ACT Like a Chaplain

Program Information:
Please join chaplains Jake Taxis and Theresa Utschig as they explore ways in which evidence-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can deepen pastoral encounters, strengthen a chaplain’s resilience, and enrich the art of spiritual caregiving. Jake and Theresa will help fellow caregivers to navigate the core processes and principles of ACT in order to make use of its rich interventions for the care of souls – including one’s own.

Program Objectives:
In this workshop, participants will learn how to apply the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in the hospital spiritual care setting:

• Discuss ACT’s six core principles of developing psychological flexibility
• Learn the goals of ACT and how to apply these in the pastoral encounter
• Discuss mindfulness and its application within the ACT protocol
• Learn how ACT differs from other mindfulness-based approaches to therapy
• Discuss how the assumptions of Western psychology are different from those of ACT therapy
• Share Spiritual Care resources for using ACT with patients, families and staff in the healthcare setting

Program of Events:
11:00 a.m. Registration; welcome, introductions and reflection
11:30 a.m. ACT Like a Chaplain
12:30 p.m. Lunch (bring your own, or shop at on-site City Market cafe)
1:00 a.m. ACT in the Hospital Spiritual Care Setting
3:30 p.m. NACC updates and Closing Reflections
4:00 p.m. Ending

About the Presenters:
Rev. Jake Taxis, MA, MDiv is an ordained minister in the North American Lutheran Church and the palliative care chaplain at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. He is also a hospice chaplain with Preceptor Healthcare. Jake completed a fellowship in mental health chaplaincy at the VA Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics in 2017, where he employed ACT to minister to military veterans in the context of PTSD, moral injury, and substance use disorder. If all goes according to plan, Jake will be board- certified by the time of this presentation.


 

Theresa Utschig, MAPS, BCC is a Board-Certified Chaplain serving at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Theresa has served as chaplain for the past 14 years, both at Wheaton (currently Ascension) and Froedtert Hospital. She has been a Spiritual Director for over 20 years, serving both in Europe and in the United States. She provides retreats on Wisdom and Embodied Spirituality. She currently owns her own business, Tau Healing Arts, creating spiritual art for healing the emotions and the spirit.

A $20 participant fee will cover refreshments and the program. 4.0 CEH’s are offered.

If you have any questions, please contact Andris Kursietis at the national office: 414-483-4898.