Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Chronic Pain – Essential Skills with Professor Lance McCracken

General Information

Title: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Chronic Pain - Essential Skills

Presenter: Professor Lance McCracken

Dates: Monday, January 4, 2027. 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Eastern Time.

Fee: Early bird $85 Until 10/1. Regular fee $110. Includes 3 CE credits and 2 months access to recordings.

Venue: Live Webinar (Zoom)

CE Credits: 3

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Chronic Pain – Essential Skills with Professor Lance McCracken

Description

Psychological treatments, particularly forms of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) are evidence-based for application in chronic pain. People with chronic pain benefit significantly from these treatments in terms of reduced symptom burden, and improved physical, social, and emotional functioning. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one specific form of CBT in this area. It is based on the psychological flexibility model which includes a focus on skills that can be called learning to be open, aware, and engaged. The treatment methods address emotional, cognitive, overt behavioral, attentional, motivational, and self-related processes and emphasize experiential, exposure-based, and direct conditioning approaches as opposed to purely instructional or didactic. This course will provide participants with a basic understanding of the psychosocial challenges inherent in chronic pain management, a working knowledge of the psychological flexibility model, the current state of evidence for ACT in chronic pain, and a selected complete set of methods for clinicians to use to improve psychological flexibility for people seeking treatment for chronic pain.

Instructors

Lance M McCracken is Professor and Head of Division in Clinical Psychology, Psychology Department, Uppsala University, Sweden. He completed his PhD at West Virginia University and a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins. He then worked in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Chicago. He was later the Clinical Lead at the Bath Center for Pain Services in the UK, and later still was Professor of Behavioral Medicine at King’s College London until 2018. He started the first interdisciplinary treatment center for chronic pain that was based on ACT in the UK in 2000. He also published the first trail of online ACT for chronic pain in the UK in 2018, and lead the first implementation of that same treatment in routine clinical practice a few years later. He has participated in funded research trials of ACT for complex chronic pain, HIV-related persistent pain, vulvodynia, fibromyalgia, low back pain, as well as muscle disease, motor neuron disease, carers of people with dementia, and disorder of gut brain interaction.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Chronic Pain – Essential Skills with Professor Lance McCracken

Objectives

1. Describe chronic pain as a problem in a way that enables a psychological approach.

2. Describe chronic pain as a problem in a way that enables a psychological approach.

3. Demonstrate at least one treatment methods for enhancing each one of six facets of psychological flexibility as one would apply them for a person seeking help for chronic pain.

CE Information

Continuing Education Credits are granted through Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC for the following professions: Psychologists, Social workers, Mental Health Counselors, LMFTs, and LCATs. It is the participant’s responsibility to check with their individual state boards to verify CE requirements for their state.

Please Note: Licensing Boards change regulations often, and while we attempt to stay abreast of their most recent changes, if you have questions or concerns about this course meeting your specific board’s approval, we recommend you contact your board directly to obtain a ruling. 

APA 

Nachas Consulting is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, PLLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content. 

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Neuhoff Psychological Consulting PLLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7503. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Neuhoff Psychological Consulting, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

 

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References

Lai, L., Liu, Y., McCracken, L. M., Li, Y., & Ren, Z. (2023). The efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for chronic pain: A three-level meta-analysis and a trial sequential analysis of randomized controlled trials. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 165, 104308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2023.104308

McCracken, L. M. (2023). Personalized pain management: Is it time for process-based therapy for particular people with chronic pain? European Journal of Pain, 27, 1044–1055. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.2091

McCracken, L. M. (2024). Psychological flexibility, chronic pain, and health. Annual Review of Psychology, 75, 1-24. https://doi.lorg/10.1146/annurev-psych-020223-124335

Satisfactory Completion:

Participants must have signed in and out, attended the entire workshop to receive a certificate.  Failure to sign/log in or out will result in forfeiture of credit for the entire course. No exceptions will be made. Partial credit is not available. Certificates are available electronically after satisfactory course completion. A link will be provided for those who have completed the training.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Chronic Pain – Essential Skills with Professor Lance McCracken

Policies

Application Deadline: January 2, 2027 or until all training spaces are filled, whichever comes first.

Notification of Acceptance

Applicants will be notified, via email, of acceptance when registration is complete, and payment is received.

Refund/Cancellation Policy 

Tuition/registration payments are refundable until December 4, 2026. Cancellations after this date are non-refundable. In this situation, we will attempt to find someone to take your slot (based on our waiting list).

Accessibility

There will be handicap accessibility.

Course level

Introductory

Level of clinician 

Introductory

Our Grievance Policy for trainings is available here

 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Chronic Pain – Essential Skills with Professor Lance McCracken

Schedule

Monday, January 4, 2027. 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Eastern Time.

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM

  • Introductions and ice breaker
  • Chronic pain as a behavior problem.
  • What we need
  • ACT model
  • ACT evidence

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

  • Processes and essential skills: self, flexible attention, acceptance, defusion, values, commited action

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

  • How to see flexibility and respond with flexibility
  • Role play
  • Wrap up and Q&A

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Chronic Pain – Essential Skills with Professor Lance McCracken

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