Student Spotlight Award Recipient - Julie Petersen

Congratulations to Julie Petersen on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for March 2022!

The purpose of this award is to highlight students who are doing important work in the CBS community whether for research, clinical, and/or volunteer-humanitarian efforts.

This is a way to highlight their achievements, let the ACBS community know important work students are doing, and possibly provide a platform for mentoring, collaboration, professional development, and conversations around highlighted areas.

---

Learn more about Julie Petersen:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:

I was first introduced to ACT in graduate school under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Twohig. Once I learned about ACT, I knew I was meant to be an ACT therapist. As I progressed through graduate school, I subsequently focused my research on the adaptation, implementation, and dissemination of ACT for youth across a variety of contexts. For example, my master’s thesis was the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) of DNA-V for adolescents with anxiety; I worked directly with local high schools to implement DNA-V groups into the school day to provide students with extra mental health support. Currently I am working on my dissertation, a RCT of telehealth ACT for adolescents with transdiagnostic health-related anxiety. I also contributed to the creation and testing of ACT Guide for Adolescents, an online, self-help intervention for youth.

Clinically, I am passionate about using acceptance-based approaches like ACT to empower youth to explore and pursue what they find most meaningful. I have worked in an ACT community clinic for the last two years, primarily working with young people. I have also specifically spent the last several months working with undergraduate athletes, collaboratively using ACT to empower them to discover their best selves within and outside of athletic achievement. I am inspired daily by the strength of the young people I work with and strive to use humor and engaging activities to make treatment meaningful and fun, whether it be in a traditional clinic, telehealth, schools, or self-help.

Autobiography:

I grew up in New Jersey, USA, and have a special place in my heart for the Garden State. I completed my undergraduate degree in psychology at Haverford College, where I had my first experiences in psychology research. Before coming to USU for graduate school in clinical psychology, I had the opportunity to gain first-hand experience with treatment research through my role as a research assistant for Dr. Edna Foa at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety. Presently, I am a fourth-year doctoral student in the combined clinical/counseling psychology program at Utah State University (USU). I work primarily with Drs. Michael Twohig and Michael Levin. Through USU and my mentors, I fell in love with ACT and have been passionate about acceptance-based therapies ever since. My research at USU is primarily centralized around ACT and obsessive-compulsive-related concerns and anxiety, particularly for children and adolescents. I love working with young people and feel deeply connected to the suffering, power, and imagination of adolescence. I learn from the youth I work with every day and am especially grateful for their willingness and strength. Beyond psychology, I love nail art, reading, music, and reality TV. Everyone in my life knows way more about ACT than they probably ever thought they would—I am grateful for all the love and support I have received from my family, friends, and mentors.

Future goals:

I hope to further research and disseminate ACT for young people in most need of the tools to live life in service of what is most meaningful to them.

Relevant publications:

Petersen, J.M., Hayes, L., Gillard, D., & Ciarrochi, J. (In press). ACT for children and adolescents. In Twohig, M.P., Levin, M.E., & Petersen, J.M. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Oxford University Press.

Twohig, M.P., Levin, M.E., & Petersen, J.M., (In press). The Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Oxford University Press.

Twohig, M. P., Petersen, J. M., Fruge, J., Ong, C. W., Barney, J. L., Krafft, J., Lee, E. B., & Levin, M. E. (in press). A pilot randomized controlled trial of online-delivered ACT-enhanced behavior therapy for trichotillomania in adolescents. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.

Petersen, J.M. & Twohig, M.P. (in press). Sexual orientation intrusive thoughts and well-being: The mediating role of psychological inflexibility. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

Krafft, J., Ong, C.W., Davis, C.H., Petersen, J.M., Levin, M.E., & Twohig, M.P. (in press). An open trial of group acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) with an adjunctive mobile app for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.

Ong, C.W., Lee., E.B., Petersen, J.M., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M.P. (in press). Is perfectionism always unhealthy? Examining the moderating effects of psychological flexibility and self-compassion. Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Petersen, J.M., Durward, C., Levin, M. (2021). Psychological inflexibility as a mediator between weight self-stigma and health-related outcomes. Bulletin of Menninger Clinic, 85(3), 316-330

Ong, C.W., Krafft, J., Panoussi, F., Petersen, J. M., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M.P. (in press). In-person and online-delivered acceptance and commitment therapy for hoarding disorder: A multiple baseline study. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science.

Zemestani, M., Salavati, M., Seyedolshohadaii, A., Petersen, J., Twohig, M., & Ghaderi, E. (2020). An Iranian randomized controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) versus exposure and response prevention (ERP) for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder on an optimal dose of SSRIs. Behavior Modification, 0145445520982977.

Petersen, J.M., Ong, C.W., Hancock, A., Gillam, R., Levin, M.E., & Twohig, M.P. (2020). An examination of the relationship between perfectionism and neurological functioning. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1.

Ong, C. W., Pierce, B. G., Petersen, J. M., Barney, J. L., Fruge, J. E., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2020). A psychometric comparison of psychological inflexibility measures: Discriminant validity and item performance. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 34-47.

Davazdahemami, M. H., Bayrami, A., Petersen, J. M., Twohig, M. P., Bakhtiyari, M., Noori, M., Kheradmand, A. (2019). Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for death anxiety in Iranian clients diagnosed with OCD. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 1.

Petersen, J. M., Krafft, J., Twohig, M. P., Levin, M. E. (2019). Evaluating the open and engaged components of acceptance and commitment therapy in an online self-guided website: Results from a pilot trial. Behavior Modification. 0145445519878668.

Twohig, M.P., Levin, M.E., & Petersen, J.M., (In press). Introduction to Oxford University Press Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. In Twohig, M.P., Levin, M.E., & Petersen, J.M. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Oxford University Press.

Krafft, J., Petersen, J.M., & Twohig, M.P. (In press). Acceptance and commitment therapy for obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. In In D. McKay, J. Abramowitz, & E. Storch (Eds.). Complexities in Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. New York: Oxford Press.

Twohig, M. P., Ong, C. W., Petersen, J. M., Barney, J. L., & Fruge, J. E. (2020). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Exposure Exercises. In M. E. Levin, M. P. Twohig, & J. E. Krafft (Eds.). Innovations in ACT. New Harbinger: Oakland, CA.