ACT for teens with OCD
Enhancing exposure and response prevention (ERP) with flexibility and compassion
Helping teens with OCD stick with exposure and response prevention (ERP) can be tough—rigid approaches often lead to frustration, avoidance, and dropout. This interactive 3-hour workshop will show you how to use acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to make ERP more flexible, engaging, and sustainable.
You’ll learn practical strategies to:
- Keep teens motivated using values and curiosity
- Help them approach ERP with self-compassion, rather than self-criticism
- Overcome resistance and disengagement
- Support parents in reducing accommodation while staying involved
Through case examples, roleplays, and hands-on exercises, you’ll gain actionable tools to make ERP work better for young people.
Background to the workshop
ERP is the most effective treatment for OCD, yet many young people struggle to engage with it. Exposure tasks can feel overwhelming, and the structured nature of ERP can sometimes backfire—leading to avoidance, frustration, or dropout.
Common challenges include:
- Teens feeling that ERP is too rigid or anxiety-provoking
- Loss of motivation and disengagement from therapy
- Parents unintentionally accommodating OCD, making progress harder
By integrating ACT with ERP, therapists can help young people develop a more flexible, values-driven approach. ACT encourages curiosity over avoidance, self-compassion over self-criticism, and engagement even when therapy feels tough. This workshop will provide practical tools to help teens stick with ERP in a way that feels meaningful and empowering.
What you will gain from this workshop
This workshop is practical and interactive, ensuring you leave with real-world tools you can use immediately. By attending this workshop, you will:
- Gain confidence in making ERP more flexible and engaging for young people
- Learn ways to build rapport and keep teens motivated, even when they resist therapy
- Understand how curiosity and self-compassion help shift avoidance into willingness
- Explore values-based interventions to help young people stay engaged, even when therapy is difficult
- Develop practical strategies to support parents and caregivers in reducing accommodation
- Learn how to adapt ERP when OCD “fights back”, including handling stuck points and preventing relapse
About this workshop
This workshop is highly interactive and skills-based, combining:
- Teaching sessions on integrating ACT and ERP for young people
- Case examples and experiential exercises to illustrate real-world applications
- Live roleplays and guided practice to help you refine your skills
- Q&A discussions to address real-world challenges
You’ll have the chance to engage with ACT techniques firsthand and develop confidence in using these strategies with young people struggling with OCD.
Who will benefit from this workshop?
This workshop is designed for mental health professionals working with children and adolescents struggling with OCD.
This training is ideal for:
- Psychologists, psychiatrists, paediatricians
- Social workers, nurse practitioners, GPs
- Therapists, counsellors, and coaches
- Occupational therapists and other professionals supporting individuals with OCD
A basic working knowledge of ACT is recommended. If you’re new to ACT, we offer a free on-demand introduction to ACT workshop to help you prepare.
At the end of this 3 hour workshop you will be able to:
- Apply ACT-based techniques to enhance ERP, increasing engagement and reducing resistance in young people with OCD.
- Demonstrate strategies for maintaining rapport with teens, using values and self-compassion to sustain motivation in therapy.
- Implement practical approaches to help parents and caregivers reduce accommodation while providing effective support.
- Adapt ERP interventions flexibly when clients experience new intrusive themes or struggle with therapy adherence.
APA psychologists: This program is sponsored by Contextual Consulting and is approved for 3 CE credits for psychologists.
Nationally certified counselors: This workshop is available for 3 credit hours. Contextual Consulting Ltd. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7578.
To find out more, including attendance requirements and how to access your certificate, go to our continuing education information page.
If you have disability and require adjustments or accommodation, please email us at admin@contextualconsulting.co.uk to discuss your needs and we will do our best to help you.
Booking cancellation
The registration fee will be refunded minus a administration charge if cancellations are received at least two weeks before the workshop date.
Cancellations within two weeks of the event date are charged the full registration fee, other than in exceptional circumstances that can be verified.
Event cancellation
In the event of cancellation of the course outside of our control we will not be held accountable for travel and/or accommodation costs incurred. However, the workshop fees will be refunded.
All workshops will be subject to minimum delegate numbers being met; in the event that a workshop should be cancelled delegates will be given no less than 2 months’ notice.
Replacing delegates
If a delegate is unable to attend and a replacement is nominated there may be a charge depending on the individual circumstances, this will be advised at the time. Please contact the us to request a replacement of delegates at least a week before the workshop date.
Contextual Consulting is committed to the identification and resolution of potential conflicts of interest in the planning, promotion, delivery, and evaluation of continuing education. Potential conflicts of interest occur when an individual assumes a professional role in the planning, promotion, delivery, or evaluation of continuing education where personal, professional, legal, financial, or other interests could reasonably be expected to impair their objectivity, competence, or effectiveness.
There was no commercial support for this event. None of the planners or presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
Sedley, B. & Coyne, L (2020), Stuff that’s Loud: A Teen’s Guide to Unspiralling when OCD gets Noisy, Little, Brown.