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2025 Annual Report

2025 Annual Report
Read Manuela's Letter

Dear Members of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS),

As I reflect on this past year, I am filled with deep appreciation for the vitality, generosity, and shared commitment that continue to shape ACBS. Our association is more than an organization—it is a living community of practice, inquiry, and care, held together by a shared dedication to alleviating human suffering and promoting psychological flexibility across contexts and cultures.

This year has been one of growth, learning, and meaningful connection. Across regions and disciplines, ACBS members have advanced research, strengthened clinical practice, expanded training opportunities, and fostered spaces of inclusion and collaboration. Our chapters, SIGs, committees, and volunteers have once again shown that ACBS thrives because of the willingness of its members to contribute time, creativity, and heart.

At the same time, we have continued to ask important questions about who we are and who we aspire to be as a global community. This year marked the debut of the Global CBS Exchange, a fully virtual, around-the-clock training and research event, designed to increase accessibility and strengthen global engagement. By offering high-quality learning opportunities across time zones, we took a meaningful step toward bringing contextual behavioral science education to more people, wherever they are. 

These efforts reflect our shared understanding that science and practice are always embedded in relationships, cultures, and lived experience.

October brought a joyful celebration of our 20th anniversary. As we look back on how far we have come—and ahead to where we are going—we can clearly see the remarkable growth that has unfolded over these years, and with our Strategic Plan, we are committed to nurturing that growth into the future.

After years of collaborative work across the Competency Pillar, the Training Community, and dedicated Board members, ACBS released its first International Standards of Training and Supervision in Psychological Therapies based on CBS. These standards represent a major milestone, offering a shared framework to guide training, research, and practice worldwide, while remaining aligned with our core value of an open, non-hierarchical community. I personally appreciate this initiative, as it serves as a clear and compassionate lighthouse to guide the dissemination of Contextual Behavioral Science.

Another deeply meaningful initiative this year, led by staff, to increase global access of our digital resources included adding translations in 12 languages to many of the videos available on the ACBS website. . This effort touches me profoundly, as it directly addresses language barriers and significantly advances equity and access for diverse linguistic communities around the world.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Board of Directors, committee members, staff, chapter leaders, trainers, researchers, and all those who serve ACBS in visible and invisible ways. Your dedication sustains the integrity, warmth, and continuity of this community. I am also deeply grateful to our members—your curiosity, courage, and engagement are the foundation of everything we do. We all are ACBS.

As you read this annual report, I invite you to see it not only as a summary of accomplishments, but as a reflection of a collective journey. ACBS continues to evolve because we walk this path together—grounded in values, guided by science, and animated by care.

Thank you for being part of this community and for contributing to the ongoing unfolding of contextual behavioral science.

With appreciation and commitment,

Manuela O’Connell
President, Association for Contextual Behavioral Science

Advancing Science Through ACBS Grants

ACBS grants support innovative, inclusive, and impactful research that advances contextual behavioral science worldwide. In 2025, grant funding supported projects across multiple continents, cultural contexts, and areas of application.

In 2025 ACBS awarded nearly $20,000 of grant funding furthering our commitment of investing in projects that advance global and inclusive science.

2025 Grant Recipients:

  • Timothy R. Moore, Sadaf Khawar, and Ifrah Abdullahi
    Collaborative Adaptation of Acceptance and Commitment Training with Parents in a Somali Cultural Context! (Inclusive Science Grant)
  • Kainat Asmat, Mehr Muhammad Adeel Riaz, Abel Jacobus Pienaar, and Habibullah Gulzar
    Feasibility of Community-Delivered Culturally Adapted ACT Groups for Psychosocial Support in Flood-Affected Pakistan (LAMIC Grant)
  • Wai Tong Chien, Annie Lai King Yip, Richard John Gray, Eric Fuk Chi Cheung, Eric Morris, and Yongfeng Chen
    A Pilot Trial of a Peer-facilitated, Acceptance-based Illness Self-management Program for Recent-onset Psychosis (General Grant)
  • Claudia-Iuliana Iacob and Miralena I. Tomescu
    EEG microstates as biomarkers of cognitive defusion in parents of children with developmental disabilities (General Grant)

Committees, SIGs, and Chapters: The Heart of ACBS

ACBS thrives because of its volunteers. In 2025:

  • 15 committees were supported by 101 volunteers, including committee chairs
  • 44 Special Interest Groups (SIGs) connected members around shared passions
  • 43 Chapters and 24 affiliates advanced CBS at local, regional, and national levels


Committee Highlights

Rather than listing every accomplishment, we celebrate several milestones that reflect the scope and impact of committee work in 2025:

  • Scientific Strategic Council (SSC): Successfully executed the first-ever ACBS Research Retreat and led the research programming for the October virtual event.
  • Membership Committee: Supported the Rookie Retreat at the 2025 ACBS World Conference in New Orleans, welcoming and orienting new members into the ACBS community.
  • Developing Nations Committee: Planned the second LMIC Conference (February 2026), featuring more than 20 presentations, with proceeds benefiting the Developing Nations Award Fund.

ACBS committees turn member passion into sustained action.


SIG Growth and New Additions

In 2025, ACBS welcomed several new SIGs, reflecting emerging areas of interest and practice:


SIG Milestones

Across SIGs, members created spaces for learning, dialogue, and innovation:


Chapters: CBS in Action Around the World

Chapters bring contextual behavioral science to life—locally, regionally, and globally.

ACBS continues to grow! In 2025, we launched the Michigan Chapter and 2 new affiliates: Dallas-Fort Worth Affiliate and Ukraine - Central Region


Chapter Highlights

ACBS Chapters hosted conferences and regional events across the globe, including:

These events brought CBS closer to local communities while strengthening global connections.

SIG & Chapter Awards: Investing in Community-Led Innovation

In 2025, the ACBS Chapter & SIG Committee awarded small grants to support grassroots initiatives. These awards helped turn ideas into action.

Award Recipients

  • Sweden Chapter: Supported outreach and visibility through the creation of conference and event materials, including a roll-up banner to attract new members.
  • Colombia Chapter: Supported planning and promotion for a regional CBS conference in Bogotá, expanding access to contextual behavioral science across Latin America.
  • Neurodiversity-Affirming Research and Practice SIG: Funded a multilingual virtual workshop series highlighting neurodivergent voices, inclusive practice, and community-based learning.
  • Process-Based Therapy SIG: Supported development of a free, open-access digital crash course introducing Process-Based Therapy to a global audience.
  • Relational Frame Theory SIG: Funded virtual events focused on Open Science practices and collaboration within RFT research.

Membership Snapshot

ACBS membership continues to reflect a truly global and interdisciplinary community. Beyond our paid membership, our global reach continues to grow through digital engagement. Our online community now includes 34,595 followers across five social media platforms—extending ACBS’s visibility, strengthening our global brand, and connecting thousands more to contextual behavioral science.

Geographic Distribution

 

Congratulations to the 2025 ACBS Fellows on their contributions to contextual behavioral science and to the growth and evolution of our community: 

  • Maureen Flynn, Ph.D.
  • Duncan Gillard, Ed.D.
  • Lou Lasprugato, M.A.
  • Miranda Morris, Ph.D.
  • Miguel Rodríguez Valverde, Ph.D.
  • Amie Zarling, Ph.D.

We proudly provided 749 free memberships to individuals in LAMIC countries, Iran, and Russia—expanding access and growing our global community.

 

 

Overall, ACBS continues to expand both in scale and global visibility—from membership and geographic diversity to online reach and subsidized access. Together, these efforts advance our mission of building a vibrant, inclusive, and collaborative contextual behavioral science community.

Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS)

In 2025, JCBS continued to strengthen its reputation as a leading scientific platform for contextual behavioral research. The journal successfully launched two special issues, advanced a mentorship program supporting emerging scholars (now entering its concluding phase), and maintained strong efficiency in manuscript processing through the efforts of a highly engaged editorial board.

JCBS remains a central outlet for rigorous, applied, and globally relevant CBS.

2025 ACBS World Conference

The 2025 ACBS World Conference continued to serve as a flagship gathering point for contextual behavioral scientists, clinicians, students, and practitioners from across the globe. Participants engaged in a diverse range of sessions highlighting cutting-edge science, clinical innovation, dissemination efforts, and applied CBS practices.

2025 World Conference by the Numbers:

  • 800 total attendees
  • 37 countries represented
  • 250 pre-conference workshop attendees (in person)
  • 128 pre-conference workshop attendees (virtual)
  • 155 total sessions
  • 68 poster presenters
  • 20 scholarships awarded
  • 12 awards presented

These numbers reflect the continued growth and accessibility of the conference, including hybrid workshop participation and sustained financial support for scholars and practitioners.

Global CBS Exchange

Attendees: 221
Countries represented: 39

The Global CBS Exchange continued to serve as a powerful platform for cross-cultural learning, collaboration, and shared growth within the CBS community.

Financials

Keeping ACBS thriving takes meaningful resources—from staffing and technology to global programming, scientific initiatives, and community support structures. Member dues play a critical role in sustaining this work. 

The Power of Values-Based Dues

ACBS operates on a values-based dues model, which allows members to contribute at levels aligned with their financial ability and commitment to the community.

When members are able to give more, it directly expands access for others.

Higher contributions enable ACBS to:

  • Support more scholarships and awards
  • Make events more affordable and inclusive
  • Expand global impact by providing resources, training, and—when possible—membership access to under-resourced communities.

Looking Ahead

In 2025, ACBS strengthened its foundation while expanding its global reach. Through grants, conferences, publications, training, and volunteer leadership, ACBS continues to advance contextual behavioral science in ways that are inclusive, innovative, and deeply connected to real-world impact.

Together, we are building a vibrant, creative, and collaborative CBS community—one year at a time.