Personal recovery is a persisting concern for people with psychotic disorders. Accordingly, mental health services have adopted frameworks of personal recovery, prioritizing adaptation to psychosis alongside symptom remission. Group acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for psychosis aims to promote personal recovery alongside improved mood and quality of life.

The objectives of this uncontrolled, prospective pilot study were to determine whether ‘Recovery ACT’ groups for adults are a feasible, acceptable and safe program within public mental health services, and assess effectiveness through measuring changes in personal recovery, wellbeing, and psychological flexibility.

Program feasibility, acceptability and safety indicators were collected from referred consumers (n=105). Adults (n=80) diagnosed with psychotic disorders participated in an evaluation of ‘Recovery ACT’ groups in Australian community public mental health services. Participants completed pre- and post-group measures assessing personal recovery, wellbeing, and psychological flexibility.

Of 101 group enrollees, 78.2% attended at least one group session (n=79); 73.8% attended three or more, suggesting feasibility. Eighty of 91 first-time attendees participated in the evaluation. Based on completer analyses (n=39), participants’ personal recovery and wellbeing increased post-group. Outcome changes correlated with the linear combination of psychological flexibility measures.

‘Recovery ACT’ groups are feasible, acceptable and safe in Australian public mental health services. ‘Recovery ACT’ may improve personal recovery, wellbeing, and psychological flexibility. Uncontrolled study design, completer analyses, and program discontinuation rates limit conclusions.

Insomnia and disturbed sleep are more common in autistic adults compared with non-autistic adults, contributing to significant social, psychological and health burdens. However, sleep intervention research for autistic adults is lacking.

The aim of the study was to implement an acceptance and commitment therapy group insomnia intervention (ACT-i) tailored for autistic adults to examine its impact on insomnia and co-occurring mental health symptoms.

Eight individuals (6 male, 2 female) aged between 18 and 70 years, with a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, and scores ranging from 9 to 26 on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) participated in the trial. Participants were assigned to one of two intervention groups (4 per group) within a multiple baseline over time design for group. Participants completed questionnaires pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 2-month follow-up, actigraphy 1 week prior to intervention and 1 week post-intervention, and a daily sleep diary from baseline to 1 week post-intervention, and 1 week at follow-up.

At a group level there were significant improvements in ISI (λ2=10.17, p=.006) and HADS-A (anxiety) (λ2=8.40, p=.015) scores across the three time points. Clinically reliable improvement occurred for ISI scores (n=5) and HADS-A scores (n=4) following intervention. Client satisfaction indicated that ACT-i was an acceptable intervention to the participants (median 4 out of 5).

This pilot study with eight autistic adults indicates that ACT-i is both an efficacious and acceptable intervention for reducing self-reported insomnia and anxiety symptoms in autistic adults.