuss the client’s story in terms of noticing hooks, the bus and the Matrix. That is, in terms of the 5-Senses vs. Mental and Willing vs. Unwilling discrimination tasks.

d. Schedule further sessions as needed.

We will do this and collect some program evaluation data to see how it’s working.

Later,

Kevin

Jerold and I redrew the Matrix yesterday to make it easier to plan actions and then see if you did them. A dotted line is a planned action, then fill it in solid when the action has been taken.

On each "Values" page I have pointed the center (Toward) line toward the value we are talking about. 

Take a look.

Kevin

Jerold and I wrote up a four-session protocol over on the ACTherapy side of things. We open with some basic ACT by numbers and then point some techniques at trauma memories.

I will be doing a webinar about it soon.

Kevin

Jerold an I will be videotaping several segments this Saturday. We will be replacing the original Homepage series we taped last Monday. We will stick closer to the V, I, II, III, IV format: Introduce Values, then review noticing 5-Senses experiencing, mental experiencing, noticing the difference, and noticing obstacles. We then choose one of the valued domains and tape a V, I, II, III, IV series.

If you live in the central Maine area gives us a call or email and we will invite you over for the taping. 

Kevin and Jerold

I changed the design layout a bit today. Ten Valued Domains listed on a left navigation bar. Each Valued will have at least five (I, II, III, IV, V) video clips. Then there is the glossary to tape. We will easily end up with over sixty clips. We will also produce a longer video for each of the domains. Those can be purchased for and introductory price of $4.95.

We will tape more clips soon.

Make sure to sign up for the email list to get updates.

Take Care,

Kevin

In this video we introduce the ACT point of view (aka, the Matrix) that we use to simplify ACT.

My wife and two daughters made him an ACTbyNumbers T-Shirt for Valentine's Day. I liked it so much we made Jerold one for the first video shoot. If folks sign up for the Free A Value a Day email course, we will enter them into a monthly drawing to win an ACTbyNumbers T-Shirt.


Take Care,



Kevin