Weekly Drop-In ACT Group for Transdiagnosed Veterans

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Weekly Drop-In ACT Group for Transdiagnosed
Veterans

• Iris Taber, PhD, HSP
• South Texas VA Health
• Care System, Kerrville Division, Kerrville, TX

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What is a drop-in group?

• Group meets weekly
• Veterans come and go as they are able on a weekly
  basis
• Because it is a drop in group, general focus on
  any ACT tenet is about three weeks so that anyone
  who misses a session or two can still obtain the
  necessary information
• Two groups cover same topics, general attendance
  varies from 13 to 18 veterans on any given week

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Who Attends?

• Veterans with a variety of diagnoses
• PTSD
• Depression
• Anxiety, NOS
• Veterans with mTBI
• Schizoaffective Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder
• Schizophrenia (stable)
• Substance Abuse Disorder (generally in remission)

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Typical Session

• Check-in with discussion
• Intro of new members which includes brief intro
  to ACT, if necessary
• Mindfulness Exercise
• Content of weeks topic
• In-class exercise using weeks topic to further
  engage group members
• Experiment for veterans to use at home over the
  next week

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Rewards System

• Due to low return rate of homework, have tried
  rewards system for veterans who return homework
  at next sessionborrowed this from Marsha Linehan
  who uses stickers as rewards.
• Has not been effective (ideas anyone?)

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White Bear Suppression Inventory

• Measures peoples tendency to suppress (i.e., not
  accept) and struggle with unwanted thoughts and
  feelings
• Demonstrates the negative effects of experiential
  avoidance
• 15 Item Scale
• WBSI is sensitive to measuring the effects of
  treatment

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WBSI (Contd)

• Survey done anonymously
• May 2012 Average Score 48.71 (n17)
• July 2012 Average Score 61.77 (n13)

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Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale

• Assesses mindfulness across cognitive, emotional,
  physical, interpersonal, and general domains.
• Studies show MAAS has good psychometric
  properties
• Differentiates people who practice mindfulness
  and those who dont
• Higher scores are associated with enhanced
  self-awareness

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MAAS (Contd)

• 15 Item Scale
• Survey done anonymously
• Average at Time 1May 2012 46.61 (n18)
• Average at Time 2July 2012 70.85 (n13)
• Higher scores reflect more mindfulness

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References

• Eifert, George H. Forsyth, John P. (2005.)
  Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety
  Disorders. Oakland, CA New Harbinger.
• Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits
  of being Mindful Mindfulness and its role in
  psychological well-being. Journal of Personality
  and Social Psychology, 84, 822-848.
• Hayes, S.C., Strosahl, K. D. (Eds.). (2004). A
  Practical Guide to Acceptance and commitment
  Therapy. New York Springer-Verlag.
• Wegner, D.M. Zanakos, S. (1994). Chronic
  Thought Suppression. Journal of Personality, 62,
  615-640.

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Questions?