Twenty-Three (23) CPEUs for the Symposium program will be
requested from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CPE from the
American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is also anticipated.
This week’s blog post features Mary Jo Parker, MS, RDN, CDN
and Sherry M. Farrow, PhD. Their session
is titled: “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Empowering Patients to Make
Changes That Last.” Health related
behavior change is difficult to sustain long-term. In order to maximize the
potential for lasting change, behaviors need to be linked to what is personally
meaningful to the individual, and individuals need tools to cope with the
discomfort associated with shifting their habits. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an
empirically supported and highly effective behavioral treatment that focuses on
assisting individuals to clarify their own compelling reasons for change, to
become more aware and present through mindfulness practice, and to take
goal-directed action. ACT is well-suited
to working with people with various presenting problems, be it disordered eating,
eating disorders, or difficulty managing chronic illness, such as
cardiovascular disease or diabetes. This presentation will provide an overview
of the ACT model and will introduce several tools and techniques that
participants can apply in clinical settings. Experiential exercises will be
utilized to demonstrate the utility of the model.
