Delivering Contemporary CBT Interventions to Unemployed and Working Populations: Prevention, Retention, and Rehabilitation

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This follow-on project is designed to provide four partner organisations with the knowledge and skills to deliver group-based psychological interventions based on the principles and practices of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). ACT is a modern form of cognitive-behavioural therapy, which provides clients with a combination of mindfulness and behavioural activation skills. The project follows-on from an earlier ESRC-funded research project, which demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of a brief group-based version of ACT for improving people's mental health, behavioural functioning, and life satisfaction. The project partners were closely involved in the design of this follow-on work, and include a local branch of Mind (a mental health charity), and staff support/ occupational health professionals from three separate NHS Trusts. In the first phase of the project, the Principal Investigator (PI; Dr. Paul Flaxman, City University London) will directly train several staff support psychologists, counsellors, and vocational rehabilitation specialists in how to deliver ACT in groups. These partners will then be supported and observed by the PI as they begin cascading ACT-based training down to their service users. The results and impact of the project will be communicated to a wider group of stakeholders at a feedback workshop held towards the end of the nine month project (this event will be co-facilitated by the PI and the project partners). The ultimate aims of the project are to: 1) enhance the project partners' staff and employment support service provision; 2) offer help to NHS employees experiencing common mental health problems; 3) improve the psychological well-being and behavioural functioning of individuals accessing local mental health and employment support services; and 4) provide much wider access to ACT interventions than has previously been possible.