Submit your IGNITE Here!

Do you have an idea, insight, or project related to ACT and the Body you’d love to share with our global community? Now’s your chance!

As part of the ACBS Virtual Summit, we’re inviting members to give short, impactful presentations (5 minutes). Your talk can be empirical, conceptual, philosophical, historical, or methodological—the choice is yours. 

All ACBS members are welcome to submit their presentation. We especially encourage those who: 

• Can’t always attend in-person conferences
• Are looking to gain experience  presenting at peer-reviewed international events.
• Are trainees or early in their career

Possible time slots for 8 October are:

• 13:00 - 14:00 GMT
• 20:15 - 21:15 GMT
• Or pre-recorded Ignite presentations.

Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator

All presenters will have 5 minutes for their presentation. Presenters can present “Ignite” style. For those unfamiliar, an Ignite presentation is a short, structured talk in which presenters share ideas and issues they are most passionate about using a “deck” of 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. (Non-Ignite style presentations will be considered, but with a strict 5 minute time limit.) We hope members will take this opportunity to share their work and connect more deeply with our global community. 

For more on Ignite presentations, see:

http://igniteshow.com/

http://www.speakerconfessions.com/2009/06/how-to-give-a-great-ignite-talk/

All submissions are due by June 15, 2026.

Program & Session Details (All times shown in GMT)

5:30 - 6:45 | This is what bodies do: Changing the relationship with the body - Liz Patton, DClinPsych

This is what bodies do: Changing the relationship with the body, Liz Patton, DClinPsych

Session Abstract: Women's bodies change through menstruation, pregnancy, birth, surgery, illness, menopause, and the slower changes that come with time. In gynaecological care, I meet women at the points where these changes are most acute: after hysterectomy, after mastectomy, through endometriosis, through the perimenopausal and menopausal transition. What arrives in the room is rarely only a medical problem. It is a problem of relationship, between a woman and the body she now has, and between that body and everyone who has ever seen, touched, named, or expected something of it. This work has me reflecting on the contextual environment for all women, and on the people who love them. Women going through bodily change are only one part of the picture.

Changing the relationship with the body can involve taking a closer look at the Self and Social view: a perspective-taking process that lets a person see herself across time and in relation to others. It holds self-perspective and social perspective as one integrated capacity rather than two separate things

Educational Objectives:
1. Describe how the Self and Social view can be applied to women's relationship with the body, particularly through periods of bodily change.
2. Identify flexible processes that support women in facing the fears that arise as their bodies change.
3. Apply perspective-taking work to clinical encounters with women, in ways that hold self-perspective and social perspective as one integrated capacity rather than as two separate processes. 

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Dr Liz Patton is a Clinical Psychologist based in Geelong, Victoria, with more than 13 years of clinical experience. She works primarily with women navigating persistent pain, chronic health challenges, and the profound transitions that come with being a woman. She has been at Barwon Health for over 11 years, where she has helped establish psychological services within the newly funded Women's Health Clinics, supporting women experiencing persistent pelvic pain, menopause, and other gynaecological concerns within a multidisciplinary hospital setting. Liz also runs a private practice and offers clinical supervision.

Her earlier career in neurology rehabilitation and interdisciplinary pain clinics shaped her interest in nervous system-related presentations and persistent pain, and her research has focused on pain education. She is particularly interested in how psychologically flexible approaches, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and DNA-V, can be integrated into hospital-based care for women whose experiences have too often been dismissed or minimised. Liz is a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, the Australian Pain Society, the International Association for the Study of Pain, and the Australian Menopause Society.

7:00 - 8:15 | When the Body Won’t Rest: Sleep, Psychological Inflexibility, and the Amplification of Psychological Distress - Eric Morris, Ph.D.

When the Body Won’t Rest: Sleep, Psychological Inflexibility, and the Amplification of Psychological Distress, Eric Morris, Ph.D.

Session Abstract: Sleep is embodied. When it breaks down, the consequences extend far beyond fatigue, affecting cognition, emotion, and how people experience themselves and others. This seminar presents a program of research examining poor sleep as a psychological amplifier, with psychological inflexibility emerging as a key process linking disrupted sleep to a range of clinical difficulties.

Drawing on cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in community samples, findings will be presented showing associations between poor sleep quality, psychological distress, and increased suspicious and paranoid thinking. Dissociative experiences and psychological inflexibility will be discussed as potential pathways linking poor sleep to paranoia. When the body cannot rest, people become less grounded in present-moment experience and less flexible to responding to inner states. Longitudinal data from an international pandemic-era sample further indicate that worsening insomnia predicts worsening paranoia over time, highlighting the broader interpersonal and social consequences of sleep disruption.

The seminar will then examine mechanisms associated with insomnia itself. Studies investigating psychological inflexibility processes, including cognitive fusion, experiential avoidance, reduced present-moment awareness, sleep hygiene, sleep control beliefs, and pre-sleep arousal, suggest that rigid responses to internal experiences and inflexible beliefs about sleep may contribute to insomnia severity and sleep-related distress. Findings indicate that cognitive fusion and pre-sleep cognitive arousal show particularly strong associations with disrupted sleep, with pre-sleep cognitive and somatic arousal emerging as important mediating mechanisms. Within this framework, the body increasingly becomes experienced as a problem to be solved, sleep as a performance to be managed, and the struggle to control sleep may itself become part of the maintaining process.

The seminar will conclude with pilot findings from SLEAPI, an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy insomnia intervention adapted for autistic adults, demonstrating meaningful improvements in insomnia and anxiety symptoms. Together, these findings position insomnia as a clinically significant transdiagnostic process and highlight psychological flexibility as a potentially important target for interventions that help people relate differently to distressing bodily and psychological experiences.
 

Educational Objectives:
1. Describe the associations between poor sleep, psychological inflexibility, and transdiagnostic psychological distress, including paranoia and dissociative experiences.
2. Identify psychological processes associated with insomnia severity, including cognitive fusion, pre-sleep arousal, sleep control beliefs, and experiential avoidance.
3. Discuss the implications of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy informed approaches for understanding and intervening in insomnia across diverse clinical populations.

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Dr Eric Morris is an Associate Professor at La Trobe University and Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Northern Health, Melbourne, Australia. He has over thirty years’ experience working as a clinical psychologist in Australia and the United Kingdom, engaging people with complex mental health problems and their families in public mental health services. Through ACTUALISE Lab at La Trobe University, Eric researches Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as an intervention for recovery from psychosis, insomnia, and for workplace resilience training, along with process-based therapies for autistic adults. Eric is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, the British Journal of Clinical Psychology, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapist. He is a Fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science. He is a co-editor of "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness for Psychosis" and "Psychological Interventions for Psychosis: Towards a Paradigm Shift" and co-author of the group treatment manual, "ACT for Psychosis Recovery". Eric is the co-author of the self-help guide, "ACTivate Your Life: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workbook for Building a Life that is Rich, Fulfilling and Fun." 

8:30 - 9:45 | Surviving and Thriving in the Body (TBD)

Stay tuned for more information!

10:00 - 11:15 | The Embodied Athlete; Removing the Emotional Dog Cones and Reconnecting with the Heart of Performance - Jorge Aguilar, Ph.D., MD, & Trevor Jones, BA

The Embodied Athlete; Removing the Emotional Dog Cones and Reconnecting with the Heart of Performance - Jorge Aguilar, Ph.D., MD, & Trevor Jones, BA

Session Abstract: Triumph and defeat in professional sport are often forged in a crucible of pressure, giving rise to some of our most powerful emotional experiences. Yet when emotions surface, especially ones associated with vulnerability, many athletes instinctively respond with two words: "I'm sorry." Those words reveal more than a moment—they reveal a culture. A culture in which athletes learn that feeling what they feel is something to apologise for, rather than something to notice, understand, and carry with them.

This experiential workshop explores how these cultural learning histories shape athletes' relationships with their bodies through an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and interoceptive lens. Drawing on predictive coding, psychological flexibility and social mindfulness, we examine how inherited Rules of the Road—socially learned beliefs about confidence, composure, vulnerability, and emotional control—can narrow interoceptive awareness and disconnect athletes from valuable embodied information.

We propose that this disconnection directly contributes to the performance handbrake—a protective mode that can manifest as the yips, movement disruption, performance anxiety, burnout, injury, emotional distress, and increasingly cautious patterns of performance. Rather than treating these as separate problems, we frame them as different expressions of common contextual processes shaping an athlete's relationship with their embodied experience.

Using our ACE Driving framework (Acknowledge, Compose, Engage) and five contextual pathways, participants will experience both practical exercises and athlete's stories around reconnecting with the internal "dashboard," transforming bodily sensations from problems to eliminate into sources of meaningful information. Rather than teaching emotional control, this workshop offers a practical, compassion-focused framework for cultivating emotional and interoceptive flexibility, helping athletes perform with greater agency, freedom, and psychological wellbeing. 

Educational Objectives:
1. Recognise how cultural rules and learning histories shape athletes' relationships with their emotions and bodily sensations.
2. Describe how interoceptive exposure and ACT processes can help athletes move from emotional control toward emotional willingness and flexibility.
3. Understand how neuroscience's predictive coding offers new insights into composure as an adaptive engagement with uncertainty, rather than the absence of emotion.

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Jorge Aguilar, MD, Ph.D. is a Consultant to Major League Baseball (MLB) and Major League Soccer (MLS) on mental health & mental performance, and the team Sport Psychiatrist for NYCFC in MLS.

He is Director of the Institute for Sports Mental Health & Performance at Montefiore Einstein, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

 

Trevor Jones, BA, is a Mental Performance Coach, professional golfer, and member of the Aware Performance Group. Drawing on over 15 years of experience supporting elite and developing athletes across golf, cricket, baseball, tennis, music, and other high-performance domains, his work integrates contextual behavioural science, predictive processing, and interoception to help individuals cultivate greater psychological flexibility under pressure.

A former national champion and European Tour professional, Trevor combines lived experience with contemporary behavioural science to explore how fear, attention, and embodied awareness shape performance. Alongside Dr. Jorge Aguilar, he is developing an embodied approach to performance that invites athletes to move beyond emotional control towards greater agency, freedom, and sustainable excellence.

Together, they are co-authors of the forthcoming book *How to Fix the F*ing Yips*.

11:30 - 12:45 Panel | Building Bridges: Integrating Research and Clinical Practice - Maria Karekla, Ph.D.; Rikke Kjelgaard, M.Sc.; Staci Martin, Ph.D.; Temple Morris, MSW; Jacqueline Pistorello, Ph.D.

Building Bridges: Integrating Research and Clinical Practice - Maria Karekla, Ph.D.; Rikke Kjelgaard, M.Sc.; Staci Martin, Ph.D.; Temple Morris, MSW; Jennifer Payne, Ph.D., LCSW; Jacqueline Pistorello, Ph.D.

Session Abstract: A longstanding opportunity within mental health —contextual behavioral science included— lies in strengthening the connection between science and practice. Despite our best intentions, researchers and clinicians often end up in silos, with little communication flowing between them. This dynamic is partly a product of researchers not fully appreciating the potential clinical implications of their work and clinicians not knowing how to best integrate evidence-based methods into their client sessions. This, in turn, creates further distance between the silos, widening the divide between scientific knowledge and clinical care. And professionals from both specializations often don’t know how to begin to overcome this problem. In this interactive panel, attendees will hear from contextual behavioral scientists, practitioners, and peer-reviewed trainers about their experiences, challenges, and successes in pursuing the goal of bridging the researcher-clinician gap. Attendees also will hear from people aiming to establishing a network that connects researchers and clinicians for potential collaborations within ACBS. Questions and input from attendees will be welcome.

Educational Objectives:
1. Identify at least two barriers that prevent clinicians from engaging in research.
2. Explain at least two obstacles researchers encounter when designing or implementing studies grounded in clinical practice.
3. Name one benefit of a clinician-researcher network.

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Maria Karekla, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, peer-reviewed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy trainer, Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, and heads the “ACTHealthy: Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine” laboratory. Her research focuses on areas of health promotion and the investigation of individual difference factors (especially psychological flexibility parameters) as they relate to the development and maintenance of various behavioural difficulties, especially nicotine use and addiction. She also examines the treatment of these difficulties utilizing process-based and Contextual Behavioral Science principles and innovative delivery methods (e.g., digital interventions, virtual reality) in line with precision and personalized medicine. This led to very successful digital interventions for which she received numerous local, European and international grants, distinctions and awards; among them the European Drug Prevention Prize by the Pompidou Group and the Council of Europe for innovative work in drug prevention with the active involvement of youth for the project ¨Smoking prevention and cessation in High schools and Technical schools in Cyprus.¨ 

Recent honours include the Researchgate Psychology Leader Award and the Outstanding Graduate in Psychological Science Award, Valdosta State University; while students under her guidance have also received numerous honors and awards (e.g., Best New Researcher Award, Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation to her graduate Pinelopi Konstantinou based on her dissertation work; ACBS student spotlight award for basic science to her doctoral student Marianna Zacharia for “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Breast Cancer patients” in 2024 and to her masters’-level student Georgia Polyviou for “Multi-user Virtual Reality for the prevention of eating disorders among high-risk females” in 2022; First place and the Michael J. Asher Dissertation Award to her doctoral student Dafne Morroni for project “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Unaccompanied Minor Refugees”; Best Presentation Award, for Orestis Kassinopoulos for “Examination of Low Engagement in a Group-Based ACT Intervention for Chronic Pain Management” at the 18th International Conference on Psychology, Cognitive, Education and Behavioral Sciences; etc.) 

She is appointed by the Cyprus Minister of Health tothe National Strategic Planning Committee for Mental Health, the National Strategic Planning Committee for Eating Disorders and the National Advisory Committee for Tobacco Control, and previously in the Board on Medically Assisted Reproduction and chair of the National Bioethics Committee. She served as the convenor of the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ (EFPA) Psychology and Health committee and member of the e-health task force. She is a past-President of the international Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), from where she received the status of “Fellow” in 2019. In 2023 she became a fellow of the European Health Psychology Society and in 2021 by the Society of Behavioral Medicine, whereas in 2018 she was nominated as Cyprus “Woman of the Year: Academic/Researcher category.” She is the Scientific Chair for the 2026 European Health Psychology conference with great experience in scientific and organizing committees. She has published more than 160 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 14 chapters in edited books, 5 books, 5 technical reports and numerous papers in scientific conference proceedings. Her first psychotherapeutic children’s story book was nominated for the 2017 National Literary Awards (category Children/Adolescents) and for her illustrations for the book. She is active in scientific journal editorial boards (e.g., Journal of Contextual Behavior Science, Cognitive Research and Therapy) and as a research grant reviewer for scientific boards in numerous countries and the European Union. Moreover, she is a TEDx speaker and she has been hosted and interviewed for her work by numerous podcasts, newspapers, TV and radio stations nationally and internationally.

Rikke Kjelgaard, M.Sc., is a licensed psychologist, peer-reviewed ACT trainer, an awarded fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, author, speaker and chief rock’n’roller in her own business. Rikke is on a mission to help therapists thrive and to be brave and authentic helpers. Trained as a clinical psychologist, she has a 20 year background in the science of human behaviour and the practice of behaviour change. Rikke is a popular speaker at the Scandinavian as well as the international stage, and she is known to bring both passion and vulnerability to her talks. She transforms the lives of her audience by bringing evidence based strategies to her listeners in ways that are edible, manageable and impactful. Rikke is known to leave her audience in tears with compelling stories from her own life and to create extraordinary interactions between people.

Dr. Staci Martin is a clinical psychologist with specialized expertise in health psychology and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Dr. Martin is affiliated with True North Therapy and Training as a private ACT consultant and trainer. As a peer-reviewed trainer, she conducts trainings with mental health and medical professionals regularly. She is President Emeritus of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of ACBS, a past ACBS board member-at-large for basic science, chairs the ACBS plenary subcommittee, and previously chaired the ACBS Pain Special Interest Group. For over 30 years, Dr. Martin has been working in medical settings with populations including cancer, sickle cell disease, and various genetic syndromes. At the National Cancer Institute (NCI), she is the Clinical Director of the Health Psychology and Neurobehavioral Research Program, where she directs an ACT clinical program. Her research focuses on ACT interventions for children through adults with health conditions and their family members. Dr. Martin has received NCI Special Act Awards for her expertise and leadership in the field of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and the Outstanding Mentor Award. Dr. Martin has authored over 85 publications in peer-reviewed journals, several of which have been selected as Editor’s Choice or Feature articles. For the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, she served as Guest Editor-in-Chief (2021-2023), Associate Editor (2018-2025), and Editorial Board Member (2026-present). In addition, she has been an invited speaker throughout the U.S. and internationally and has been interviewed on several health-focused podcasts about her work.

Temple Morris, LCSW-C, is co-founder of True North Therapy & Training, an organization committed to sharing contextual behavioral therapies with clients, practitioners, and the broader community. As a therapist, she specializes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI), providing both direct care and clinical supervision in these evidence-based modalities. Temple serves as a Consultant Therapist at Sunstone Therapies, where she provides MDMA-assisted and psilocybin-assisted therapy to study participants with treatment-resistant PTSD and Major Depression. She is also co-founder of Perspective Retreats, a collaborative team of therapists and researchers offering ACT-informed preparation, guidance, and integration services through immersive retreats designed to train professionals in supporting psychedelic experiences safely and effectively.

Committed to expanding access to innovative mental health care, Temple recently helped establish Psychedelic Assisted Therapy and Healing (PATH), a nonprofit working to make legal psychedelic therapy available and affordable to all. She serves as co-chair of the board for the ACBS Psychedelic Special Interest Group, where she co-leads monthly ACT-informed PHRI peer consultation groups.

Jennifer Shepard Payne, Ph.D., LCSW, is faculty at the Kennedy Krieger Institute within the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress (CCFTS). Additionally, she is an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She founded and owns Direct To God Counseling and Consulting LLC, a private practice committed to helping individuals facing anxiety or trauma, with an emphasis on culture and faith.

Dr. Payne earned a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from UCLA and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with extensive experience in mental health practice. She developed a culturally tailored Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention called POOF™ and provides training and consultation on the model. Her book, *Out of the Fire: Healing Black Trauma Caused by Systemic Racism Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy*, delivers a heartfelt message for Black individuals and other marginalized populations enduring the debilitating effects of systemic racism.

Jacqueline Pistorello, Ph.D. is Faculty Emerita at University of Nevada, Reno (former Counseling Services Director). She remains active as research faculty at Counseling Services, where she has worked with college students for over two decades. She specializes in mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches for treating and preventing mental health problems among university students. She has received multiple grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to study the application of psychotherapeutic treatments, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), towards interventions with college students on campuses. Dr. Pistorello has been interested in understanding how to prevent mental health problems using ACT/RFT as well as how to treat mental health distress in real world settings using more personalized approaches.

13:00 - 14:00 | IGNITE Session 1 (TBD)

Stay tuned for more information!

14:15 - 15:30 | Just Take a Deep Breath [and Start Hyperventilating]: Understanding the Complex Interplay Between Physiology, Interoception, and Lay Beliefs - Alicia E Meuret, Ph.D.

Just Take a Deep Breath [and Start Hyperventilating]: Understanding the Complex Interplay Between Physiology, Interoception, and Lay Beliefs - Alicia E Meuret, Ph.D.

Session Abstract: Breathwork has become increasingly prominent in psychotherapy, digital health, and consumer wellness technologies, yet many approaches lack rigorous mechanistic validation. This presentation examines the relationship between respiration, interoception, and anxiety, with a focus on panic disorder and translational research on respiratory interventions.

Decades of basic research demonstrate that panic disorder is frequently characterized by chronic overbreathing resulting in abnormally low carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels, or hypocapnia. Although oxygen levels remain normal, hypocapnia can produce dyspnea, dizziness, chest pain, paresthesia, and sensations of suffocation, symptoms that closely resemble panic attacks themselves. These effects may be particularly pronounced in individuals with elevated interoceptive sensitivity, such as patients with panic disorder or anxiety, as well as those with chronic somatic conditions such as asthma, who are more likely to perceive and catastrophically interpret bodily sensations.

Contrary to common assumptions that “taking a deep breath” is inherently calming, excessively deep breathing can increase ventilation beyond metabolic demand, reduce CO₂, and paradoxically intensify physiological arousal and panic like symptoms. This may inadvertently undermine the intended anxiolytic effects of many relaxation and guided breathing practices, particularly among individuals vulnerable to habitual overbreathing.

The presentation will review findings from multiple randomized controlled trials on Capnometry Assisted Respiratory Training (CART), a biofeedback intervention designed to normalize CO₂ through slower and shallower breathing. Across studies in panic disorder and asthma, CART has demonstrated substantial and durable clinical improvements alongside normalization of respiratory physiology. Results from a recent randomized controlled trial evaluating a commercially available guided breathing application (Apple Watch “Breathe”) will also be presented, highlighting ongoing questions about how paced breathing interventions influence underlying respiratory physiology despite their widespread use.

Educational Objectives:

1. Describe the role of respiratory physiology and carbon dioxide regulation in anxiety and panic-related symptoms.
2. Explain the mechanisms and clinical applications of Capnometry-Assisted Respiratory Training (CART) for anxiety disorders.
3. Evaluate the benefits and potential physiological risks of contemporary breathwork and guided breathing interventions, including consumer wellness applications.

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Prof. Dr. Alicia E. Meuret, Ph.D., is a Licensed Psychologist with the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists and the Indiana State Psychology Board. She is the Director of the Anxiety and Depression Research Center (ARC) at SMU. Dr. Meuret is a tenured professor in the clinical psychology division of the Department of Psychology at SMU.

Dr. Meuret completed her doctoral studies at Stanford University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and her postdoctoral studies at the Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Harvard University and the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University.

Her research program focuses on novel treatment approaches for anxiety and mood disorders (with a focus on low positive affect/anhedonia), biomarkers in anxiety disorders and chronic disease (asthma), fear extinction mechanisms of exposure therapy, and mediators and moderators in individuals with affective dysregulations, including non-suicidal self-injury and reward hyposensitivity (anhedonia). Dr. Meuret is the founder of Capnometry-Assisted Respiratory Training (CART) and Positive Affect Treatment (PAT).

Dr. Meuret has published over 130 scientific publications and has received ongoing funding for her work from the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies (>$10 M), including NIH R01, U, and R61/33 grants. Additionally, she has authored over 250 presentations at scientific conferences, including invited talks, keynote and plenary addresses, and psychiatry grand rounds. Dr. Meuret serves on several NIH reviews and on federal and scientific expert advisory boards. She was president of the International Society of the Advancement of Respiratory Psychophysiology (ISARP) and is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), Psychiatric Research Society, Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy (Fellow status), and ISARP. Dr. Meuret has received multiple honors for her work, including from the ADAA, the Psychiatric Research Society, and the American Psychosomatic Society.

Dr. Meuret is the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board and serves on the Board of Directors of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and was the past president of ISARP and the Anxiety Disorders Special Interest Group at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. She served as a technical expert for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Effective Health Care Program and DSMB chair at UTSW for psychopharmacological studies. Dr. Meuret is a Beck Institute Fellow and Rotunda SMU Outstanding Professor. Dr. Meuret serves on eight editorial boards and was a Guest or Associate Editor of Behavior Therapy, the International Journal of Psychophysiology, and Behavior Research and Therapy. Dr. Meuret actively fosters female leadership representation, chairing academic society career development leadership programs, including the ADAA Alies Muskin Career Development Leadership Program.

15:45 - 17:00 | Beyond Safety: A Conceptual and Experiential Exploration of Appetitive Embodiment - Emily Sandoz, Ph.D.

Beyond Safety: A Conceptual and Experiential Exploration of Appetitive Embodiment - Emily Sandoz, Ph.D.

Session Abstract: Embodiment is a unique and multidimensional aspect of human experience. As a repertoire, embodiment involves (1) the perceptual experience of living in a body, along with (2) thoughts and (3) feelings about the body, (4) actions toward and with the body, and (5) the role bodily perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and actions play in identity. Embodiment is often approached as falling on a continuum from negative embodiment to positive embodiment. A contextual perspective, however, invites us to consider embodiment functionally in terms of breadth and flexibility. This presentation will explore appetitive embodiment as an aspect of wellness that can inform conceptualization, assessment and treatment. Appetitive embodiment may offer an important target both when body issues are central to presenting struggles, and when the body is available as a resource to support growth in other domains. Exploration will proceed both conceptually and experientially, and land on discussion of clinical implications.

Educational Objectives:
1. Participants will describe different facets of embodiment
2. Participants will contrast appetitive embodiment with positive embodiment
3. Participants will describe one way they might target appetitive embodiment in their work

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Dr. Emily K. Sandoz (she/they) is the Director of the University Honors Program, the Emma Louise LeBlanc Burguieres/BORSF Endowed Professor of Social Sciences, and Full Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Emily is also the Director of the Louisiana Contextual Science Research Group, which supports collaborative contributions from students and professionals from all over the world. They have co-authored three books on acceptance and commitment therapy for struggles with eating and body image, along with chapters and journal articles on contextual behavioral science, social justice, clinical behavioral processes, and psychological flexibility. Emily has led more than 100 training workshops for professionals around the world, and serves as a peer-reviewed ACT trainer. They also practice as a Clinical Psychologist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, focusing on clinical behavior analysis.

17:15 - 18:30 | Increasing Physical Activity with Self-Guided Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Findings from Different Intervention Approaches - Michael Levin, Ph.D.

Increasing Physical Activity with Self-Guided Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Findings from Different Intervention Approaches - Michael Levin, Ph.D.

Session Abstract: Physical activity is a key behavior for promoting health and wellbeing, but is also challenging to change and maintain. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has been found to improve health behaviors, including physical activity, but most of this work has been done through therapist-delivered interventions. Delivering ACT in self-guided formats has significant promise for increasing its scale and reach. Yet, it is not clear how best to adapt and deliver self-guided ACT to achieve its potential for health promotion.

This presentation will review the findings for physical activity outcomes across a series of trials evaluating different self-guided approaches to delivering ACT for health promotion. One line of research that will be discussed focuses on reducing the negative effects of weight self-stigma through an ACT self-help book for outcomes including physical activity. Another series of studies explores whether an ACT matrix app focused on tracking behavior in relation to moving towards values (or away from unwanted inner experiences) impacts physical activity and broader wellbeing. A third approach integrating ACT with dietary and physical activity education in a web-based format will also be discussed. These studies will provide the context for exploring different ways ACT can be used to promote physical activity as well as challenges and lessons learned from this work (e.g., navigating weight loss goals from an ACT perspective, limitations in broad ACT approaches for improving physical activity).

Educational Objectives:
1. Describe ways that ACT can be used to promote physical activity
2. Discuss the research evidence for ACT in improving physical activity
3. Explain challenges with ACT self-help interventions for physical activit

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Michael E. Levin, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University (USU) where he co-directs the USU ACT Research Group with Dr. Michael Twohig. His research focuses on the development, evaluation, and implementation of digital ACT interventions for a wide range of areas including health promotion, chronic health conditions, depression, and obsessive compulsive and related disorders. He has conducted over 50 clinical trials evaluating digital ACT programs through ongoing federal and foundation funding over the past 15 years. This research has led to the dissemination of ACT Guide, a publicly available suite of digital ACT self-help programs.

18:45 - 20:00 | Embodied ACT: Relational Presence and Embodied Metaphors in Clinical Practice - Manuela O'Connell, Lic.

Embodied ACT: Relational Presence and Embodied Metaphors in Clinical Practice - Manuela O'Connell, Lic.

Session Abstract: Within CBS, growing attention is being given to the role of the body, embodiment, and therapeutic presence in psychological flexibility and behavioral change. This experiential workshop explores how embodiment can deepen ACT practice through relational presence, somatic awareness, and embodied metaphors. Participants will learn how bodily experience can function as a direct pathway for fostering openness, awareness, connection, and values in real time.

Special attention will be given to the therapist’s embodied presence within the therapeutic relationship and to the use of embodied metaphors that emerge through posture, movement, gesture, and sensory experience. Through experiential exercises and clinical reflections, participants will explore how psychological flexibility can be cultivated as a lived, relational, and embodied process.

Educational Objectives:
1. Describe how embodiment and bodily experience can be integrated into ACT and CBS as processes that support psychological flexibility and behavioral change.
2. Apply relational and embodied interventions, including embodied metaphors and therapist presence, to foster openness, awareness, connection, and values in clinical practice.
3. Develop greater sensitivity to posture, movement, gesture, and sensory experience as opportunities for cultivating psychological flexibility within the therapeutic relationship.

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Manuela O'Connell, Lic.: Clinical psychologist specializing in ACT, Mindfulness, FAP and CFT. Peer Reviewed ACT Trainer and Fellow for ACBS. ACT trainer and supervisor along Latin America in the Spanish speaking population. Board President of ACL Foundation (Live with Awareness, Courage and Love). Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. I have been involved also in body work and somatic training for the last 30 years also a certified Eutony teacher. In this area I have been integrating somatic experiences with Mindfulness and ACT in the form of Embodied Metaphor into my clinical work and has presented around this topic extensively. Author of a general public book Una vida valiosa from Random Penguin House in Spanish and delivered ACT for the general public interventions. Co-author of The ACT Workbook for Anger with Dr. Robyn Walser and wrote several publications in the area of the therapeutic relationship and couples work.

20:15 - 21:15 GMT | IGNITE Session 2 (TBD)

Stay tuned for more information!