An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to Managing Stress For Children and Teenagers

These are not easy times to be a student. Our children and teenagers are navigating through developmental and life stressors that manifest in increasing rates of mental health problems. In addition to the typical developmental and life stressors that our students have to navigate, they are now trying to do so in the midst of the additional stressors brought on by the pandemic and the associated isolation and reduction of structure and support. The focus of this training will be on applying Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help children and teenagers manage stress through both mindfulness strategies and change based strategies. ACT is an empirically based intervention that balances behavioral change strategies with acceptance based mindfulness strategies with the goal of increasing psychological flexibility. Clients gain the skills to both contextualize and accept their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and physical sensations while also clarifying their values to help them engage in meaningful actions. You will be able to leave this training with tools and conceptualizations that can be brought right in to your sessions the same day. Participants will be able to: - Describe the nature and impact of stress on clients - Identify strategies to manage and mitigate the impact of stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0123. Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its content.