When: December 4th, 2026
9:00 AM – 1:15pm (EDT)
Where: Online
Speaker: Shawn Costello Whooley, PsyD, Temple Morris, LCSW-C
Course Description:
So you understand ACT conceptually – you get the model, the core processes, the philosophy. Putting them to work in session is another matter entirely. How do you actually integrate what you’ve learned into your work? Language in session is a powerful, if underutilized, tool. You probably won’t run a formal eyes-closed experiential every session – and honestly, you may be a little scared to try. The good news: you can use language thoughtfully and strategically to promote change starting now.
This 4-hour workshop will focus on how clinicians can use language itself to evoke, model, and foster the six core processes in real time, without relying on formal exercises. Participants will explore a “not-knowing”, curious stance toward client language; practice techniques like physicalizing internal experience, undermining reason-giving, and getting process into the room through simple word choices; and learn how curiosity-driven questioning can open access to values that are otherwise buried under social shorthand and calcified “should” language. Through live practice and discussion, clinicians will leave with concrete, in-session language moves they can use immediately.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Describe how a “not-knowing”, curious therapeutic stance differs from an expert stance, and identify at least two ways this stance is conveyed through language choices in session.
- Demonstrate at least three specific language techniques (e.g., physicalizing prompts, defusion-oriented reframing, undermining reason-giving) that can evoke a core ACT process without running a formal exercise.
- Distinguish between values language that reflects social convention or “should” statements and values language that reflects contact with vitality and meaning.
- Apply curious, functionally-oriented questioning to a client statement in order to expand awareness beyond its verbal content
Cost: Early Registration (by Nov. 11th) $75
Standard Registration $95
CE certificate (4 hours) $10
Registration fee covers instruction.
- This activity has approval for 4 CE credits for psychologists
- The Association for Contextual Behavioral Science is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Association for Contextual Behavioral Science maintains responsibility for this program and its content
- This activity has approval for 4 CE credits for counselors who can use APA or ACE Ce credits
- The activity hasapproval for 4 CE credits for social workers.
- Weaver and Associates, provider # 2017, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Weaver and Associates maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 8/1/2025-8/1/2028 Social workers completing this course receive 4 clinical continuing education credits.
- You must attend the course in its entirety in order to receive continuing education credits.
- CE credits are not given for the 15-minute break.
Refunds: A $10 processing fee will be charged for registration refunds up to Nov. 11th. We regret that after Nov. 11th refunds cannot be made, but you may request credit toward a future program. If you need a refund, please contact us via email at Admin@TrueNorthACT.com
Instructor Bios:
Shawn Costello Whooley, PsyD, is a psychologist in private practice outside Baltimore, Maryland, and a Peer-Reviewed ACT Trainer. She also serves on the PTSD Clinical Team at the VA Maryland Health Care System and is the founder of Stillpoint Journeys, a coaching and training practice that uses hiking and other active adventures to bring the processes of ACT to life outside the therapy office. Shawn has been teaching and training ACT for more than 15 years through workshops, professional trainings, and graduate-level instruction at Loyola University Maryland, where she earned her doctorate in psychology. Her clinical and training interests include functional analysis, ACT fluency, and experiential learning. She is the co-author of The Inner Critic Workbook: Self-Compassion and Mindfulness Skills to Reduce Feelings of Shame, Build Self-Worth, and Improve Your Life and Relationships.
An active member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), Shawn has served in numerous volunteer leadership roles and is President Emeritus of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of ACBS.
Temple Morris, LCSW-C, is a clinical social worker based in Bethesda, MD, specializing in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration therapy (HRIT). She is a co-founder and therapist at True North Therapy & Training who provides supervision in ACT and has conducted numerous ACT workshops worldwide. In addition, Temple is MAPS-trained in psychedelic-assisted therapy and serves as a consultant therapist and clinical investigator at Sunstone Therapies in Rockville, MD, where she works on multiple psychedelic-assisted therapy trials. She is a co-founder and trainer at Perspective Retreats, which offers professional training retreats integrating ACT with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
FOR MORE INFORMATION Please email Miranda Morris at drmirandamorris@gmail.com
No commercial support was obtained for this CE program or for the instruction content that could be construed as a conflict of interest. No commercial support is being sought for an endorsement of any product (e.g., books, drugs, etc.).