May 6, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 1st Monday of each month.  Location: The Cumberland Club. Parking in back off Spring Street. Agenda: Special guest Gina Colombatto will discuss her work with topics related to death and dying, “the fine art of living and dying,” and her facilitation of the local Death Cafe.

May 17, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Group usually meets on the 3rd Friday of each month. Agenda: Spring re-group and bring a case. We will probably spend a few minutes anticipating and planning for the Fall Retreat 2019. Location: MMP-Family Practice @ 272 Congress St. (please contact us if you will be attending for a first time).

May 20, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 4th Monday of each month. Due to the Memorial Day holiday, group will meet the THIRD Monday of May. Location: The Cumberland Club. Parking in back off Spring Street. Agenda: Tentative topic will be Pain: The Fifth Vital Sign. Please listen to this episode of Invisibilia in preparation for the meeting.

May 22, 6 pm+.  EvoS Book Club
Group usually meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Agenda: Spring re-group!  Please listen to this podcast episode on The Evolution of Culture and come prepared to discuss. If you are game, I propose you tag the specific location (time) in the discussion where an interesting exchange occurs or an intriguing point is made. We can share some of these, ideally <10 min clips, and discuss.

April 1, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 1st Monday of each month. New location: The Cumberland Club. Parking in back off Spring Street. Agenda: Prep for upcoming meeting on “the fine art of living and dying.”

April 19, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Group usually meets on the 3rd Friday of each month. After being off for March, we will reconvene on April 19. Agenda: TBD. Location: MMP-Family Practice @ 272 Congress St. (please contact us if you will be attending for a first time).

April 22, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 4th Monday of each month. New location: The Cumberland Club. Parking in back off Spring Street. Agenda: Mindy & Monique will bring an ACT video to process.

April 24?, 6 pm+.  EvoS Book Club
Group usually meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Agenda: TBD

Feb 4, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 1st Monday of each month. New location: The Cumberland Club. Parking in back off Spring Street. Agenda: TBD

Feb 15, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Group usually meets on the 3rd Friday of each month. Agenda: ACT with Health Conditions, focus on cardiac health. Amy will present a case. Location: MMP-Family Practice @ 272 Congress St. (please contact us if you will be attending for a first time).

Feb 25, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 4th Monday of each month. New location: The Cumberland Club. Parking in back off Spring Street.

In February, we discussed a wide range of themes and possible foci for our meetings in 2019, including;

• Stuck patterns (ours and our clients’) and relapse into old patterns. Can we unstick ourselves and, in the process, become sufficiently familiar with that terrain to also help others?
• Power of the environment (and network of contingencies–cues, reinforcements and punishments, i.e., the context) on choice and “free will”. Can we help people rearrange their contexts in a more robust and effective way to enable change (vs. changing some invisible internal “thing” like will or motivation)?\
• Increasing awareness and skill in shaping behavior (ours and others’) in the room, i.e., importing concepts and practices from clinical behavior analysis to maximize our effectiveness in helping others during our brief time with them.
• Experiential exercises–on the fly and planned. How do we break out of our own rigid patterns and practices (e.g., sitting and talking for 45 minutes) to model flexibility and encourage it in others?
• Keepin’ it concrete. How do we keep our feet on the ground and discuss and practice practical interventions that we can use with ourselves and our patients NOW.
• Cases. In the midst of our busyness, we need to make sure our time spent together has some meaningful and immediate return on the investment of time (to justify our doing it). Creating a useful space to discuss and process cases.

Agenda: (a) Read the article on relapse and reinforcing behavior patterns shared by Mindy (check email from just after our last meeting). (b) Bring a case and consider how it relates to one or more of the above themes. Sounds like attendance may be light in February so all the more important that you show up rarin’ to go!

Feb 27, 6 pm+.  EvoS Book Club
Group usually meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Agenda: Chapters 12 and 13 of “Evolution in contextual behavioral science.”

Mar 4, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 1st Monday of each month. New location: The Cumberland Club. Parking in back off Spring Street. Agenda: (a) Watch the full version or short version of the David Foster Wallace commencement speech mentioned at last meeting and come prepared to discuss its relevance to your life, your practice, and the people you strive the help. (b) We will continue the theme of integrating personal grown (of us as helpers) and how it intertwines with supporting the growth of others (our clients or patients).

Mar 15, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Group usually meets on the 3rd Friday of each month. NO MEETING THIS MONTH. We will reconvene on April 19. Agenda: TBD. Location: MMP-Family Practice @ 272 Congress St. (please contact us if you will be attending for a first time).

Mar 25, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 4th Monday of each month. New location: The Cumberland Club. Parking in back off Spring Street. Agenda: TBD

Mar 27, 6 pm+.  EvoS Book Club
Group usually meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Agenda: TBD

Nov 12, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 1st Monday of each month (hence the name). However, due to a schedule conflict, we will meet the SECOND Monday in November. Agenda: Self-as-Context chapter and discussion led by Bryan. We will resume meeting on first Mondays in December: Dec 3.

Nov 16, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Agenda: TBD. Location: MMP-Family Practice @ 272 Congress St. (please contact us if you will be attending for a first time).

Nov 19, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 4th Monday of each month (hence the name). However, due to travel/holiday/schedule conflicts, we will meet the THIRD Monday in November and December. Agenda: TBD

EvoS Book Club
Group is “on hold” and not meeting again until after the New Year. Group usually meets on the 4th Wednesday @ 6 pm.  Agenda: Read the remainder of “Breaking the Spell” by Dennett on your own! Discuss with anyone who will listen to you.

Dec 3, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 1st Monday of each month (hence the name). Agenda: TBD

Dec 17, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Group usually meets on the 4th Monday of each month (hence the name). However, due to travel/holiday/schedule conflicts, we will meet the THIRD Monday in  December. Agenda: TBD

Dec 21, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Agenda: TBD. Location: MMP-Family Practice @ 272 Congress St. (please contact us if you will be attending for a first time).

EvoS Book Club
Group is “on hold” and not meeting again until after the New Year. Group usually meets on the 4th Wednesday @ 6 pm.  Agenda: “Breaking the Spell” by Dennett makes a lovely holiday gift. Give it to your family, read it, and force them to discuss it with for some high quality family bonding time.

Oct 1, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Agenda: Montreal ACBS Debrief; SMACT Fall Retreat Debrief

Oct 19, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Agenda: Bring Your Own Case (BYOC). Location: MMP-Family Practice @ 272 Congress St. (please contact us if you will be attending for a first time).

Oct 22, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Agenda: Mindy and Monique will present a shared case.

Oct 24, 6pm+. EvoS Book Club
TBD; check back for updates. Group usually meets on the 4th Wednesday.  Agenda: Read through Chapter 9 of “Breaking the Spell” by Dennett.

Fifth Annual Southern Maine ACT (SMACT) Fall Retreat

Sept 28-30, 2018
Cushing Island, Portland, Maine
8 CEs (will be submitted to relevant boards and pending approval)

Schedule (pending) | Example: Sample schedule from 2017

Register here!

Members of the Southern Maine ACT community (SMACT, i.e., current or recent past participants in the ACT Peer Consultation Group or ACT Study Groups) are invited to join an experiential ACT weekend on Cushing Island sponsored and facilitated by our membership. The weekend has multiple purposes: Learn about ACT and have a first-person experience of ACT, share our collective wisdom, gain experience leading a discussion or workshop, connect with one another and build our community, and engage in self-care. We will do this on two levels – as clinicians and as participants – so you are invited to take both an intellectual and personal perspectives. There will be a variety of topics, and all will weave into the development of 6 major processes of psychological flexibility.

Read more….

Save the Date!  SMACT Fall Retreat will be the weekend of September 28-30, 2018. Please note that this is a change from the original plan.

July 2, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Agenda: Practice and Case Review. Susan will bring a case to discuss.

July 16, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Group will meet on the THIRD Monday this month due to conflict with the ACBS Conference in Montreal. Agenda: Practice!  Case presenter: TBD

July 20, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Agenda: TBD. We do not have access to the usual office space @ 272 Congress for our monthly ACT Peer Consult Group meeting. We will meet @ the Mercy Pain Center, 144 State St. Directions: You can park in the attended lot on Spring St. Go down State St mostly past the hospital, turn RIGHT onto Spring St. Go 1/2 block and turn left into the lot. Tell the attendant you are participating in a meeting in the Pain Center. Enter through the ER entrance on Spring St. Follow the hallways as they snake back to the State St side of the building. OR enter the main doors on State St and the Pain Center will be the hallway to the right. (The Pain Center is next to the Security office.)

Aug 1, 6pm+. EvoS Book Club
Group usually meets on the 4th Wednesday. However, due to various vacation schedule conflicts, we have combined the July and August meetings to an alternate date. Agenda: We will read the first section of Breaking the Spell by Daniel Dennett.

Aug 6, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Cancelled due to expected schedule conflicts by numerous members (I will refund a group payment sometime over the next 30 days). We couldn’t find an alternate date that worked for enough people to justify the meeting. We will resume on the SECOND Monday of September (due to Labor Day): Sept 10 with topic of Present Moment Awareness by Curt; Lisa will serve as backup. We will resume meeting on first Mondays in October : Oct 1.

Aug 17, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Agenda: Chris Gray will present a case. Location: MMP-Family Practice @ 272 Congress St. (please contact us if you will be attending for a first time).

Aug 27, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Check back to confirm this meeting. Agenda: TBD

Save the Date!  SMACT Fall Retreat will be the weekend of September 28-30, 2018. Please note that this is a change from the original plan.

May 7, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Agenda: Practice and Case Review. Susan will bring a case to discuss.

May 18, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Agenda: Reviewing clinical case from an ACT perspective. Cases presentations: TBD

May 21, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Group will meet on the THIRD Monday this month due to the Memorial Day holiday.
We will welcome 1-2 new members this month. Be sure to show up to welcome them. Agenda: Practice!  Case presenter: TBD

May 23, 6pm+. EvoS Book Club
Agenda…
Multimedia: Group agreed to watch or listen (available on any podcast app; Joe Rogan Experience, episode #1081 from 2/20/18) to a long conversation between Joe Rogan (podcast host) and Brett Weinstein and Heather Heying. They cover a range of social-cultural and political topics but the bulk of their discussion is focused on evolutionary psychology and it is fascinating.  Give it a view or listen (given the length of this, I’d recommend listening via podcast app so you can start and stop over chores and commutes!) and come to next group prepared to discuss.
Next Book: We are taking a detour from strictly EvoS books and reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s Natural Causes (link). It’s a short book and quick read so we committed to reading the first 1/2 (more or less).

Save the Date!  SMACT Fall Retreat will be the weekend of September 7-9, 2018

April 2, 8-9:30 am. First Mondays ACT Study Group
Agenda: Practice and Case Review. Teresa will bring a case to discuss.

April 20, 8-9:30 am. ACT Peer Consultation Group
Agenda: Reviewing clinical case from an ACT perspective. Cases to be presented by Vanessa and Steve

April 23, 2017, 8-9:30 am. Fourth Mondays ACT Study Group
Agenda: Practice!  TBD.  This group marks its 3 year anniversary in April!

April 25, 6pm+. EvoS Book Club
We are currently struggling to finish Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright. In April, we will talk about it. Or maybe we won’t. Who is to say? If you have ideas for books, documentaries, some other focus for the group, please bring them!