Contextual Consulting

24/04/2026

Menopause is not simply a collection of symptoms. It is a biopsychosocial transition involving fluctuating hormones, disrupted sleep, shifts in cognition, changing identity, and powerful cultural narratives about ageing and worth. For many, this period interacts with longstanding patterns of self-criticism, anxiety, or striving.

In "Linda's" case, menopause has introduced genuine physiological shifts, including disrupted sleep, fluctuating oestrogen affecting mood and concentration, unpredictable waves of heat and fatigue. Yet Linda’s mind interprets these changes not as biological transition, but as evidence of personal decline.

Read more on our blog: https://buff.ly/eEKwAUF

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) does not aim to eliminate menopausal symptoms. Instead, it offers a framework for responding flexibly to the physical and emotional changes of this life stage; making room for discomfort, loosening rigid identity stories, and reconnecting with what matters. Our skills-based workshop for practitioners takes place soon, showing you how to support women through menopause and perimenopause with practical, compassionate, and empowering approaches.
Join us here: https://buff.ly/6ybTFv8

23/04/2026

Today is and we love this values based quote from Hamlet. It's important to remember that our values help us distinguish our WHATs (the things we do) from our WHYs (the purpose and direction we want to head in).

If you want to learn more about ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) and values, take a look at some of the online training courses on our website. 🥰

- Bringing values to life in therapy with Dr Joe Oliver: https://buff.ly/AFNNUK0

- Functional analysis for ACT practitioners with Dr Ray Owen: https://buff.ly/iCD5leT

- ACT essentials with Dr Joe Oliver: https://buff.ly/Yq9ojNO

- ACTivate your coaching for beginners with Hazel Anderson-Turner: https://buff.ly/08cUOwn

and plenty more on our website too! https://buff.ly/8c9iwGI

22/04/2026

What if the way we treat our shame is the problem?

In this exercise, Dr Russ Harris asks you to scrunch a piece of paper as tightly as you can and notice what that’s like. Tiring. Distracting. Hard to be present. Hard to take action.

That’s what we do with shame when we fight it.

Now try holding that same paper gently. Like a puppy, a butterfly, a baby. Notice the difference.

Because as we often say in ACT, we hurt where we care. Our greatest pain is almost always linked to what matters most to us.

Russ is bringing this depth to his live masterclass on trauma-focused ACT in London this May.

📅 20–21 May 2026
📍 In person, London
🎙️ Dr Russ Harris
📚 Trauma-focused ACT: working with body, mind and emotion

Link in bio if you want to be in the room.

21/04/2026

🚦 The supervision loop 🚦

Ever noticed this? A supervisee brings a stuck client. You revisit the formulation, explore the behaviours, find a new angle. It’s a good session.

But next week? Same client. Slightly different issue.
And the week after? Same.

Without stepping back, you can spend months firefighting session by session, never asking:

💡 What’s the root cause, and what does the pattern tell us? 💡

Spot the loop. Pause. Zoom out. That’s where the real progress begins.

Read the full article: https://buff.ly/0AAO61J

Want some help along the way? Join Linda Nicholson and Eric Morris this September to develop your ACT supervision skills. Early-bird rate valid until 26th May 2026 https://buff.ly/fJPPuDS

20/04/2026

Starting 5th May - Leading with purpose with Ross McIntosh. https://buff.ly/iQ48XH0

Over 3 sessions this workshop will introduce you to fresh and practical approaches to support leaders, showing how key skills rooted in behavioural science can help them develop and sustain their authentic leadership style.

1️⃣ ACT for authentic leadership
Ross conceptualises ACT to nurture authentic leadership through four distinct but interrelated skills: The pause, awareness, authentic action and adaptability

2️⃣ Leading with trust
Fostering psychological safety and handling challenging conversations through inclusion safety, learner safety, contribution safety, challenger safety

3️⃣ Sustaining leadership
Prioritising well-being, setting boundaries, and overcoming imposterism

Sign up today on our website and save your space!

18/04/2026

Menopause affects millions of women, and yet it remains one of the most misunderstood and underserved areas in clinical practice.

For many women, the experience goes far beyond hot flushes. Brain fog. Anxiety. Depression. Sleep disturbances. Relationship strain. Identity shifts. The picture is complex, and it often shows up in clinical settings without anyone naming it.

ACT offers something genuinely useful here. Not a way to push through or eliminate the symptoms, but a framework for building psychological flexibility, helping women unhook from difficult thoughts, make space for what's arising, and continue taking values-guided action even through this very real transition.

Dr Natasha Lazareski is a medical doctor, ACT practitioner and expert in supporting women through menopause. Her upcoming workshop, Navigating menopause with ACT, is designed for psychologists, coaches, health practitioners and HR professionals who work with menopausal women and want practical, compassionate tools to do it better.

Full details and registration at https://buff.ly/vOH56ts. A recording will be available if you can't join live.

What questions do you have about bringing ACT into menopause support? We'd love to hear from you in the comments.

17/04/2026

It's tempting sometimes isn't it! Any others you can add to our list?
Email sign-offs for when you've had a bad week...
📨Yours in defusion, but only just
📨Written while riding the wave, clinging on a little desperately
📨From the swamp of despair, facing vaguely north toward values
📨Noticing the urge to throw my laptop out the window, choosing email instead
📨From the land of “this too shall pass” (but please let it be soon)
📨Committed to my values, even if they currently include napping

Confidently integrate ACT into your practice (and not your outbox!) with ACT essentials, an accessible yet comprehensive introduction to ACT’s core processes: https://buff.ly/Yq9ojNO

16/04/2026

Here's a reframe that might change how you approach exposure work with your anxiety and OCD clients.

In a traditional exposure framework, the goal is often framed around reducing anxiety - getting the number down, building a hierarchy, moving through discomfort until it passes.

ACT sees it differently. And Prof Michael Twohig puts it really clearly.
When you're doing an exposure exercise, what the client is actually doing is building psychological flexibility. That means two things. First, they're building a skill they'll use to pursue their values. Second, they're learning to carry their difficult thoughts, feelings and emotions at any level, so that it doesn't matter how high or low the anxiety is when they're outside the therapy room. They can still keep moving in the direction that matters to them.

That shift in framing can make a real difference to how clients engage with exposure work and how they relate to the inevitable fluctuations in their anxiety outside of sessions.

Prof Michael Twohig is running a two-day live workshop on ACT for anxiety and OCD on 22–23 April. Full details and registration at https://buff.ly/e54FY3t. A recording will be available if you can't make the live dates.

What's been your experience of reframing exposure with ACT clients? We'd love to hear from you in the comments.

15/04/2026

While ACT is not a trauma-specific therapy, it can be a valuable adjunct or complementary approach to trauma treatment. Here's just a few ways that ACT can be helpful for clients:
✔️ Acceptance rather than avoidance
✔️ Clarifying values
✔️ Mindfulness skills to stay present and observe emotions thoughtfully
✔️ Noticing and making space through cognitive defusion
✔️ Setting goals and taking committed action

We are bringing Dr Russ Harris to London this May for:
📖 Trauma-focused ACT (T-FACT): working with body, mind and emotion: An in-depth, integrated approach to healing from trauma
📆 2 sessions: 20th and 21st May 2026
➡️ In person: Cecil Sharp House, London, UK

SIGN UP: https://buff.ly/JpF1fMV

We highly recommend this workshop for mental health professionals including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurse practitioners and licensed mental health counsellors.

14/04/2026

Bridging ACT and behaviour analysis offers a way to approach therapy with precision and purpose. By using functional behavioural assessments, we can better understand what supports or hinders change and design interventions that align with both values and real-world contexts.

Are you an ACT practitioner, behaviour analyst, or mental health professional looking to refine your practice? The Bridging ACT and behaviour analysis workshop will give you practical tools to confidently use behavioural insights in your work.

This live training is an opportunity to explore behavioural science principles and deepen your ability to help clients, especially when they encounter resistance or barriers to change.

Early bird registration ends soon. Find out more and secure your place here: https://buff.ly/sRR2Mhe

13/04/2026

Free download! Psychological flexibility models, such as ACT and the DNA-V model (developed by Louise Hayes and Joseph Ciarrochi) offer nuanced, evidence-based frameworks to help adolescents navigate various challenges.

These approaches aim to enhance psychological flexibility, promote self-awareness, and support the development of essential life skills.

Our four detailed (fictional) case studies demonstrating how ACT and DNA-V can be applied effectively to specific adolescent issues. Download for free from our resource hub: https://buff.ly/2EX2okX

Dr Louise Hayes joins us in June 2026 for ACT for adolescents: Intermediate training. https://buff.ly/NlX6VFe
This workshop is designed to help you expand your therapy skills and improve your capacity to engage young people aged 12-24 in counselling, therapy, or well-being support. It builds on foundational knowledge of ACT or DNA-V, offering an intermediate-level focus on moving beyond protocols and into process-based work. You’ll develop skills to deepen your therapeutic impact and tackle the complexities of working with adolescents.

Psychological flexibility models, such as ACT and the DNA-V model (developed by Louise Hayes and Joseph Ciarrochi) offer nuanced, evidence-based frameworks to help adolescents navigate various challenges. These approaches aim to enhance psychological flexibility, promote self-awareness, and support....

11/04/2026

Early bird savings end 15th April – don’t miss out!

Secure your place on three ACT workshops designed to deepen and sharpen your clinical skills!

ACT for adolescents: intermediate (DNA‑V) – with Dr Louise Hayes.
Move beyond techniques and work dynamically with trauma, neurodivergence, anxiety, and complex family systems in young people (12–24).

Bridging ACT & behaviour analysis – with Natalie Savage‑Evans.
Enhance your case formulation and bring behavioural science more deliberately into your ACT interventions.

Integrating ACT & EMDR – with Tammy Walker & Kristy Potter.
Learn to combine ACT’s psychological flexibility with EMDR’s trauma processing to support clients who feel stuck with avoidance or unresolved memories.

Save now before prices increase https://buff.ly/KjUPV1j