NeuroACT (for ages 16+) Online Program

 

ADHD Support Australia is excited to offer the NeuroACT® Program for ages 16+ via Telehealth.

The NeuroACT® Program is an evidence-based, 12-week online program, specifically designed and shown to be effective for teens in the neurodiverse community, or anyone with high stress levels or mental health problems who wants to focus on mindfulness and stress management. 

It teaches essential skills that enable participants to address the unique challenges associated with executive and adaptive functions, so that they can reduce stress and increase their quality of life by being able to do what they want to do in life.

Developed in consultation with autistic people, NeuroACT aims to help individuals manage any challenges they may have with stressful situations, such as sensory overload (e.g., sounds, smell, and tactile experiences), emotional and bodily unawareness and dysregulation, unfamiliar occasions, changes in the environment or events that exceed the individual’s social capacity. 

Without being able to manage these stressful situations it can lead to difficult thoughts and feelings such as worry and sadness. The body then reacts by tensing up and everything feels harder. This can then make it difficult to handle both familiar and new situations and can be life limiting and detrimental to mental and physical health outcomes.

The NeuroACT program methods are based on the behavioural science of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a form of cognitive behaviourial therapy (CBT) and neuroscience – in particular, neuropsychology and knowledge about executive function. 

By enhancing stress management skills, NeuroACT reduces avoidance, making it possible to do meaningful behaviours and activities, in such a way that increases quality of life. 

This is achieved by utilising:

1. Motivation techniques such as finding out what’s really important to oneself (not what parents, peers, or society say is important) and creating clear behaviour goals;
2. Adversity skills such perspective-taking on thoughts and acceptance of emotions and bodily reactions; and
   
3. Psychoeducation on typical neurodivergent challenges such as stress, emotions, sensory impressions, and body signals.

The overall goal is to teach skills that increase psychological flexibility – which is the ability to deal with thoughts, emotions, and body sensations, reduce behavioural avoidance, and fulfill personally chosen goals, commonly leading to a sense of purposefulness and thereby improving mental health and well-being.

 

NeuroACT® Program Details

NeuroACT® consists of 12, 90-minute weekly sessions in a small online group setting of 6-12 teens.  Sessions are relaxed and fun, allowing teens to learn in a safe environment, where each session builds upon the previous week.

 

Teens will cover:

Session 1 – My Stressful Situations

Session 2 – Avoidance Trap

Session 3 – Focus Training

Session 4 – Take Perspective

Session 5 – What’s Important

Session 6 – Do What’s Important

Session 7 – Handle Emotions

Session 8 – Handle the body

Session 9 – Socialize with others

Session 10 – My self-care

Session 11 – Life Map

Session 12 – Looking forward

 

Teens will receive weekly worksheets, handouts, homework sheets, weekly planner sheets and will have access to the NeuroACT program platform to access instructional videos and Focus Exercises. 

 

When will it run?

Thursdays @ 7pm to 8.30pm (BST)

For 12 weeks from 7th January 2025

finishing week beginning 8th April 2025

 

How much will it cost?

Your investment for this intake is £840.

Early Bird pricing

Save 10% when you book before 31st December 2024

 

Includes:

* 1 intake interview
* 12 x 90 min sessions
* Weekly handouts
* Weekly homework assignments
* Weekly Planners
* Access to NeuroACT Platform’s instructional videos & Focus Exercises
* Support throughout the 12-week program

Great value at £70 per week! 

Use your EHCP funding if that is available to you.

 

Meet your group leader

Karin Flemmings

* Certified NeuroACT program provider
* Certified PEERS Adolescent Social Skills course provider
* Registered Mental Health Nurse
* 30+ Years Community Mental Health Experience
* 3+ years Early Intervention Service (age 14-35 years)
* Experienced in supporting young people with mental health issues
* Understanding ADHD: Current Research Practice course
* Sister, Niece and probably daughter have ADHD!

 

I want to focus on mindfulness and stress management – what now?

If you’d like to move forward and see how NeuroACT can benefit you, please ensure:

* you are available on the days/times the program will run
* the program suits your budget

Then …

Book in a time for me to meet you via Zoom to ensure you are on board with starting the program and to give them a chance to meet me and ask any questions you may have.

Once you’ve selected the time slot that suits you for your complimentary Zoom call, ensure you accept the invitation that will be emailed to you, and this will then automatically go into both our online calendars.

After the call, if the program isn’t right for your teen, I’ll let you know, and if you decide after our chat that it isn’t for you, that’s fine – it’s a no obligation meeting.

If we decide to move forward after the Zoom, there will be an intake form for you to complete and you will be invoiced.

Once this is finalised your place will be secure!

If you are intending on using EHCP funding for the program, I suggest you start your enquiries and process now, so you can have that in place prior to our program start date as this can often take some time.

Once I have completed the process with all those interested, I will form a suitable group or groups and all details will be sent through.

If you’re not able to attend on the above dates/times but are interested in joining this or a future course, or if you have any further questions, not covered above please email me @ info@adhdautismsupportuk.com

 

Research/Evidence Base

The NeuroACT program has been developed by experts in the field specifically for neurodiverse teens and those with elevated stress levels and mental health challenges.  

 

NeuroACT has been evaluated at the esteemed Karolinska Institute as a highly effective program, delivering positive outcomes for its participants.

 

The studies are part of the doctoral dissertation by Johan Pahnke Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evaluation of Feasibility, Effectiveness and Validity of a novel Contextual Behavioral Treatment

 

Outcomes of an acceptance and commitment therapy-based skills training group for students with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: a quasi-experimental pilot study. Author: Pahnke, J, Lundgren, T., Hursti, T., & Hirvikoski, T. (2014). Published in the Journal: Autism  

 

Acceptance and commitment therapy for autistic adults: an open pilot study in a psychiatric outpatient context. Authors: Pahnke, J., Hirvikoski, T., Bjureberg, J., Bölte, S., Jokinen, J., Bohman, B., & Lundgren, T. (2019). Published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science

 

Acceptance and commitment therapy for autistic adults: A randomized controlled pilot study in a psychiatric outpatient setting. Authors: Pahnke, J., Jansson-Fröjmark, M., Andersson, G., Bjureberg, J., Jokinen, J., Bohman, B., & Lundgren, T. (2022). Published in Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice

 

Social Allostasis and Social Allostatic Load: A New Model for Research in Social Dynamics, Stress, and Health (Darby E. Saxbe, Lane Beckes, Sarah A. Stoycos, and James A. Coan, 2020) published in Association for Phycological Science