Develop the relational health capacities that create the conditions for growth, healing, and belonging. Apply the evidence-based practices of Awareness, Courage & Love™ to deepen your relational effectiveness and cultivate authentic connection, belonging, resilience, and well-being in one-to-one and group settings.
Founding Cohort begins Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 8:00–10:00 am Pacific Time.
This certification isn't something you sit back and watch. It's something you experience.
Each live session is a chance to fully engage and to practice the very skills you're here to learn—in real conversations with real people. The most meaningful learning happens in relationships, not by observing from the sidelines.
We ask you to come as you are: present, curious, and willing to participate. Please plan to have your camera on whenever possible. We will invite you to stretch beyond your comfort zone, but always with respect for your autonomy and your inner wisdom.
As faculty, we make the same commitment. We won't simply teach concepts—we'll be fully present with you. We'll bring our humanity, our decades of experience, our curiosity, and our care. We'll listen deeply, offer honest feedback, celebrate your growth, and create a learning environment grounded in mutuality, professionalism, and confidentiality.
If you're looking for a course to consume passively, this probably isn't the right fit.
If you're ready to learn in a community where people strive to see, know, and value one another—and where you'll practice doing the same—we'd be honored to welcome you.
Build fluency in evidence-based relational practices — grounded in FAP science and the Awareness, Courage & Love™ framework — that deepen trust, open what's most alive in a conversation, and create the conditions for genuine transformation.
Gain access to the ACL™ Practice Library, 100+ session protocols, guided meditations, contemplative exercises, and facilitation practices — designed for individuals, teams, and communities.
Belong to a cross-cultural network of practitioners committed to connection, consultation, and embodying the relational practices they teach.
Through eight weeks of didactic and experiential learning, practice, feedback, and reflection, you'll develop the relational core competencies at the heart of Awareness, Courage & Love™ (ACL™). Whether you work in therapy, coaching, healthcare, education, leadership, or community settings, you'll learn how to foster deeper connection, growth, and belonging. Your final certification project applies ACL™ principles in the setting most relevant to your work and calling.
Practice recognizing relational opportunities in real time, using awareness, courage, and care to allow the emergence of growth, healing, resilience, and lasting change.
Explore how relational health strengthens trust, psychological safety, collaboration, and engagement — learning to navigate rupture and repair while creating cultures where people learn, contribute, and thrive together.
Lead ACL™ experiential meetings and explore how relational practices foster sustainable belonging, resilience, and collective well-being — creating monthly spaces where people experience deeper connection, more joy, and support.
Therapists, coaches, educators, helping professionals, leaders, community builders, changemakers, and individuals seeking to deepen their capacity to create meaningful human connection.
An 8-week cohort-based certification experience combining live instruction, experiential practice, peer learning pods, guided self-study, one-on-one coaching, and a final certification project.
Continuing education: ICF and counselor CE applications are underway — details before the Founding Cohort begins.
Develop the core relational competencies of Awareness, Courage & Love™ through a blend of evidence-informed instruction, experiential learning, practice, feedback, and reflection. Learn to cultivate psychological safety, practice present-moment awareness, respond skillfully to vulnerability, facilitate meaningful conversations, navigate rupture and repair, and foster belonging and growth across professional and community contexts.
Founder, ACL™ Global Project
Co-creator of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP); Senior Research Scientist at the University of Washington's Center for the Science of Social Connection; Fellow, Association for Contextual Behavioral Science; Distinguished Psychologist Award, Washington State. Lead trainer for all certification cohorts.
Strategic Advisor & Impact Partner, ACL™ Global Project
ICF-PCC — Professional Certified Coach (ICF) | Executive and Leadership Development Coach | Board of Advisors, World Happiness Foundation | Lead trainer in applying ACL™ to coaching, leadership, and organizational settings.
Manager of Community Building & Education, ACL™ Global Project
Facilitator and mentor to 12 cohorts of ACL leaders worldwide; contributor to the experiential design and delivery of the ACL™ certification program.
Founding Cohort begins Wednesday, October 7, 2026. Live sessions meet online Wednesdays, 8:00–10:00 am Pacific, for eight sessions through December 2, with a one-week break on October 14.
Please note: Because daylight saving time ends on different dates around the world, your local meeting time may change starting with the October 28 session.
For participants whose work or organization can support the full investment.
For independent practitioners, coaches, therapists, and consultants funding their own development.
For participants experiencing financial constraints, regardless of where they live.
We trust you to select the rate that best reflects your current financial reality — no justification required. Flexible payment plans are available, with up to 10 monthly installments. See our refund policy
Already serving a community and facing financial barriers? The Belonging Fund offers partial scholarships to leaders committed to bringing ACL™ practices to the people they serve.
A few simple steps to claim your place in the inaugural ACL™ certification.
Join the Founding CohortQuestions? connect@livewithacl.org
Tell us a bit about yourself to help us understand who you are and where you're headed — there's nothing to prepare and there are no wrong answers. Most people complete this form in about five minutes.
Thank you! Once you've answered the questions, the next step is to reserve your place in the Founding Cohort. Choose the pathway that's right for you.
To request a cancellation or refund, please email us at connect@livewithacl.org. Eligible refunds will be processed within five business days.
I expected to learn new skills as a therapist. This training deepened how I relate to the people I love, the clients I serve, and the person I continue to become. I keep feeling inspired by my participation.
I left each ACL session with more openness and awareness in the experience of deepening connections with myself and others—a presence that serves me well in my coaching practice. When I began leading ACL groups, I felt equipped to create the kind of courageous, heartfelt spaces I had experienced myself.
ACL helped me to embrace my true self—to be more vulnerable, compassionate, and mindful with others and myself. It gave me the courage and skills to share these practices with people and communities far beyond my own.
As we prepare to welcome our first certification cohort, these reflections offer a glimpse into the experiences of those who participated in the ACL™ programs that informed its development — and the ways this work has continued to shape their lives and leadership.
This certification is the culmination of a decade of ACL™ leadership development and four decades of science and practice rooted in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). While this is our inaugural cohort, it has been shaped by the experiences of hundreds of ACL participants and leaders around the world.
This certification is designed for therapists, coaches, healthcare professionals, educators, leaders, facilitators, nonprofit professionals, faith leaders, and community builders who want to strengthen their ability to foster meaningful connection, belonging, and growth. No prior training in FAP, ACT, or ACL™ is required.
No. We teach the foundational concepts and skills you need to participate fully. Whether you're new to these approaches or have years of experience, the program is designed to support both personal and professional growth.
Plan for about 4 hours per week: one 2-hour live session, plus roughly 2 hours for guided self-study, practice assignments, and your small practice pod. Beyond the weekly rhythm, set aside approximately 8 hours across the program for your 1:1 coaching and for preparing and completing your final capstone project.
The program is delivered fully online through live, interactive sessions. Participants join from around the world, creating a rich international learning community while allowing you to take part from wherever you live.
Practice pods are small peer groups that meet between sessions to deepen learning, practice relational skills, support one another’s growth, and consult on certification projects. Many participants find these relationships become one of the most meaningful parts of the experience.
We are applying for continuing education approval for ICF coach education and counselor continuing education. Final details and approved credit hours will be shared prior to the start of the Founding Cohort.
Yes. Participants apply ACL™ principles within their own professional contexts, including therapy, coaching, healthcare, education, leadership, organizational development, and community settings. Your final certification project is tailored to your unique role and goals.
You'll be equipped to apply ACL™ principles in your work and relationships, facilitate meaningful relational experiences, respond skillfully to vulnerability and disconnection, draw from the ACL™ Practice Library of 100+ evidence-informed protocols, and join a growing international community of ACL™ practitioners.
Yes. We’ve created several options to make participation affordable. Rates slide depending on your financial situation, and all participants may choose payment plans of up to ten monthly installments. Through our Belonging Fund, we offer a limited number of partial scholarships, prioritizing community and social leaders bringing ACL™ relational health practices to underserved settings. Scholarships are partial by design — every certified practitioner invests in their credential. Applications for ICF Continuing Coach Education (CCE) and counselor continuing education credits are underway, and many employers reimburse professional development expenses.
Certification marks the beginning — not the end — of your ACL™ journey. Graduates become part of an international community of practitioners, with opportunities for continued learning, peer connection, and recertification every three years to support ongoing growth and integrity of practice.
No. ACL™ principles can enrich therapeutic and coaching work, but this certification is designed to strengthen relational health across many contexts. Participants learn to apply these practices ethically and within the scope of their professional roles.
FAP (Functional Analytic Psychotherapy) is the clinical, evidence-based therapy model co-created by Dr. Mavis Tsai and Dr. Robert Kohlenberg that uses the therapeutic relationship itself as the vehicle for change. ACL™ (Awareness, Courage & Love) translates that same relational science into a framework anyone can use — in coaching, leadership, education, and community settings, not only in clinical therapy.
Because the most powerful instrument in this work is you. Through practicing Awareness, Courage & Love™, you'll deepen your own capacity for presence, authenticity, and connection — and bring those qualities into every relationship you serve.
