Patients and health practitioners alike can become preoccupied with the negative factors associated with serious health conditions and overlook the person’s capacity for living fully, despite illness. Consequently, many health psychology interventions focus on removing or reducing the negative features and neglect patient strengths. Different health psychology interventions are often developed for specific mental health problems and then again for different physical medical conditions. However, given the vast number of serious mental and physical health conditions, this approach is duplicative and uneconomical. Although many health psychology interventions are developed, evaluated and published, few are integrated into frontline services and delivered by health practitioners in the longer term.

In response to these challenges, this keynote proposes a shift towards developing health psychology interventions that are strength-based, trans-diagnostic and ecologically valid. Patient strength‐oriented interventions that foster connection and commitment to personal values are likely to optimise patients’ realisation of their full potential in the context of illness-related limitations. Interventions that harness generic therapeutic processes, which target trans-diagnostic psychopathology processes, are likely to have broad reach and increased efficiency across a wide range of medical conditions. Interventions with demonstrated ecological validity are likely to be sustained in ‘real world’ community and clinical settings. Examples of enduring innovative health psychology interventions built around these characteristics will be presented.

This workshop will introduce participants to an empirically supported Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group-based resilience training intervention for people with chronic illness called REsilience Activities every DaY (READY). After a brief presentation on the theory and research underpinning READY, participants will be guided through the READY program. Participants will personally experience each of the seven READY modules. The workshop will present READY content, experiential exercises, group activities, out of session practice tasks and resources. Conversion of the group READY program into a digital format will also be discussed. Based on findings from evaluations of prior similar workshops delivered to health practitioners, participants will not only gain knowledge and competencies in resilience training, but also top up their own resilience resources.