The ACBS Affiliate program is intended to allow ACBS members to self-organize at the local level. ACBS Affiliates are a quicker, smaller, and simpler way to coordinate a local ACBS group. Affiliates are not required to have a board of directors, have banking accounts, or submit tax forms. ACBS Affiliates can, however, do most of the same activities that a chapter does.
The North Central New Jersey Affiliate of the ACBS New York Chapter hosts two events per year in suburban Northern New Jersey. In the autumn, it hosts a fun, evening event where members can socialize and network with each other; and in the spring, it hosts a luncheon with an invited speaker. On March 10, 2017, the North Central New Jersey Affiliate hosted its annual Lunch and Learn Event at the Roots Steakhouse in Morristown, New Jersey. The featured speaker was Jonathan Fader, Ph.D., author of “Life As Sport: What Top Athletes Can Teach You About How To Win In Life.”
Although the lack of a bank account makes it easier to administer an Affiliate, a tradeoff is that this can also make it more difficult for Affiliates to collect money at an event. The North Central New Jersey Affiliate has realized the most efficient way to host events is to have a corporate sponsor, therefore making the events free to attendees. The March 2017 Lunch and Learn Event was sponsored by the Recovery Division of Acadia Healthcare, which also provided free gift bags containing a pen, a stress ball, an adult coloring book, and colored pencils. Each attendee also received a free copy of the speaker’s book. Erica Miller, Ph.D., helped organize the Lunch and Learn. Miller explained that she has found free events to be better attended. Fifty people attended the Lunch and Learn event; about half were already ACBS members and the remainder were attending their first ACBS activity.
Jonathan Fader, Ph.D., the speaker at the event, was superb. Seriously, he was great! He had the attendees on their feet dancing to the Rolling Stones and he had all attendees involved in a rousing Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament. Dr. Fader’s talk concentrated on how therapists can use the same techniques to prepare for their work as a professional athlete uses to mentally prepare for a game.
To find out if there is an ACBS Affiliate near you, check out the Affiliate section on the ACBS website.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Laura Purcell is the Chapter and SIG Coordinator for the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. Laura can be reached at community@contextualscience.org
Thank you to Peter J. Economou, Ph.D., for taking photographs of the Lunch and Learn.