Attached.

ACBS elections are an opportunity for passionate members to volunteer their valuable time for a worthwhile mission. ACBS members have the annual opportunity to choose their representatives from among the nominees on the ballot.

To make the process and criteria clear for all, it is available below.

ACBS Bylaws Article 3: The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

General Timeline

• January 7, 2025 - Call for nominations opens
• February 2, 2025 - Nomination period ends
• March 4 - 14, 2025 - Election (open for 10 days)
• Late March / Early April 2025 - Results emailed to ACBS members

Election Committee: 

The Election Committee includes the Chairs of the Diversity, Membership, Developing Nations, and Training Committee, as well as the ACBS Board President, Past-President, President Elect, and Secretary-Treasurer. If the Secretary-Treasurer is running for additional office during one of the election cycles, then the past-president chooses one of the Board members who is not running for office to serve on the committee for that year.

The Election Committee screens the slate of nominees based on a number of criteria, including: their assessment of the nominee's involvement with and dedication to the Association (including previous committee/chapter/sig volunteerism); the nominee's demonstrated leadership qualities; the absence of personal, business, or financial conflicts that might interfere with their ability to focus on their duties; representation of the membership; and the absence of serious conflicts with Board members, staff, or existing policies that could lead to internal conflicts. 

Restrictions on nomination: 

A person can only be president once, and may not serve as president thereafter. However, a person may be nominated for president more than once should she/he/they fail to become president in an election cycle.

People can serve multiple times for the other Board positions. However, if the person wishes to run for the same position as previously held, they must wait for 2 years before running for that position again. 

Only ACBS members are eligible to run for the Board.

Students who will not qualify for student status for at least 6 months of the 1 year term, are ineligible to run for the Student Representative position.

Campaigning: 

ACBS does not have detailed rules about how one can campaign, but we also want the election to be fair. In an attempt to help make the election fairer, we are indicating some of the ways people have campaigned in the past. We are not suggesting that you need to campaign; people have been elected with no campaigning.

Here are some ways people in ACBS have campaigned:

• E-mail colleagues
• Have colleagues e-mail their colleagues
• Facebook or the like

There are also less obvious things such as:

• Being active on the ACBS Listservs
• Being active at ACBS in other ways that gets your name known

We have seen these methods at other organizations:

• Make a webpage where people can read about your vision
• Mail flyers

Again, we are not suggesting any of these. We simply hope that knowing that these types of things may happen will make the process fairer to all candidates.

Voting:

The Board Member election will take place in March of each year. Email notifications of the candidates, their information, and how to vote online, will be sent to all current members of ACBS. At least one reminder email will be sent. Balloting will be open for 10 days.

Members can only be elected with a majority of the votes cast. 

If there is a tie in votes between two candidates, a coin toss will determine the winner.

Board participation:

The ACBS Board’s purpose is to work with members and ACBS management to advance ACBS’ vision, provide collective wisdom and direction to ACBS, and oversee the ways that ACBS creates member value.

Business of the ACBS Board is conducted via a monthly zoom/phone call as well as during intensive meetings that take place at the World Conference.  

A few example duties of Board members include sub-committee work and acting as a liaison between ACBS committees and the Board. More specific information about Board positions and duties can be found here.

Additional Information:

ACBS members can log into the website to see the attachments below.  Attachments include detailed Election process steps and direction to the Election Committee about selecting candidates for the ballot, including the best predictor of a high quality board member, which is robust past service to the organization.

Learn more about why all nominees do not appear on the ballot.

Special Election procedures

Member Communications

July 1, 2023

Dear ACBS Community,

​As my term as president commences, I notice a few conflicting emotions. I’m thrilled to step up to the helm of our ACBS vessel. At the same time, I see stormy and raising waters all around us: signs of global warming and its harrowing consequences are accelerating; intimidation, violence, and war increasingly masquerade as effective solutions to disputes; racism and discriminations of nearly infinite form continue to inflict tremendous pain; intergroup villainization blinds us to our common humanity; and signs of mental anguish abound.

Despite these stormy waters, I remain stubbornly hopeful. Hopeful that the members of ACBS will continue to meaningfully contribute nurturing solutions to these vexing challenges. Hopeful that with open hearts and minds we can find new opportunities. And hopeful that our community will support each other through the rough patches. It is not naive hope, but hope built on experience. The experience of watching our members address numerous challenges with ingenuity, compassion, and integrity over the 18 years of its existence.

And the experience of serving on the ACBS board of directors for the past year and the board of directors of the ACBS Foundation the three years prior. I am continually impressed with the passion and dedication that board members and ACBS staff display while grappling with multiple issues – always with the goal of bettering ACBS. Even though I cannot promise that we will reach new shores or that I can steer our ACBS vessel in a manner that we don’t feel the bumps, I am confident that together we will steady the course quickly and efficiently.

It is with this enthusiasm that I wish to thank you for your trust. More importantly, I want to thank everyone for creating and contributing to the special community called ACBS.

Hope to see you in Cyprus!

Andrew Gloster 

The ACBS Board held an informal meeting and idea swap in May and October of 2022 (to accommodate our time zones around the world). The board was excited to talk with members about what the board has been doing this past year and what they hope to do moving forward.

This was a time to hear from members - Ask questions and share suggestions about challenges we face. The board welcomed ideas about possible solutions. 

We are on mission and - as best captured in the African Proverb - “If you want to go far, go together.” So come with us, and help us shape the future of ACBS!

The recording of the first meeting held in May of 2022.

The recording of the second meeting held in October of 2022.

The ACBS Board's position on making public statements is attached below.

- adopted November 2016

2023-2024 ACBS Board

President:
Andrew Gloster, Ph.D., University of Basel (Switzerland)

President - Elect:
Rhonda Merwin, Ph.D., Duke University Medical Center (USA)

Past President:
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Secretary Treasurer:
David Gillanders, DClinPsychol, University of Edinburgh (UK)

Member at Large 1:
Valerie Kiel, MSc, ACT-Akademie, (Germany)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Staci Martin, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute (USA) (Dr. Martin is serving in her personal capacity)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Jennifer Shepard Payne, Ph.D., LCSW-C, Johns Hopkins University/ Kennedy Krieger Institute (USA)

Member at Large 4:
Jacob Martinez, LPC, Private Practice (USA)

Student Representative:
Sandro Voi, University of Hertfordshire (UK)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Andrew Gloster, Ph.D.
University of Basel 

Andrew Gloster, ACBS Fellow and professor at the University of Basel, Switzerland, heads the Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science and is Director of Clinical Training in Process-based Psychotherapy. Trained in the U.S.A., he has worked in Europe since 2006. Andrew is international in his outlook and sensitivities. He has published over 150 scientific papers, books and treatment manuals. His contextual behavioral science research program has empirically tested numerous aspects of the CBS model including clinical trials, public health, biological & genetic variables, pro-social behaviors in groups, and technological interventions. He is a licensed psychotherapist and a passionate mentor and trainer. Andrew actively works to disseminate and communicate science across professional lines and to the general public. Andrew has served ACBS in numerous capacities including secretary/treasurer of the Board, ACBS Foundation president, program chair (2015 Berlin), and is an Associate Editor of JCBS.

President- Elect

Rhonda M. Merwin, Ph.D.
Duke University, School of Medicine

Rhonda Merwin, PhD is an Associate Professor at Duke University Medical Center, a Peer-Reviewed ACT Trainer, and the Founder of ACT at Duke, a research, clinical and training program in Duke University’s School of Medicine. She also has the honor of being a Fellow of ACBS and a current Member-at-Large Board Member. She chairs the ACBS Publications Committee, dedicated to the quality and success of the Journal of Contextual and Behavioral Science, a committee that she has served on since 2015. She currently directs CBS SuperLab, an effort to bring together CBS researchers and labs from around the world to advance CBS research. Dr. Merwin is also a clinician and a teacher, and the author of ACT for Anorexia Nervosa: A Guide for Clinicians. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (among other sponsors), and focuses on multi-level, multi-dimensional factors that influence maladaptive eating and weight control, and the delivery personalized interventions in real time.

Statement: "Act as though what you do makes a difference. It does."-William James. What we do matters; how we spend our time, where we invest our energy. I choose to spend it here- in an organization of passionate individuals devoted to the alleviation of human suffering. As I type those words, I appreciate the significance of this charge. How might we reimagine ourselves or our organization to maximize our impact? Because, while all acts matter, I believe we have untapped potential to address the challenges facing human beings. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, organized citizens can change the world.”-Margaret Mead. I believe that CBS can make a difference; that we can make a difference with the strength of our collective and diverse ideas and skills, and a structure that empowers and inspires individuals to engage and reminds them that what they do matters. As President, I will identify ways to maximize our potential, keeping science at the forefront (as clinicians, researchers, teachers, etc.) and empowering individuals to work together toward common values/goals.

Past President

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.
University of Cyprus 

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.,Licensed clinical psychologist, peer-reviewed ACT trainer, ACBS fellow, and Associate Professor, University of Cyprus, is heading the “ACTHealthy” laboratory. Her doctorate is from the University at Albany, SUNY with residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center & VA Hospital. Her research received numerous local, European and international grants, and awards by (among others) the European Council and Pompidou’s group, Society of Behavioral Medicine, and Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. She is the convenor of the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ Psychology and Health committee and member of the e-health task force. Recently, she was appointed to the National Psychological Aid for COVID committee. Notable past positions: chair, the Cyprus Bioethics Committee and member, Psychologists Licensing Board. In 2018 she was nominated as Cyprus “Woman of the Year: Academic/Researcher.” Her first ACT psychotherapeutic childrens’ book was nominated for the National Literary Awards (2017) in the category Children/Adolescents.

Statement: “When Oedipus encountered the Sphinx, his answer to its riddle was: «Human». That simple word destroyed the monster” (Seferis)- homage to our common humanity. Growing up in the Greek culture, ancient myths and allegories shaped my values in life. Values, I have encountered within ACBS, the work, the organization and its people. My experiences, drive and love for this association and its members, will enable me to continue to serve from the post of President, with continued fervor towards our values, disseminating the science, expanding our reach and service so as to achieve alleviation of human suffering globally. Numerous life areas have been impacted by the pandemic and our science is needed more than ever. Having being intimately involved in ACBS strategic planning, I would aid in our visions materializing and moving ACBS to its next level of development in research, training, education, practical applications, inclusiveness, diversity, impact and reach.

Secretary Treasurer

David Gillanders, DClinPsychol, University of Edinburgh (UK)

Member at Large 1

Valerie Kiel, MSc
ACT-Akademie

My career began twenty years ago as a social psychologist with the United Nations in Kenya, where I became interested in community building, continuing education, online learning, and helping others create fulfilling and dignified lives. After moving to the Netherlands in 2010 and transitioning into clinical work, I became deeply involved with ACT, BA, RFT, FC, FAP. Within ACBS I am passionate about creating initiatives that bring people together to work collaboratively: I am a founding member of the German-speaking chapter in 2012 (on whose board I served twice; 2014-1015, 2017-2018), I co-founded the online drop-in peer supervision meetings (2013-2016, now ACBS Affiliate), and I sat on the Dutch-speaking training committee (2018-2019). I love continuing professional development and regularly attend and present at ACBS conferences. One topic that is very close to my heart is the ACBS-wide dissemination of the Portland Model. Since last year, I have been a co-host of the CBS Trainers Lunch 'n Learn session.

Statement: When I began my clinical training in my early thirties, I sometimes felt ashamed of my nonlinear career path when dealing with other members of the community. Over the years -and to my great surprise!-, I found that my "otherness" proved to be a great advantage in some situations. From this, I've learned that it becomes easier to authentically support others when we ask ourselves, "What does this person bring to ACBS that is unique and could fill a gap in our community or in a particular context?" This helps me to actively seek out and promote diversity in our community. At the same time, given the steady growth of ACBS, it seems important to me to keep reinforcing our commonalities (especially our community values) so that, for all our differences, there is always a steady social cohesion and connection. As a MAL, I want to help our community maintain our shared values AND create space for the recognition of personal differences. Because both are, in my opinion, necessary conditions for the advancement of ACBS.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Staci Martin, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute*

Statement: I have been involved in ACBS in various capacities for over a decade, including having leadership roles in chapters and special interest groups. In line with my professional and personal values, I am ready to serve on the ACBS board as Member at Large (MAL) – basic science. As a clinical researcher at the National Institutes of Health, I am engaged in ACT-based research on a daily basis. If elected, I plan to focus on bringing together researchers and clinicians through conferences and committees. Specifically, I will encourage clinical workshops at ACBS World Conferences to present evidence-based techniques and to prioritize research symposiums that emphasize clinical implications. I am committed to furthering the quest to bridge the clinician-research gap. Other aims are to assess the need for a mentorship program for established ACBS researchers to support early career researchers and to foster awareness of systemic bias against underrepresented minorities in research.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Jacob Martinez, LPC
Private Practice

Jacob Martinez is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Wisconsin, USA. He is currently the chair of the ACBS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Special Interest Group; a member of the ACBS DEI Committee, and a member of the ACBS Membership Committee. Jacob is committed to making ACBS more accessible and inclusive, and has a particular interest in non-hierarchical organizational and community structures. When Jacob is not in the therapy room you can find him organizing his rare pencil collection and perfecting his Texas-style Smoked Brisket.

Statement: The vision of ACBS as dedicated to “the alleviation of human suffering and the advancement of human well-being through contextual behavioral science” can only be achieved through a strong commitment to and affirmation of the global community that makes up this organization.
ACBS will thrive or die only so far as we are willing to be stewards of this community. Stewards for no other reason but because a shared set of values motivates us. Members of ACBS deepening connection across lines of geography, age, cultural background, ability, education, and profession is a form of mutual aid that benefits us all; and which ultimately sets ACBS apart from other organizations of its type.
My goal in serving as member-at-large is to promote a culture of community stewardship that every member of ACBS can partake in confidently. To advocate for channels of cooperation, communication, and relationship building across this community.

Member at Large 4

Jennifer Shepard Payne, Ph.D., LCSW-C
Johns Hopkins University/ Kennedy Krieger Institute

Jennifer Shepard Payne, Ph.D., LCSW-C, is a Research Scientist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress (CCFTS) and the Center for the Neuroscience of Social Injustice. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine within the Department of Psychiatry.
She received her doctorate in Social Welfare from UCLA and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with many years of experience in mental health clinical practice and administration. For several years, Dr. Payne has been working on culturally tailoring Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for African American communities experiencing racial trauma. She developed a culturally tailored version of ACT called POOF: www.POOF-PullingOutOfFire.com
Additionally, her book, Out of the Fire: Healing Black Trauma Caused by Systemic Racism Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, can be obtained from New Harbinger, Barnes and Noble, Target, Amazon, and other booksellers.

2022-2023 ACBS Board

President:
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

President - Elect:
Andrew Gloster, Ph.D., University of Basel (Switzerland)

Past President:
Miranda Morris, Ph.D., Founder, True North Therapy and Training (USA)

Secretary Treasurer:
Jill Stoddard, Ph.D., The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management (USA)

Member at Large 1:
Valerie Kiel, MSc, ACT-Akademie, (Germany)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Staci Martin, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute (USA)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Rhonda Merwin, Ph.D., Duke University Medical Center (USA)

Member at Large 4:
Sindhu BS, MS, Private Practice (India)

Student Representative:
Melissa Miller, Wichita State University (USA)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.
University of Cyprus 

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.,Licensed clinical psychologist, peer-reviewed ACT trainer, ACBS fellow, and Associate Professor, University of Cyprus, is heading the “ACTHealthy” laboratory. Her doctorate is from the University at Albany, SUNY with residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center & VA Hospital. Her research received numerous local, European and international grants, and awards by (among others) the European Council and Pompidou’s group, Society of Behavioral Medicine, and Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. She is the convenor of the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ Psychology and Health committee and member of the e-health task force. Recently, she was appointed to the National Psychological Aid for COVID committee. Notable past positions: chair, the Cyprus Bioethics Committee and member, Psychologists Licensing Board. In 2018 she was nominated as Cyprus “Woman of the Year: Academic/Researcher.” Her first ACT psychotherapeutic childrens’ book was nominated for the National Literary Awards (2017) in the category Children/Adolescents.

Statement: “When Oedipus encountered the Sphinx, his answer to its riddle was: «Human». That simple word destroyed the monster” (Seferis)- homage to our common humanity. Growing up in the Greek culture, ancient myths and allegories shaped my values in life. Values, I have encountered within ACBS, the work, the organization and its people. My experiences, drive and love for this association and its members, will enable me to continue to serve from the post of President, with continued fervor towards our values, disseminating the science, expanding our reach and service so as to achieve alleviation of human suffering globally. Numerous life areas have been impacted by the pandemic and our science is needed more than ever. Having being intimately involved in ACBS strategic planning, I would aid in our visions materializing and moving ACBS to its next level of development in research, training, education, practical applications, inclusiveness, diversity, impact and reach.

President- Elect

Andrew Gloster, Ph.D.
University of Basel 

Andrew Gloster, ACBS Fellow and professor at the University of Basel, Switzerland, heads the Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science and is Director of Clinical Training in Process-based Psychotherapy. Trained in the U.S.A., he has worked in Europe since 2006. Andrew is international in his outlook and sensitivities. He has published over 150 scientific papers, books and treatment manuals. His contextual behavioral science research program has empirically tested numerous aspects of the CBS model including clinical trials, public health, biological & genetic variables, pro-social behaviors in groups, and technological interventions. He is a licensed psychotherapist and a passionate mentor and trainer. Andrew actively works to disseminate and communicate science across professional lines and to the general public. Andrew has served ACBS in numerous capacities including secretary/treasurer of the Board, ACBS Foundation president, program chair (2015 Berlin), and is an Associate Editor of JCBS.

Past President

Miranda Morris, Ph.D.
Founder, True North Therapy and Training 

I am a psychologist in private practice just outside Washington, D.C. In 2010, after a few years of trying to build a private practice, I stumbled on my local ACBS community. Finding my tribe changed everything. Within a year, we had founded the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of ACBS. Committed to disseminating ACT, our chapter holds multiple workshops each year, provides free training to students, and has grown to well over 250 members. In 2016, I found the courage to step up and serve at the next level of ACBS and have since had the honor of serving on the Chapter & SIG and DEI Committees as well as the Women’s SIG Board. In 2018, I was honored to join our community of peer-reviewed ACT trainers, and I began service as Member at Large on the ACBS Board. My passion is building the ACBS community locally and globally.

Statement: In Improv, players start each show by patting each others’ backs and promising "I've got your back!” In this way, we let each person know that we'll be there to support them and make them shine. It’s not about the individual - it’s about the team and our collective power to lift each other up. On a larger scale, it is this promise, this commitment to one another that we need in order to realize the four pillars of our ACBS Strategic Plan: nurturing community, centering science, enhancing competency, and expanding our presence. The pillars are designed to grow ACBS and disseminate our science in the service of alleviating human suffering. To do this, we’ll need to have each others’ backs - all of them - the powerful, the published, the underrepresented, the disconnected, the disadvantaged. All of us. Let’s keep building an ACBS in which we all have each others’ backs.

Secretary Treasurer

Jill Stoddard, Ph.D.
The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management 

Dr. Jill Stoddard is a clinical psychologist and director of The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management, an outpatient clinic specializing in ACT and CBT for anxiety and related problems. Her life mission is to disseminate ACT to the public in accessible ways. As such, she has authored two ACT books, The Big Book of ACT Metaphors: A Practitioner’s Guide to Experiential Exercises and Metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Be Mighty: A Woman's Guide to Liberation from Anxiety, Worry, and Stress Using Mindfulness and Acceptance. Dr. Stoddard is an award-winning teacher, TEDx speaker, peer-reviewed ACT trainer, and co-host of the popular Psychologists Off The Clock podcast. She writes the ACT-based Be Mighty Blog for Psychology Today and her other writing has appeared in Thrive Global, Scary Mommy, The Good Men Project, and Mindful Return. She makes frequent media appearances as a podcast guest and expert news source. She received her PhD from Boston University in 2007.

Statement: World Conference 2014 opened my eyes to the way a professional organization can and should be—welcoming, egalitarian, science based but open to all types of practitioners, cutting edge, and fun. Since then, I have dedicated much of my free time to being an active member of the community. I have loved watching the community grow and the pillars take shape. I have been honored to be part of a strong board who works tirelessly to make ACBS thrive. I believe CBS can change the world. With a global pandemic, climate change, social injustice, and deep divisions across the world, we are at a historical crossroads. I would like to tap the resources of our vastly talented and caring community to expand our reach in new and creative ways. I would be honored to continue on the Board, giving back to the organization that has given so much to me.

Member at Large 1

Valerie Kiel, MSc
ACT-Akademie

My career began twenty years ago as a social psychologist with the United Nations in Kenya, where I became interested in community building, continuing education, online learning, and helping others create fulfilling and dignified lives. After moving to the Netherlands in 2010 and transitioning into clinical work, I became deeply involved with ACT, BA, RFT, FC, FAP. Within ACBS I am passionate about creating initiatives that bring people together to work collaboratively: I am a founding member of the German-speaking chapter in 2012 (on whose board I served twice; 2014-1015, 2017-2018), I co-founded the online drop-in peer supervision meetings (2013-2016, now ACBS Affiliate), and I sat on the Dutch-speaking training committee (2018-2019). I love continuing professional development and regularly attend and present at ACBS conferences. One topic that is very close to my heart is the ACBS-wide dissemination of the Portland Model. Since last year, I have been a co-host of the CBS Trainers Lunch 'n Learn session.

Statement: When I began my clinical training in my early thirties, I sometimes felt ashamed of my nonlinear career path when dealing with other members of the community. Over the years -and to my great surprise!-, I found that my "otherness" proved to be a great advantage in some situations. From this, I've learned that it becomes easier to authentically support others when we ask ourselves, "What does this person bring to ACBS that is unique and could fill a gap in our community or in a particular context?" This helps me to actively seek out and promote diversity in our community. At the same time, given the steady growth of ACBS, it seems important to me to keep reinforcing our commonalities (especially our community values) so that, for all our differences, there is always a steady social cohesion and connection. As a MAL, I want to help our community maintain our shared values AND create space for the recognition of personal differences. Because both are, in my opinion, necessary conditions for the advancement of ACBS.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Staci Martin, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute*

Statement: I have been involved in ACBS in various capacities for over a decade, including having leadership roles in chapters and special interest groups. In line with my professional and personal values, I am ready to serve on the ACBS board as Member at Large (MAL) – basic science. As a clinical researcher at the National Institutes of Health, I am engaged in ACT-based research on a daily basis. If elected, I plan to focus on bringing together researchers and clinicians through conferences and committees. Specifically, I will encourage clinical workshops at ACBS World Conferences to present evidence-based techniques and to prioritize research symposiums that emphasize clinical implications. I am committed to furthering the quest to bridge the clinician-research gap. Other aims are to assess the need for a mentorship program for established ACBS researchers to support early career researchers and to foster awareness of systemic bias against underrepresented minorities in research.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Rhonda Merwin, Ph.D.
Duke University Medical Center

I am an Associate Professor at Duke University, a Peer-Reviewed ACT Trainer, and the Founder and Director of ACT at Duke, a clinical, research and training program in Duke University’s School of Medicine. I chair the ACBS Publications Committee, and have been part of this committee’s efforts to promote the quality and success of the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS) for the past 5 years. I am Co-Chair of the CBS Research Task Force and the 2021 ACBS World Scientific Program Conference Committee. My research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and uses ecological momentary assessment and mobile technology to study factors that influence maladaptive eating and weight control, and deliver intervention in the moment. I also study related constructs (e.g., interoceptive awareness, self-regulation) using sensors and other technologies. I am the author of the book ACT for Anorexia Nervosa: A Guide for Clinicians.

2021-2022 ACBS Board

President:
Miranda Morris, Ph.D., Founder, True North Therapy and Training (USA)

President - Elect:
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Past President:
Lisa Coyne, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School (USA)

Secretary Treasurer:
Jill Stoddard, Ph.D., The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management (USA)

Member at Large 1:
Jenna LeJeune, Ph.D., Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center (USA)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Nigel Vahey, Ph.D., Technological University Dublin (Ireland)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Rhonda Merwin, Ph.D., Duke University Medical Center (USA)

Member at Large 4:
Sindhu BS, MS, Private Practice (India)

Student Representative:
Marianna Zacharia, University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Miranda Morris, Ph.D.
Founder, True North Therapy and Training 

I am a psychologist in private practice just outside Washington, D.C. In 2010, after a few years of trying to build a private practice, I stumbled on my local ACBS community. Finding my tribe changed everything. Within a year, we had founded the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of ACBS. Committed to disseminating ACT, our chapter holds multiple workshops each year, provides free training to students, and has grown to well over 250 members. In 2016, I found the courage to step up and serve at the next level of ACBS and have since had the honor of serving on the Chapter & SIG and DEI Committees as well as the Women’s SIG Board. In 2018, I was honored to join our community of peer-reviewed ACT trainers, and I began service as Member at Large on the ACBS Board. My passion is building the ACBS community locally and globally.

Statement: In Improv, players start each show by patting each others’ backs and promising "I've got your back!” In this way, we let each person know that we'll be there to support them and make them shine. It’s not about the individual - it’s about the team and our collective power to lift each other up. On a larger scale, it is this promise, this commitment to one another that we need in order to realize the four pillars of our ACBS Strategic Plan: nurturing community, centering science, enhancing competency, and expanding our presence. The pillars are designed to grow ACBS and disseminate our science in the service of alleviating human suffering. To do this, we’ll need to have each others’ backs - all of them - the powerful, the published, the underrepresented, the disconnected, the disadvantaged. All of us. Let’s keep building an ACBS in which we all have each others’ backs.

President- Elect

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.
University of Cyprus 

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.,Licensed clinical psychologist, peer-reviewed ACT trainer, ACBS fellow, and Associate Professor, University of Cyprus, is heading the “ACTHealthy” laboratory. Her doctorate is from the University at Albany, SUNY with residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center & VA Hospital. Her research received numerous local, European and international grants, and awards by (among others) the European Council and Pompidou’s group, Society of Behavioral Medicine, and Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. She is the convenor of the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ Psychology and Health committee and member of the e-health task force. Recently, she was appointed to the National Psychological Aid for COVID committee. Notable past positions: chair, the Cyprus Bioethics Committee and member, Psychologists Licensing Board. In 2018 she was nominated as Cyprus “Woman of the Year: Academic/Researcher.” Her first ACT psychotherapeutic childrens’ book was nominated for the National Literary Awards (2017) in the category Children/Adolescents.

Statement: “When Oedipus encountered the Sphinx, his answer to its riddle was: «Human». That simple word destroyed the monster” (Seferis)- homage to our common humanity. Growing up in the Greek culture, ancient myths and allegories shaped my values in life. Values, I have encountered within ACBS, the work, the organization and its people. My experiences, drive and love for this association and its members, will enable me to continue to serve from the post of President, with continued fervor towards our values, disseminating the science, expanding our reach and service so as to achieve alleviation of human suffering globally. Numerous life areas have been impacted by the pandemic and our science is needed more than ever. Having being intimately involved in ACBS strategic planning, I would aid in our visions materializing and moving ACBS to its next level of development in research, training, education, practical applications, inclusiveness, diversity, impact and reach.

Past President

Lisa Coyne, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School (USA)

2020-2021 ACBS Board

President:
Lisa Coyne, Harvard Medical School (USA)

President - Elect:
Miranda Morris, Ph.D., Founder, True North Therapy and Training (USA)

Past President:
Dennis Tirch, Ph.D., The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy (USA)

Secretary Treasurer:
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Member at Large 1:
Jenna LeJeune, Ph.D., Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center (USA)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Diana Ferroni Bast, National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Lance McCracken, Ph.D., Uppsala University (Sweden)

Member at Large 4:
Jill Stoddard, The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management (USA)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Lisa Coyne, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School (USA)

ACBS is a loving, compassionate community of scientists and practitioners. As we grow and diversify, we have an opportunity to create a stronger organization. To do so, we must be strategic; grounded and visionary at the same time.
I want us to make ACBS an equitable, inclusive, global home that values and empowers all of its members. There is an Ubuntu saying – I am because we are. It is in our differences that we will discover our strength.
I want us to nurture young scientists by funding innovative science, and to support clinicians by developing standards for excellent practice. I want us to develop streamlined ways of giving scientists and clinicians better access to our collective resources.
I want us to better disseminate our science through expanding our digital presence and skill in technology, communication, and public relations. Fellow travelers, with kindness and admiration, let’s help ACBS thrive.

 

President- Elect

Miranda Morris, Ph.D.
Founder, True North Therapy and Training 

I am a psychologist in private practice just outside Washington, D.C. In 2010, after a few years of trying to build a private practice, I stumbled on my local ACBS community. Finding my tribe changed everything. Within a year, we had founded the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of ACBS. Committed to disseminating ACT, our chapter holds multiple workshops each year, provides free training to students, and has grown to well over 250 members. In 2016, I found the courage to step up and serve at the next level of ACBS and have since had the honor of serving on the Chapter & SIG and DEI Committees as well as the Women’s SIG Board. In 2018, I was honored to join our community of peer-reviewed ACT trainers, and I began service as Member at Large on the ACBS Board. My passion is building the ACBS community locally and globally.

Statement: In Improv, players start each show by patting each others’ backs and promising "I've got your back!” In this way, we let each person know that we'll be there to support them and make them shine. It’s not about the individual - it’s about the team and our collective power to lift each other up. On a larger scale, it is this promise, this commitment to one another that we need in order to realize the four pillars of our ACBS Strategic Plan: nurturing community, centering science, enhancing competency, and expanding our presence. The pillars are designed to grow ACBS and disseminate our science in the service of alleviating human suffering. To do this, we’ll need to have each others’ backs - all of them - the powerful, the published, the underrepresented, the disconnected, the disadvantaged. All of us. Let’s keep building an ACBS in which we all have each others’ backs.

Past President

Dennis Tirch, Ph.D.
The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy (USA)

Dr. Tirch is the Founder and Director of The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy, and President of The Compassionate Mind Foundation USA. Dr. Tirch also serves as an Associate Clinical Professor at Icahn Medical School at Mt. Sinai, NY. He is a co-author of 6 books, and numerous chapters and peer reviewed articles on ACT, CFT & CBT. Dr. Tirch is a Fellow of ACBS; Diplomate, Fellow & Certified Consultant & Trainer for The Academy of Cognitive Therapy; Founding Fellow and the Past-President of The NYC-CBT Association; Founding Past-President of The New York City Chapter of ACBS; and Founding Past-President of the Compassion Focused SIG of ACBS. Dr. Tirch is an Associate Editor of The Journal of Contextual Behavioral Therapy. He has served on the faculty of Cornell Weill Medical College and Albert Einstein Medical School. Dr. Tirch regularly conducts ACT and CFT trainings, consultation & workshops globally.

By 2020, ACT can be a household word throughout the world. ACT is arguably the most advanced and comprehensively researched form of evidence based psychotherapy, yet it remains little known outside of psychological science. My aim is to help our community to radically expand public awareness of CBS, ACT & related technologies like CFT, FAP & RFT, so that people the world over will know there is a wiser and scientifically stronger way to address their suffering. We face a global mental health crisis, and political movements that threaten pro-sociality, compassion and altruism. The CBS community is uniquely well armed with the tools, talent and heart needed to address these problems. We can no longer afford to keep these advances out of the public eye. The successful realization of this mission will generate exponential growth of public awareness of CBS through a coordinated and international media, implementation and dissemination effort

Secretary Treasurer

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.
University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Maria is a licensed clinical psychologist, Assistant Professor, chairing the Clinical Psychology Doctorate program and the “ACThealthy” laboratory at the University of Cyprus. She completed her doctorate from the University at Albany, SUNY and her residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Her research focuses on health promotion and the investigation of individual difference factors as they relate to the development and maintenance of behavioural difficulties. She examines the treatment of these difficulties utilizing CBS interventions and innovative delivery methods (e.g., digitalized interventions, virtual reality). Her research received awards from: European Council and Pompidou’s group, ABCT, and Society of Behavioral Medicine; and grants from national and EU funds. She is chairing the Cyprus Bioethics Committee, is a member of the Psychologist Licensing Board, and the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ Psychology and Health and e-health task forces. In the past two years she served as a member-at-large of ACBS.

“As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery…” (Kavafis)
Growing up in the island of Cyprus, I had Kavafis’ poems and his allegorical meanings deeply influencing my choices in life. These same meanings I have found in the ACBS community, which drew me to this work, the organization and its people. I have been a part of ACBS almost from its inception and I have tried to serve the association through various capacities: serving on conference committees, boards of various SIGs, becoming an ACT trainer, starting the Cyprus-Greece ACBS chapter, and serving on the ACBS executive board as member-at-large. My experiences, my drive and love for this association and the group of individuals who constitute it, will enable me to continue to serve ACBS from the post of secretary/treasurer, with continued fervor towards excellence.

Member at Large 1

Jenna LeJeune, Ph.D.
Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center

I have been an active member of ACBS since its founding in 2005. I am a peer-reviewed ACT trainer, a supervisor, and co-founder and President of Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center. I am also co-author of the book Values in Therapy. I am the founding President of the Oregon Chapter of ACBS and serve on the ACT Training Committee. And at my heart, I am primarily a therapist. But if you know me, hopefully you will know me as someone who is guided by my values. Those values tell you more about who I am than any list of accomplishments or roles. I am committed to being someone whose actions are in the service of welcoming connection, inclusivity, open-hearted generosity, compassion, gracious warmth, and kindness. These are the things that matter most to me about who I am and what I do in this world.

Statement: As a clinician, I have seen ACT transform lives. However, ACBS is broader than ACT, and we have an opportunity to harness our diversity of perspectives and talents to have a much larger impact on the world. If elected, I would work toward inclusive connection as part of implementing the board’s three-year strategic plan. I believe we can improve the effectiveness and productivity of our committees by connecting members who want to be involved but haven’t found a way to contribute or maybe haven’t felt welcomed. I want to help ACBS become more connected with the broader professional and public community by expanding and improving our digital presence. And as more people around the world become trained in ACT, I want to ensure that those trainings remain connected to the science underlying our technologies while also honoring diversity. I would be honored to help serve our community in these ways.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Diana Ferroni Bast, Ph.D.
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)

I’m a Brazilian/Italian BCBA, clinical psychologist, and researcher presently living in Ireland. I started my career working and researching in the psychiatric hospital of São Paulo University. In 2011, I did my doctorate in Maynooth University under the supervision of Professor Dermot Barnes-Holmes and then did postdoctoral research under the supervision of Dr. Celso Goyos (UFSCAR, Brazil) in collaboration with Dr. Ian Stewart (NUI Galway). Recently, I’ve become course director of the Applied Behavior Analysis Masters program in Trinity College Dublin. I’m interested in the dynamic interaction between basic and applied research and have worked in a number of areas of RFT/ACT focus including the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), hierarchical relational framing, Prosocial, RFT analysis of ACT processes and translational research. My work has been funded by various agencies (FAPESP, BEPE, CAPES, Enterprise Ireland) and has involved collaboration with a variety of international researchers and a multidisciplinary team.

Statement: My experience as a researcher and clinician, and as a member of different overlapping scientific communities (Behavior Analysis and ACBS), as well as of diverse national chapters within ACBS (Brazil and UK) gives me extensive perspective on the challenges faced by researchers in terms of research priorities, conference attendance, community involvement, and issues of inclusion. The future of our community lies in actively working on creating bridges between basic and applied science, and between different communities and in fostering a democratic science. I will help achieve this through support of members and sponsors via several initiatives including (i) developing an accessible online conference (ii) developing programs for assistance in writing funding grants (iii) promoting members’ participation and discussion, especially of those from developing countries (iv) promoting new online channels to support international cooperation and collaboration (v) promoting greater accessibility of RFT to a broad public including especially investors.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Lance McCracken, Ph.D.

Uppsala University (Sweden)

I have been a member of ACBS for over 13 years and have been involved in the work of CBS for more than 20 years. My current position is as Professor of Clinical Psychology at Uppsala University. I am also visiting professor at King’s College London and Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist the INPUT pain management centre at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. I sit on the editorial boards for numerous journals in the fields of pain and clinical health psychology, including The Journal of Pain, Health Psychology, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, and European Journal of Pain, where I am Psychology Section Editor. My main work is clinical research and have published over 250 scientific articles and chapters, and two books, most of these on treatment development for chronic pain, and most based on CBS and psychological flexibility.
 

ACBS is an organization made up of many related parts, including those who are clinical researchers employed by universities. This part I particularly wish to support and represent within the organization. From 25 years’ experience as a clinician, researcher, and educator, and having worked and lived in the US, the UK, and Sweden, I believe that I have experience to share and useful perspectives to offer. This is to address such challenges as how to keep an organization such as ours, with its many parts, integrated, true to its principles and its commitments, and evolving, through science and research. I would like to see more young scientists and clinical academics within ACBS succeed, produce high impact research results, receive promotions, and move up the academic ranks within universities, become leaders within their institutions, and then support others to do the same.

 

Member at Large 4

Jill Stoddard, Ph.D.

The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management (USA)

Jill Stoddard is the founder and director of The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management, a multi-site outpatient psychotherapy clinic specializing in ACT and CBT for anxiety and related issues. Dr. Stoddard received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University where she trained at the highly regarded Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders under the leadership of Dr. David Barlow and mentorship of Dr. Stefan Hofmann. She completed her APA accredited internship and post-doctoral fellowship at UCSD’s School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. She is an award-winning teacher and peer-reviewed ACT trainer. She has coauthored articles on ACT, CBT, anxiety, trauma, and pain. She also coauthored The Big Book of ACT Metaphors: A Clinician’s Guide to Experiential Exercises and Metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; her second book, Be Mighty: A Woman’s Guide to Mastering Anxiety, Worry, and Stress Using Mindfulness and Acceptance, will be published in January 2020.
 

Though I have been a burgeoning ACT nerd since 2002, I didn’t discover ACBS until 2014, when I attended my first ACBS World Conference. This experience opened my eyes to the way a professional organization can and should be—welcoming, egalitarian, cutting edge, and FUN! Since that time, I have looked for opportunities to get more involved: I became a recognized ACT trainer, volunteered for the Awards committee, joined the Women’s SIG and SoCal chapter, and agreed to review conference submissions. I have also seen the community grow and, at times, struggle to maintain its spirit of inclusivity. I would be honored to serve as MAL in hopes of giving back to the organization that has given so much to me. I would like to help revitalize our sense of connection, caring, equality, and community while building our public presence so we may continue to grow and share CBS and practice.

 

Student Representative

Lam Ching Yee
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Ching-yee Lam is a doctoral candidate in School of Nursing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Also, she is a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing and Health studies at The Open University of Hong Kong. She got her Bachelor of Nursing from La Trobe University, and Master of Nursing and Master of Philosophy at The University of Hong Kong. Her PhD thesis focuses on developing and evaluating ACT applications for promoting mental wellbeing in university nurse learners. With raising rates of stress in people and resulting human suffering, she is interested in researching ACT as an intervention for general public at primary care setting. She has been a member of ACBS for over four years and has attended three previous World Conference. Also, she is a member of Asian Culture and CBS SIG, China Chapter and Hong Kong Chapter.

Statement: I am passionate about researching and translating theoretical knowledge into applied practices. Apart from attending the World Conference, while there are experts of contextual behavioral science in the community, I always curious about what student members could learn more from them. Also, I wonder how to bring CBS more accessible and relevant to people of different background. To achieve this, my goal is to build networks and supports for student members to collaborate on researching and to share resources amongst members. With a dual identity of a university teaching faculty and a part-time PhD student, as a student representative, I hope to facilitate students’ growth in the field of contextual behavioral science and to help increase students’ engagement in the ACBS community.

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The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

President:

Rhonda Merwin, Ph.D., Duke University Medical Center (USA)

Rhonda Merwin, PhD is an Associate Professor at Duke University Medical Center, a Peer-Reviewed ACT Trainer, and the Founder of ACT at Duke, a research, clinical and training program in Duke University’s School of Medicine. She also has the honor of being a Fellow of ACBS and a current Member-at-Large Board Member. She chairs the ACBS Publications Committee, dedicated to the quality and success of the Journal of Contextual and Behavioral Science, a committee that she has served on since 2015. She currently directs CBS SuperLab, an effort to bring together CBS researchers and labs from around the world to advance CBS research. Dr. Merwin is also a clinician and a teacher, and the author of ACT for Anorexia Nervosa: A Guide for Clinicians. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (among other sponsors), and focuses on multi-level, multi-dimensional factors that influence maladaptive eating and weight control, and the delivery personalized interventions in real time.

Statement: "Act as though what you do makes a difference. It does."-William James. What we do matters; how we spend our time, where we invest our energy. I choose to spend it here- in an organization of passionate individuals devoted to the alleviation of human suffering. As I type those words, I appreciate the significance of this charge. How might we reimagine ourselves or our organization to maximize our impact? Because, while all acts matter, I believe we have untapped potential to address the challenges facing human beings. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, organized citizens can change the world.”-Margaret Mead. I believe that CBS can make a difference; that we can make a difference with the strength of our collective and diverse ideas and skills, and a structure that empowers and inspires individuals to engage and reminds them that what they do matters. As President, I will identify ways to maximize our potential, keeping science at the forefront (as clinicians, researchers, teachers, etc.) and empowering individuals to work together toward common values/goals.

President-Elect: 

Manuela O'Connell, Lic. (Argentina)

Clinical psychologist specialize 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.

Statement: I have been serving ACBS for the last 11 years so I know it's heart and soul. As a South American non-native English speaker, I am driven by a passionate commitment to fostering diversity, promoting inclusion, and effecting meaningful change within our community. Diversity is a fundamental pillar of strength. Our field flourishes when we embrace a wide spectrum of perspectives, experiences, and voices. As president, I pledge to prioritize initiatives that amplify underrepresented voices and cultivate a culture of belonging where every member feels valued and empowered to contribute their unique insights and talents. I am also dedicated to creating an environment where individuals from all walks of life feel welcomed and supported in their professional journeys. By fostering a culture of openness and collaboration, we can harness the full potential of our diverse membership to tackle the complex challenges facing our field and society at large.

Past President: 

Andrew Gloster, Ph.D., University of Lucerne (Switzerland)

Andrew Gloster, ACBS Fellow and professor at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland. Trained in the U.S.A., he has worked in Europe since 2006. Andrew is international in his outlook and sensitivities. He has published over 150 scientific papers, books and treatment manuals. His contextual behavioral science research program has empirically tested numerous aspects of the CBS model including clinical trials, public health, biological & genetic variables, pro-social behaviors in groups, and technological interventions. He is a licensed psychotherapist and a passionate mentor and trainer. Andrew actively works to disseminate and communicate science across professional lines and to the general public. Andrew has served ACBS in numerous capacities including secretary/treasurer of the Board, ACBS Foundation president, program chair (2015 Berlin), and is an Associate Editor of JCBS.

Statement: ACBS is a special organization. It is the only organization I know of that seriously cares about the hearts and minds of its members, while simultaneously supporting activities to increase well-being across the world. The breadth of professions and geographical regions at home in ACBS is a testament to the mission, spirit, and values of its members. This is simultaneously a strength and challenge.

In my previous roles within ACBS, I gained a detailed understanding of the issues ACBS and its members face. If elected, I will utilize this knowledge and contribute with my international, scientist-practitioner perspective. I will work with the board and membership to continue identifying additional ways that ACBS can serve its members. Additionally, I will work to preserve the core values of ACBS while we continue the important work of expanding the science and refining our interventions. It would be my honor to serve as president.

 

Secretary-Treasurer: 

David Gillanders, DClinPsy, University of Edinburgh (Scotland)

I am a Clinical Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. I’ve been learning ACT since 2004 and now teach as a Peer Reviewed Trainer. I’m also a Fellow of ACBS. My research programme focusses on ACT for long term health conditions, and more recently I have specialised in ACT for cancer and end of life. I’ve previously served ACBS as Chair of the Training Committee from 2011 to 2015, and as President, then Past President of the UK and Republic of Ireland Chapter from 2017 to 2020. I served on the Conference Strategy Committee from 2017 to 2020 and was joint programme chair for the World Conference in Dublin in 2019. I am a member of the Strategic Pillar on Competency and Dissemination.

Statement: I have previously served ACBS at the Chapter level and Internationally. In these roles I bring good organisational skills, careful and sensitive diplomacy and an ability to commit and follow through. I am able to listen to multiple perspectives and to help groups to reach consensus. As Training Committee Chair I led the committee in developing greater transparency of process and greater detail of evaluating the basic science competencies for peer reviewed trainers. These experiences show my abilities in working on international committees. I was elected to the role of Secretary / Treasurer in October 2023 to complete the term of office of the previous role holder. I would like to continue to serve the organisation in this role. I have contributed to discussion of sensitive issues with tact and diplomacy, and have at times brought a critical perspective to the board, whilst talking from the heart.

Members at Large (Basic Science): 

Jennifer Shepard Payne, Ph.D., LCSW-C, Johns Hopkins University/ Kennedy Krieger Institute (USA)

Jennifer Shepard Payne, Ph.D., LCSW-C, is a Research Scientist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress (CCFTS) and the Center for the Neuroscience of Social Injustice. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine within the Department of Psychiatry.
She received her doctorate in Social Welfare from UCLA and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with many years of experience in mental health clinical practice and administration. For several years, Dr. Payne has been working on culturally tailoring Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for African American communities experiencing racial trauma. She developed a culturally tailored version of ACT called POOF: www.POOF-PullingOutOfFire.com
Additionally, her book, Out of the Fire: Healing Black Trauma Caused by Systemic Racism Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, can be obtained from New Harbinger, Barnes and Noble, Target, Amazon, and other booksellers.

Statement: Although I have been in ACBS for less than ten years, I embraced it fully when I joined. Being active in ACBS is a value of mine because ACT has become so valuable to me. From the time that I learned about ACT and stepped into my first training, I was intrigued and hooked. Thus, my involvement with and dedication to the Association has been constant since I joined.
Soon after joining ACBS, I joined the DEI-SIG because while I loved ACT, I wondered why few persons who looked like me (persons of color) were visible in ACBS. I wanted to change that, and that desire intensified after George Floyd was murdered. June 2020 was a turning point in my life, as I am sure it was a turning point in the lives of many others. I desire to recruit and retain more diverse participants into the ACBS family.

 

Alison Stapleton, Ph.D., University College Dublin (Ireland)

Dr Alison Stapleton is a Chartered Psychologist of the Psychological Society of Ireland, Postdoctoral Fellow at Smithsfield Clinic and University College Dublin, and a Lecturer in Psychology at Dublin Business School and the Institute of Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy. Alison coordinates the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) Neurodiversity-Affirming Research and Practice Special Interest Group (SIG), served on the Steering Committee for the ACBS Relational Frame Theory SIG, and currently works at ACT Now Purposeful Living, a leading provider of ACT training in Ireland. Alison regularly delivers national and international level trainings, and has experience working in psychological services to identify, accommodate, and support a range of neurotypes. Alison has published two book chapters and 13 scientific articles, most recently contributing to The Oxford Handbook of ACT and a systematic review of adults’ experiences of being identified as autistic in adulthood (manuscript submitted for publication).

Statement: I want to strengthen the impact of process-based therapy and relational frame theory inside ACBS and beyond the "bubble". Disseminating CBS while collaboratively and collegially refining our science is imperative if we are to self-correct and meaningfully advance as a field.

I want to make ACBS a welcoming space for all, particularly neurominorities and "first-generation" academics. Collective strength lies in diversity, and harnessing that strength depends on accessibility; inclusion isn't just a "seat at the table" - it's having a voice and being heard too. I want to bolster meaningful inclusion in ACBS.

I want to improve communication between ACBS members and non-members. Productive collaborations and mutual exchanges of ideas and methodological approaches will increase variability in the field, highlight areas for redress and growth, and better our science.

Members at Large: 

Jacob Martinez, LPC, Private Practice (USA)

Jacob Martinez is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Wisconsin, USA. He is currently the chair of the ACBS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Special Interest Group; a member of the ACBS DEI Committee, and a member of the ACBS Membership Committee. Jacob is committed to making ACBS more accessible and inclusive, and has a particular interest in non-hierarchical organizational and community structures. When Jacob is not in the therapy room you can find him organizing his rare pencil collection and perfecting his Texas-style Smoked Brisket.

Statement: The vision of ACBS as dedicated to “the alleviation of human suffering and the advancement of human well-being through contextual behavioral science” can only be achieved through a strong commitment to and affirmation of the global community that makes up this organization.
ACBS will thrive or die only so far as we are willing to be stewards of this community. Stewards for no other reason but because a shared set of values motivates us. Members of ACBS deepening connection across lines of geography, age, cultural background, ability, education, and profession is a form of mutual aid that benefits us all; and which ultimately sets ACBS apart from other organizations of its type.
My goal in serving as member-at-large is to promote a culture of community stewardship that every member of ACBS can partake in confidently. To advocate for channels of cooperation, communication, and relationship building across this community.

Sevinç Ulusoy, M.D., Cansagligi Foundation, Center for Contextual Behavioral Science (Türkiye)

I am a psychiatrist and currently working as a researcher at Cansagligi Foundation, Center for Contextual Behavioral Science. My medical education was completed at Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in 2008, followed by my psychiatry residency at Istanbul Bakirkoy Prof. Dr. Mazhar Osman Research and Training Hospital for Psychiatry and Neurology in 2014. Throughout my psychiatry residency training, I have dedicated my focus to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approaches, conducting research in various areas including emotion, affective disorders, stigma, and trans-diagnostic processes. Since 2013, my involvement with ACT and RFT has been profound. I am a founding member of the Turkiye chapter and previously served as president of the Turkiye chapter (2015-2017).
I contribute as a trainer and supervisor in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy trainings facilitated by the Turkish Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. Recently, my specialization has extended into psycho-oncology and trauma.

Statement: I’ve been engaged with the ACBS community for over a decade and have been deeply impressed by its non-judgmental and accepting attitude since day one. This inclusive stance, welcoming of differences, cultivates a profound sense of belonging. My ongoing participation underscores the alignment of this community with my core values: openness, compassion, teamwork, togetherness, and continuous learning. If elected, I am committed to advancing these values further, and here are some of my objectives:
- Uniting clinicians and researchers from diverse geographic locations who may have varying approaches to psychotherapy education and practice but encounter similar challenges under the umbrella of ACBS, fostering greater communication among them and promoting collaborative efforts.
- Expanding the ACBS network into countries where community networks are still developing, introducing CBS principles to newcomers.
- Creating supportive environments for early-career researchers and clinicians to engage meaningfully with experienced ACBS members.

Student Representative: 

 Sanna Turakka, Terapia- ja ohjauspalvelut Elonkuohu, Private Practice / University of Jyväskylä (Finland)

I have Master's degrees in Special Education and Sport and Exercise Psychology, and at the moment I am working on my PhD research on Perfectionism and Self-compassion in Competitive Sports, at the University of Jyväskylä. I am an accredited Psychotherapist and a Psychotherapist Trainer and Supervisor in Finland. I have my private practice from where I do psychotherapy, sport and performance psychology coaching and consultation, supervision, and trainings. I also work as a psychotherapist trainer at Tampere University. My personal and professional lenses are built of contextual behavioral science and compassion focused approaches and I want to advance the application and research of these approaches to contexts beyond the field of clinical psychology (for example education, sport, wellbeing, primary healthcare). In Finland, I am actively involved in our ACBS community and our Sport Psychology community (for example as Board member of the Finnish Association of Sport Psychology).

Statement: I have been applying ACT and functional contextual approaches to my life and work since 2009. At that point I was training to be a psychotherapist, and attended a workshop by JoAnne Dahl, where my understanding on managing human emotions was (fortunately) blown into gazillion pieces. My professional mission has been to do my part in distributing evidence based contextual behavioral approaches to people in different contexts and professions. In 2021-2022 I was the Finnish representative of the ACBS Language and National Chapters, as chapter leaders worked together using PROSOCIAL principles to communicate, cooperate, identify, and solve problems to build a stronger community. While that process was interrupted, when the world situation urged us to work on other topics, I strongly support furthering this evolution of a stronger community driven by regular communication and co-operation of our ACBS members from different language areas, cultures, and professions.

2019-2020 ACBS Board

President:
Dennis Tirch, Ph.D., The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy (USA)

President - Elect:
Lisa Coyne, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School (USA)

Past President:
Louise Hayes, Ph.D., The University of Melbourne (Australia)

Secretary Treasurer:
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Member at Large 1:
Miranda Morris, Ph.D., Private Practice (USA)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Diana Ferroni Bast, Ph.D., National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Lance McCracken, Ph.D., Uppsala University (Sweden)

Member at Large 4:
Jill Stoddard, Ph.D., The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management (USA)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Dennis Tirch, Ph.D.
The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy (USA)

Dr. Tirch is the Founder and Director of The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy, and President of The Compassionate Mind Foundation USA. Dr. Tirch also serves as an Associate Clinical Professor at Icahn Medical School at Mt. Sinai, NY. He is a co-author of 6 books, and numerous chapters and peer reviewed articles on ACT, CFT & CBT. Dr. Tirch is a Fellow of ACBS; Diplomate, Fellow & Certified Consultant & Trainer for The Academy of Cognitive Therapy; Founding Fellow and the Past-President of The NYC-CBT Association; Founding Past-President of The New York City Chapter of ACBS; and Founding Past-President of the Compassion Focused SIG of ACBS. Dr. Tirch is an Associate Editor of The Journal of Contextual Behavioral Therapy. He has served on the faculty of Cornell Weill Medical College and Albert Einstein Medical School. Dr. Tirch regularly conducts ACT and CFT trainings, consultation & workshops globally.

By 2020, ACT can be a household word throughout the world. ACT is arguably the most advanced and comprehensively researched form of evidence based psychotherapy, yet it remains little known outside of psychological science. My aim is to help our community to radically expand public awareness of CBS, ACT & related technologies like CFT, FAP & RFT, so that people the world over will know there is a wiser and scientifically stronger way to address their suffering. We face a global mental health crisis, and political movements that threaten pro-sociality, compassion and altruism. The CBS community is uniquely well armed with the tools, talent and heart needed to address these problems. We can no longer afford to keep these advances out of the public eye. The successful realization of this mission will generate exponential growth of public awareness of CBS through a coordinated and international media, implementation and dissemination effort

President- Elect

Lisa Coyne, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School (USA)

ACBS is a loving, compassionate community of scientists and practitioners. As we grow and diversify, we have an opportunity to create a stronger organization. To do so, we must be strategic; grounded and visionary at the same time.
I want us to make ACBS an equitable, inclusive, global home that values and empowers all of its members. There is an Ubuntu saying – I am because we are. It is in our differences that we will discover our strength.
I want us to nurture young scientists by funding innovative science, and to support clinicians by developing standards for excellent practice. I want us to develop streamlined ways of giving scientists and clinicians better access to our collective resources.
I want us to better disseminate our science through expanding our digital presence and skill in technology, communication, and public relations. Fellow travelers, with kindness and admiration, let’s help ACBS thrive.

 

Past President

Louise Hayes, Ph.D.
The University of Melbourne (Australia)

Community and connection has become the centre of my work and I will use this focus to benefit ACBS members. I was introduced to ACT in 2003 and became a member of ACBS in 2006. I am a peer reviewed ACT trainer. I run a training business, a private practice, and I am a Senior Fellow with The Centre for Youth Health at The University of Melbourne. My passions lie in my philanthropic work; most recently Mindful Adventures where we provide experiences for professionals, give poor people wages, and raise money to help educate remote children in Nepal. I have held a number of roles within ACBS including: Member-at-Large of the international board, President of the Australian and New Zealand Chapter, committee member for the Training Committee, the Conference Strategy Committee, the Developing Nations Committee, and lastly Program Chair for the Sydney World Conference.

Statement: I would be humbled and honoured to serve as ACBS President. My vision is to focus on evolving a professional society with two key agendas – (1) a continued strong science and research platform that is home to all types of professionals interested in the human condition; and (2) strengthen our membership through inclusiveness, cooperation, and community building. ACBS has seen wonderful growth and I see this as a major challenge for us all – the bigger we get, the easier it is to feel lost. It seems timely to me that evolution science and principles of group selection and cooperation, along with Ostrom’s principals for managing the commons will help us grow the ACBS community we want. I would seek to use our knowledge in these areas to stay connected as a community and work together in our scientific interests, our training and networking, and our SIGs and Chapters.

Secretary Treasurer

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.
University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Maria is a licensed clinical psychologist, Assistant Professor, chairing the Clinical Psychology Doctorate program and the “ACThealthy” laboratory at the University of Cyprus. She completed her doctorate from the University at Albany, SUNY and her residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Her research focuses on health promotion and the investigation of individual difference factors as they relate to the development and maintenance of behavioural difficulties. She examines the treatment of these difficulties utilizing CBS interventions and innovative delivery methods (e.g., digitalized interventions, virtual reality). Her research received awards from: European Council and Pompidou’s group, ABCT, and Society of Behavioral Medicine; and grants from national and EU funds. She is chairing the Cyprus Bioethics Committee, is a member of the Psychologist Licensing Board, and the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ Psychology and Health and e-health task forces. In the past two years she served as a member-at-large of ACBS.

“As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery…” (Kavafis)
Growing up in the island of Cyprus, I had Kavafis’ poems and his allegorical meanings deeply influencing my choices in life. These same meanings I have found in the ACBS community, which drew me to this work, the organization and its people. I have been a part of ACBS almost from its inception and I have tried to serve the association through various capacities: serving on conference committees, boards of various SIGs, becoming an ACT trainer, starting the Cyprus-Greece ACBS chapter, and serving on the ACBS executive board as member-at-large. My experiences, my drive and love for this association and the group of individuals who constitute it, will enable me to continue to serve ACBS from the post of secretary/treasurer, with continued fervor towards excellence.

Member at Large 1

Miranda Morris, Ph.D.
Private Practice (USA)

Miranda is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice just outside of Washington, DC. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Missouri - St. Louis under the mentorship of Patricia Resick, PhD. She is the founder of DC ACT, a consortium of therapists who provide training in ACT to professionals in the region. Miranda helped found the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of ACBS (MAC-ACBS) and has served on the MAC-ACBS Board for six years. She and her MAC colleagues regularly conduct free ACT workshops for students and professionals in their region. She also serves as Manager of the ACBS Women’s SIG and as a member of the Diversity and Chapter/SIG committees. In addition, she teaches Psychology and Social Justice a local cooperative high school. Miranda lives in Takoma Park, MD with her partner, two kids and two impossibly small dogs.

ACBS has been a home to me for ten years. In that time, my experiences within our community have inspired and shaped me. ACBS has provided me a context in which I can move continuously toward my values of community building and sharing CBS. My desire to serve as MAL was born of these values. Given the opportunity, I would like to focus on creating a more inclusive community, one attuned to the needs of groups nested within ACBS (e.g., Chapters. SIGs) as well as individuals from diverse professional and personal backgrounds. Our membership is growing — maintaining a sense of connection within ACBS will be an ongoing challenge. I’d like us to invest in creating support for the diverse groups/individuals that make ACBS the vibrant community I love. My hope is to help make ACBS as much a home for others as it has been for me.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Diana Ferroni Bast, Ph.D.
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)

I’m a Brazilian/Italian BCBA, clinical psychologist, and researcher presently living in Ireland. I started my career working and researching in the psychiatric hospital of São Paulo University. In 2011, I did my doctorate in Maynooth University under the supervision of Professor Dermot Barnes-Holmes and then did postdoctoral research under the supervision of Dr. Celso Goyos (UFSCAR, Brazil) in collaboration with Dr. Ian Stewart (NUI Galway). Recently, I’ve become course director of the Applied Behavior Analysis Masters program in Trinity College Dublin. I’m interested in the dynamic interaction between basic and applied research and have worked in a number of areas of RFT/ACT focus including the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), hierarchical relational framing, Prosocial, RFT analysis of ACT processes and translational research. My work has been funded by various agencies (FAPESP, BEPE, CAPES, Enterprise Ireland) and has involved collaboration with a variety of international researchers and a multidisciplinary team.
 

My experience as a researcher and clinician, and as a member of different overlapping scientific communities (Behavior Analysis and ACBS), as well as of diverse national chapters within ACBS (Brazil and UK) gives me extensive perspective on the challenges faced by researchers in terms of research priorities, conference attendance, community involvement, and issues of inclusion. The future of our community lies in actively working on creating bridges between basic and applied science, and between different communities and in fostering a democratic science. I will help achieve this through support of members and sponsors via several initiatives including (i) developing an accessible online conference (ii) developing programs for assistance in writing funding grants (iii) promoting members’ participation and discussion, especially of those from developing countries (iv) promoting new online channels to support international cooperation and collaboration (v) promoting greater accessibility of RFT to a broad public including especially investors.

 

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Lance McCracken, Ph.D.

Uppsala University (Sweden)

I have been a member of ACBS for over 13 years and have been involved in the work of CBS for more than 20 years. My current position is as Professor of Clinical Psychology at Uppsala University. I am also visiting professor at King’s College London and Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist the INPUT pain management centre at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. I sit on the editorial boards for numerous journals in the fields of pain and clinical health psychology, including The Journal of Pain, Health Psychology, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, and European Journal of Pain, where I am Psychology Section Editor. My main work is clinical research and have published over 250 scientific articles and chapters, and two books, most of these on treatment development for chronic pain, and most based on CBS and psychological flexibility.
 

ACBS is an organization made up of many related parts, including those who are clinical researchers employed by universities. This part I particularly wish to support and represent within the organization. From 25 years’ experience as a clinician, researcher, and educator, and having worked and lived in the US, the UK, and Sweden, I believe that I have experience to share and useful perspectives to offer. This is to address such challenges as how to keep an organization such as ours, with its many parts, integrated, true to its principles and its commitments, and evolving, through science and research. I would like to see more young scientists and clinical academics within ACBS succeed, produce high impact research results, receive promotions, and move up the academic ranks within universities, become leaders within their institutions, and then support others to do the same.

 

Member at Large 4

Jill Stoddard, Ph.D.

The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management (USA)

Jill Stoddard is the founder and director of The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management, a multi-site outpatient psychotherapy clinic specializing in ACT and CBT for anxiety and related issues. Dr. Stoddard received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University where she trained at the highly regarded Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders under the leadership of Dr. David Barlow and mentorship of Dr. Stefan Hofmann. She completed her APA accredited internship and post-doctoral fellowship at UCSD’s School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. She is an award-winning teacher and peer-reviewed ACT trainer. She has coauthored articles on ACT, CBT, anxiety, trauma, and pain. She also coauthored The Big Book of ACT Metaphors: A Clinician’s Guide to Experiential Exercises and Metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; her second book, Be Mighty: A Woman’s Guide to Mastering Anxiety, Worry, and Stress Using Mindfulness and Acceptance, will be published in January 2020.
 

Though I have been a burgeoning ACT nerd since 2002, I didn’t discover ACBS until 2014, when I attended my first ACBS World Conference. This experience opened my eyes to the way a professional organization can and should be—welcoming, egalitarian, cutting edge, and FUN! Since that time, I have looked for opportunities to get more involved: I became a recognized ACT trainer, volunteered for the Awards committee, joined the Women’s SIG and SoCal chapter, and agreed to review conference submissions. I have also seen the community grow and, at times, struggle to maintain its spirit of inclusivity. I would be honored to serve as MAL in hopes of giving back to the organization that has given so much to me. I would like to help revitalize our sense of connection, caring, equality, and community while building our public presence so we may continue to grow and share CBS and practice.

 

Student Representative

Varsha Eswara Murthy

Doctoral Candidate, University College Dublin (Ireland)

Varsha Eswara Murthy is a doctoral research student in University College Dublin (UCD). Varsha completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at UCD, graduating top of her Masters of Psychological Science class. Varsha’s thesis focuses on developing and evaluating CBS interventions for marginalised populations, specifically those experiencing homelessness. With rising rates of homelessness and the resulting human suffering, the development of practicable and empirically validated interventions with a strong theoretical basis that will serve this population has been a goal of hers for some time. Alongside researching the development and efficacy of ACT interventions, Varsha has a background in basic science research and translating this research into applied contexts. She has published research in the area. Varsha has been a member of ACBS since 2015 and has presented her research at international conferences. Varsha hopes to continue researching and developing empirically supported CBS interventions for marginalised populations and the general public.
 

I am passionate about science communication, researching and translating basic science into applied practices. I will explore different avenues where students can highlight their research and get excited about basic science and its applications. I will put more robust formal supports in place that encourage members to communicate research within their communities, in academic and public contexts. My goal is to build supports for student members to collaborate on innovative research and to provide training by experts in the association.

Working with marginalised populations, I am sensitive to the need to create safe and welcoming environments to people from diverse backgrounds. I will find new avenues to enhance the continued growth of a diverse student membership. I am confident that I can bring your ideas and concerns to the board, in order to enhance student involvement and help foster the development of the next generation of clinicians and scientists.

 

---

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2018-2019 ACBS Board

President:
Louise Hayes, Ph.D., The University of Melbourne (Australia)

President - Elect:
Dennis Tirch, Ph.D., The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy (USA)

Past President:
Giovambattista "Nanni" Presti, M.D., Ph.D., University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Secretary Treasurer:
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Member at Large 1:
Miranda Morris, Ph.D., Private Practice (USA)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Lisa Coyne, Ph.D., McLean/Harvard Medical School (USA)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Amy R. Murrell, Ph.D., University of North Texas (USA)

Member at Large 4:
Jonathan Bricker, Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center & University of Washington (USA)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Louise Hayes, Ph.D.
The University of Melbourne (Australia)

Community and connection has become the centre of my work and I will use this focus to benefit ACBS members. I was introduced to ACT in 2003 and became a member of ACBS in 2006. I am a peer reviewed ACT trainer. I run a training business, a private practice, and I am a Senior Fellow with The Centre for Youth Health at The University of Melbourne. My passions lie in my philanthropic work; most recently Mindful Adventures where we provide experiences for professionals, give poor people wages, and raise money to help educate remote children in Nepal. I have held a number of roles within ACBS including: Member-at-Large of the international board, President of the Australian and New Zealand Chapter, committee member for the Training Committee, the Conference Strategy Committee, the Developing Nations Committee, and lastly Program Chair for the Sydney World Conference.

Statement: I would be humbled and honoured to serve as ACBS President. My vision is to focus on evolving a professional society with two key agendas – (1) a continued strong science and research platform that is home to all types of professionals interested in the human condition; and (2) strengthen our membership through inclusiveness, cooperation, and community building. ACBS has seen wonderful growth and I see this as a major challenge for us all – the bigger we get, the easier it is to feel lost. It seems timely to me that evolution science and principles of group selection and cooperation, along with Ostrom’s principals for managing the commons will help us grow the ACBS community we want. I would seek to use our knowledge in these areas to stay connected as a community and work together in our scientific interests, our training and networking, and our SIGs and Chapters.

President- Elect

Dennis Tirch, Ph.D.
The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy (USA)

Dr. Tirch is the Founder and Director of The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy, and President of The Compassionate Mind Foundation USA. Dr. Tirch also serves as an Associate Clinical Professor at Icahn Medical School at Mt. Sinai, NY. He is a co-author of 6 books, and numerous chapters and peer reviewed articles on ACT, CFT & CBT. Dr. Tirch is a Fellow of ACBS; Diplomate, Fellow & Certified Consultant & Trainer for The Academy of Cognitive Therapy; Founding Fellow and the Past-President of The NYC-CBT Association; Founding Past-President of The New York City Chapter of ACBS; and Founding Past-President of the Compassion Focused SIG of ACBS. Dr. Tirch is an Associate Editor of The Journal of Contextual Behavioral Therapy. He has served on the faculty of Cornell Weill Medical College and Albert Einstein Medical School. Dr. Tirch regularly conducts ACT and CFT trainings, consultation & workshops globally.

By 2020, ACT can be a household word throughout the world. ACT is arguably the most advanced and comprehensively researched form of evidence based psychotherapy, yet it remains little known outside of psychological science. My aim is to help our community to radically expand public awareness of CBS, ACT & related technologies like CFT, FAP & RFT, so that people the world over will know there is a wiser and scientifically stronger way to address their suffering. We face a global mental health crisis, and political movements that threaten pro-sociality, compassion and altruism. The CBS community is uniquely well armed with the tools, talent and heart needed to address these problems. We can no longer afford to keep these advances out of the public eye. The successful realization of this mission will generate exponential growth of public awareness of CBS through a coordinated and international media, implementation and dissemination effort

Past President

Giovambattista "Nanni" Presti, M.D., Ph.D.
University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Nanni was trained as a Medical Doctor and attended a Clinical School in Psychotherapy as a post-doc, and received his Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis. As Associate Professor at Kore University in Enna, he coordinates the undergrad program in Psychology. Nanni has a broad experience of teaching and living outside Italy and helped establishing as Treasurer the European Association for Behavior Analysis. He founded and co-managed IESCUM, which has fostered the diffusion of CBS in Italy. He deepened my research interests in BA and ABA focusing on the early equivalence studies and then RFT. Alternating clinical and basic science interests, he encountered ACT at the turning of the millennium, after knowing its first steps. Nanni served ACBS co-chairing the meeting in Parma and serving on the Conference Committee for Washington. He has served on the ACBS Board as a member-at-large for the past two years and co-founded the Italian ACBS Chapter.

Statement: I will be honored to continue to bring my national and international experience at the service of ACBS and foster its mission. I would like to see ACBS grow as a strong international contextual behavior association as the house for behaviorally oriented clinicians, educators, social workers, physicians, psychologists, and researchers. ACBS needs to to strengthen this common house of professional and researchers and I envision the need to serve also members beyond the original clinical core that are focused on the application of a CBS to other areas, like education, workplace and health, to mention only a few. As a growing organization I recognize that members have different needs according to their “seniority”, interests, professional role and area of the globe were they live and work. So there is a need to insure that the International members are served and Diversity being cultivated.

Secretary Treasurer

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.
University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Maria is a licensed clinical psychologist, Assistant Professor, chairing the Clinical Psychology Doctorate program and the “ACThealthy” laboratory at the University of Cyprus. She completed her doctorate from the University at Albany, SUNY and her residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Her research focuses on health promotion and the investigation of individual difference factors as they relate to the development and maintenance of behavioural difficulties. She examines the treatment of these difficulties utilizing CBS interventions and innovative delivery methods (e.g., digitalized interventions, virtual reality). Her research received awards from: European Council and Pompidou’s group, ABCT, and Society of Behavioral Medicine; and grants from national and EU funds. She is chairing the Cyprus Bioethics Committee, is a member of the Psychologist Licensing Board, and the European Federation of Psychology Associations’ Psychology and Health and e-health task forces. In the past two years she served as a member-at-large of ACBS.

“As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery…” (Kavafis)
Growing up in the island of Cyprus, I had Kavafis’ poems and his allegorical meanings deeply influencing my choices in life. These same meanings I have found in the ACBS community, which drew me to this work, the organization and its people. I have been a part of ACBS almost from its inception and I have tried to serve the association through various capacities: serving on conference committees, boards of various SIGs, becoming an ACT trainer, starting the Cyprus-Greece ACBS chapter, and serving on the ACBS executive board as member-at-large. My experiences, my drive and love for this association and the group of individuals who constitute it, will enable me to continue to serve ACBS from the post of secretary/treasurer, with continued fervor towards excellence.

Member at Large 1

Miranda Morris, Ph.D.
Private Practice (USA)

Miranda is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice just outside of Washington, DC. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Missouri - St. Louis under the mentorship of Patricia Resick, PhD. She is the founder of DC ACT, a consortium of therapists who provide training in ACT to professionals in the region. Miranda helped found the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of ACBS (MAC-ACBS) and has served on the MAC-ACBS Board for six years. She and her MAC colleagues regularly conduct free ACT workshops for students and professionals in their region. She also serves as Manager of the ACBS Women’s SIG and as a member of the Diversity and Chapter/SIG committees. In addition, she teaches Psychology and Social Justice a local cooperative high school. Miranda lives in Takoma Park, MD with her partner, two kids and two impossibly small dogs.

ACBS has been a home to me for ten years. In that time, my experiences within our community have inspired and shaped me. ACBS has provided me a context in which I can move continuously toward my values of community building and sharing CBS. My desire to serve as MAL was born of these values. Given the opportunity, I would like to focus on creating a more inclusive community, one attuned to the needs of groups nested within ACBS (e.g., Chapters. SIGs) as well as individuals from diverse professional and personal backgrounds. Our membership is growing — maintaining a sense of connection within ACBS will be an ongoing challenge. I’d like us to invest in creating support for the diverse groups/individuals that make ACBS the vibrant community I love. My hope is to help make ACBS as much a home for others as it has been for me.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Lisa Coyne, Ph.D.
McLean/Harvard Medical School (USA)

Lisa W. Coyne, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked to improve the psychological well-being of children, teens and families for nearly 20 years. After teaching as a tenured professor in the APA-Accredited Clinical Psychology at Suffolk University for 9 years, she is now on the Faculty of Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, where she founded the McLean Child and Adolescent OCD Institute (OCDI Jr.) in 2015. She is a peer-reviewed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Trainer, and a Faculty member of the Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF). She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and chapters on anxiety, OCD, and parenting and is the author of The Joy of Parenting: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Guide to Effective Parenting in the Early Years.

ACBS is my academic family. I am grateful to have been nurtured by it since the beginning of my career in 2004, and would be honored to return that kindness. If chosen to serve this community as a Member-At-Large, I commit to helping our organization to strengthen our prosociality, to support the scientific rigor and collaborative nature of our research, especially with youths and families, to support students, and to help disseminate our work effectively so that we can make a meaningful difference in the world for the people we serve. I hope to support the full participation of underrepresented groups such as women, individuals of minority cultural, racial, sexual, and disability status, and to ensure that ACBS fully benefits from diverse perspectives. I believe our diversity strengthens us and our ability as an organization to adapt and thrive.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Amy Murrell, Ph.D.
University of North Texas (USA)

I earned my Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Mississippi in 2005, under Kelly Wilson's mentorship. I started working at the University of North Texas, where I am now a clinician and an Associate Professor, that same year. I have been a member of ACBS since its beginning, and I have run a CBS consistent lab for over 10 years. I have received 4 grants to research RFT and ACT. I have graduated 18 Ph.D. students, all of whom have gone on to contribute to ACBS. I am an ACBS Fellow and a Peer-Reviewed ACT Trainer. I have conducted over 50 RFT and ACT workshops and authored approximately 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts on RFT and ACT in addition to coauthoring The Joy of Parenting and several other manuscripts. 

Statement: I am passionate about bidirectionally informed research and application. I believe that basic science and practice continually shape each other in ongoing, important ways and that communication about the two services cannot be truly separated. I think we do a disservice to those we attempt to reach when we make efforts to divide research and application, yet I think we are not doing enough to share basic research in accessible ways or disseminate applications in diverse settings. I want to work with the Board and various ACBS committees (as well as ACBS membership as a whole) to share more evidenced-based protocols that bridge the gap between basic science and application in diverse ACBS settings (not just ACT clinical work), and I am committed to increase aware of CBS related basic-applied topics outside of ACBS as well.

Member at Large 4

Jonathan Bricker, Ph.D.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center & University of Washington (USA)

I learned behavioral theory and therapies, and the science of conducting inclusive research at the University of Washington clinical psychology doctoral program. After graduating in 2003, I joined the faculty of Seattle's Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center. I am Full Member and Affiliate Professor of psychology at University of Washington. I lead a multidisciplinary and diverse team focused on testing ACT for stopping smoking—a behavior that disproportionality affects the underserved. With $15 million US dollars in funding, we are conducting the largest studies of ACT. I have a private practice devoted to ACT. I am the president of the Washington State ACBS, a member of the Technology SIG, and was a member of the ACBS 2016 conference planning committee. In 2014, I became an ACBS Fellow. I serve on the diversity leadership committee at Fred Hutch.

Statement: I love ACBS. An active member since 2007, my first conference experience was parasailing over Clear Lake in Houston TX. Over the years, I have become passionate about three inter-related initiatives. The first is to make CBS science more accessible and relevant to our expanding worldwide membership. The second initiative is to give CBS away by communicating CBS theories, concepts, and techniques to the general public--similar to what I did with my TEDx talk "The Secret to Self-Control." The third is to promote CBS-based interventions delivered through mobile technologies (e.g., apps), as they can help overcome enormous disparities in access to effective behavioral care. The essence of these initiatives is inclusion: tools to empower all ACBS members to tell their story and share their knowledge--to each other, to their patients, and to the public.

Student Representative

Sonia Singh
Bowling Green State University (USA)

I am currently a fourth-year doctoral candidate at Bowling Green State University. Prior to arriving at BGSU, I received my masters of arts degree from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in clinical psychology. My clinical and research interests include understanding and utilizing different CBS-based approaches, specifically ACT and FAP. I am also interested in diversity-related issues, anxiety disorders, and shame. My thesis project was a quantitative synthesis of FAP single-subject research and was recently approved for publication in JCBS. My dissertation project will be an intervention study utilizing acceptance and mindfulness for sexual minorities experiencing work stress. I have also co-authored a chapter on rejection sensitivity and FAP as a treatment for gender and sexual minority clients. I have been a member of ACBS for over five years and have attended two previous World Conferences. Currently, I am serving as Student Representative in the Functional Analytic Psychotherapy SIG.

I believe my life has changed because of contextual behavioral science. Learning about CBS taught me how to find my values and follow them, how to lean into discomfort, and how to build community through connection. This transformation started on a small scale when I first encountered these ideas in my MA program. However, it has continued to grow and expand as I came into contact with more of the ACBS community. To me, ACBS feels like home. I look forward to seeing smiling faces of friends and colleagues, challenging myself with experiential workshops, and expanding my knowledge of contextual behavioral science through symposia, panels, and plenaries. This experience is what I hope to bring to the position of student representative. I want to do what I can to help students foster community, learn new ideas and prospective, gain mentorship and connection with professionals, and most importantly - find home.

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2017-2018 ACBS Board

President:
Giovambattista "Nanni" Presti, M.D., Ph.D., University Kore, Enna (Italy)

President - Elect:
Louise Hayes, Ph.D. (Australia)

Past President:
Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D., MidAmerican Psychological Institute/ Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Secretary Treasurer:
Andrew Gloster, Ph.D., University of Basel (Switzerland)

Member at Large 1:
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Emily K. Sandoz, Ph.D., University of Louisiana at Lafayette (USA)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Amy R. Murrell, Ph.D., University of North Texas (USA)

Member at Large 4:
Jonathan Bricker, Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center & University of Washington (USA)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Giovambattista "Nanni" Presti, M.D., Ph.D.
University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Nanni was trained as a Medical Doctor and attended a Clinical School in Psychotherapy as a post-doc, and received his Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis. As Associate Professor at Kore University in Enna, he coordinates the undergrad program in Psychology. Nanni has a broad experience of teaching and living outside Italy and helped establishing as Treasurer the European Association for Behavior Analysis. He founded and co-managed IESCUM, which has fostered the diffusion of CBS in Italy. He deepened my research interests in BA and ABA focusing on the early equivalence studies and then RFT. Alternating clinical and basic science interests, he encountered ACT at the turning of the millennium, after knowing its first steps. Nanni served ACBS co-chairing the meeting in Parma and serving on the Conference Committee for Washington. He has served on the ACBS Board as a member-at-large for the past two years and co-founded the Italian ACBS Chapter.

Statement: I will be honored to continue to bring my national and international experience at the service of ACBS and foster its mission. I would like to see ACBS grow as a strong international contextual behavior association as the house for behaviorally oriented clinicians, educators, social workers, physicians, psychologists, and researchers. ACBS needs to to strengthen this common house of professional and researchers and I envision the need to serve also members beyond the original clinical core that are focused on the application of a CBS to other areas, like education, workplace and health, to mention only a few. As a growing organization I recognize that members have different needs according to their “seniority”, interests, professional role and area of the globe were they live and work. So there is a need to insure that the International members are served and Diversity being cultivated.

President- Elect

Louise Hayes, Ph.D.
The University of Melbourne (Australia)

Community and connection has become the centre of my work and I will use this focus to benefit ACBS members. I was introduced to ACT in 2003 and became a member of ACBS in 2006. I am a peer reviewed ACT trainer. I run a training business, a private practice, and I am a Senior Fellow with The Centre for Youth Health at The University of Melbourne. My passions lie in my philanthropic work; most recently Mindful Adventures where we provide experiences for professionals, give poor people wages, and raise money to help educate remote children in Nepal. I have held a number of roles within ACBS including: Member-at-Large of the international board, President of the Australian and New Zealand Chapter, committee member for the Training Committee, the Conference Strategy Committee, the Developing Nations Committee, and lastly Program Chair for the Sydney World Conference.

Statement: I would be humbled and honoured to serve as ACBS President. My vision is to focus on evolving a professional society with two key agendas – (1) a continued strong science and research platform that is home to all types of professionals interested in the human condition; and (2) strengthen our membership through inclusiveness, cooperation, and community building. ACBS has seen wonderful growth and I see this as a major challenge for us all – the bigger we get, the easier it is to feel lost. It seems timely to me that evolution science and principles of group selection and cooperation, along with Ostrom’s principals for managing the commons will help us grow the ACBS community we want. I would seek to use our knowledge in these areas to stay connected as a community and work together in our scientific interests, our training and networking, and our SIGs and Chapters.

Past President

Daniel D.J. Moran, Ph.D.
MidAmerican Psychological Institute/ Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Leadership and contextual behavioral science skills supported my career accomplishments, and I will use those skills to benefit ACBS members. As founder of the MidAmerican Psychological Institute and Pickslyde Consulting, I put ACT in practice while achieving prosocial goals. I’ve trained ACT on six continents and aim to continue disseminating CBS to a greater diversity of professionals. As Secretary-Treasurer of ACBS, my actions significantly improved our organization’s finances, leading to substantial benefits for all members. I worked to increase investments in research grants, travel grants, Journal of CBS advancements, staff hiring, and extraordinary conference programs. I review ACBS’s budget every month and know how to offer even more membership benefits. For 21 years, I’ve contributed to developing our community, and the important project I’m leading now is the Investment Committee, through which my personal interaction with financial specialists outside our organization will continue to safeguard ACBS’s long-term economic health.

Statement:I have a genuine vision for continuing to expand the reach of ACBS. During my five years serving on the Board, I’ve worked hard to generate broader diversity in our membership, and a wider range of environments for our scientific applications. I’m very aware of our Membership Survey results and understand what our community wants for the future. I will strengthen the Board’s focus on the Diversity Committee, local chapters, international Training Institutes, the Developing Nations Fund, and our Conference programs. I will continue making participation in ACBS affordable and beneficial for all members. My recent publications focus on ACT for organizations and leadership, and I will apply effective ACT principles while leading the Board. I hope I have earned your trust, not just based on my extensive volunteer service and successful track record on the membership’s behalf, but for the vision I have for our lovely organization.

Secretary Treasurer

Andrew Gloster, Ph.D.
University of Basel (Switzerland)

I am currently a research scientist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, where I research several aspects of CBS that include epidemiological/public health approaches, technology enhanced assessment and treatment, and randomized controlled trials. I offer regular workshops, seminars, and supervision in ACT and have been an active member of both ACBS and the German-speaking Chapter. Together with my lab and collaborators, I have published numerous publications as well as created and translated various instruments relevant for ACBS. I am a licensed psychotherapist and a passionate mentor.

Statement: ACBS is my intellectual and professional home. Born and trained in the U.S.A., I have worked at German and Swiss universities since 2006. My work concentrates on ACT/RFT in my research, training, supervision, and therapy. Proudly, I have trained hundreds of students and professionals in ACT, while supporting some of the first studies in German speaking countries. I have served on the 1st German Chapter board, ACBS program committees, and am the Program Chair for this year’s conference in Berlin. I want to continue giving back to an organization that has given me much personally and professionally. As secretary/ treasurer, I would capitalize on my experience of running multi-site studies – including their finances – and of already working closely with our executive director (Emily). If elected, I will contribute my international perspective and experiences to help deal with the challenges/ develop the opportunities that face ACBS.

Member at Large 1

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.
University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Maria is a licensed Clinical Psychologist (works part time at the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Psychology), an Assistant Professor at the University of Cyprus and a peer-reviewed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) trainer. At the University of Cyprus, she is heading the ACThealthy: Anxiety Disorders and Behavioral Medicine Clinical Psychology Laboratory. She completed her doctorate in Clinical psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York and her residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS. She has received numerous local and European grants to fund her research in the areas of anxiety disorders, smoking and smoking cessation, asthma, diabetes, cancer and thalassemia and in the evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for various conditions. Her research on prevention and smoking cessation among high-risk adolescents in Cyprus provided her with a European Drug Prevention Prize in 2010 from the Pompidou group and the European Council.

Statement: Ancient Greek philosophers were among the first to speculate about human nature. Epicurean Philosophers for example noted the therapeutic nature of values and believed that we should abandon our restraints and live in the moment. Expanding on my ancestor’s ideas, I have tried to further the field of contextual behavioral science in my country as well as the region around me. I have been a part of ACBS almost from its inception and I have tried to serve the association through various capacities: serving on conference committees, on the board of various SIGs, becoming an ACT trainer, and starting the Cyprus-Greece ACBS chapter. I believe my experiences, my drive for research training and helping all those in need, and my love for this association and group of individuals will help serve this association with a continued fervor towards excellence in all aspects; research, practice, training, and human development in general.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Emily K. Sandoz
University of Louisiana at Lafayette (USA)

Dr. Emily K. Sandoz is the Emma Louise LeBlanc Burguieres/BORSF Endowed Professor of Social Sciences in the Psychology Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Emily is the Director of the Louisiana Contextual Science Research Group and Editor of the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. She has co-authored three books on acceptance and commitment therapy for struggles with eating and body image, along with chapters and journal articles on ACT, values, the therapeutic relationship, and psychological flexibility. Emily has led more than 40 professional training workshops around the world, and serves as a peer-reviewed ACT trainer. She also practices as a Clinical Psychologist in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she lives with her husband and three children.

Statement: I love karaoke. The thing that gets me is that Everybody sings. Not everyone gets in front of the crowd and pours their heart out. But everybody does sing. Something about being surrounded by familiar music and a chorus of unfamiliar voices opens folks up to find their own voice - even if it's a voice only heard if you look into their eyes. I've bet a chunk of my life on the idea that ACBS can be like that, providing a place where we can come together in different roles, from different corners of the world, acknowledging our universal struggle, finding where our own voices fit and matter. My hope is that, if elected to serve, I might have the opportunity to celebrate the variability and the harmony in our voices, especially the ones without much space or practice. I want ACBS to be a place where everybody sings.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Amy Murrell, Ph.D.
University of North Texas (USA)

I earned my Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Mississippi in 2005, under Kelly Wilson's mentorship. I started working at the University of North Texas, where I am now a clinician and an Associate Professor, that same year. I have been a member of ACBS since its beginning, and I have run a CBS consistent lab for over 10 years. I have received 4 grants to research RFT and ACT. I have graduated 18 Ph.D. students, all of whom have gone on to contribute to ACBS. I am an ACBS Fellow and a Peer-Reviewed ACT Trainer. I have conducted over 50 RFT and ACT workshops and authored approximately 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts on RFT and ACT in addition to coauthoring The Joy of Parenting and several other manuscripts. 

Statement: I am passionate about bidirectionally informed research and application. I believe that basic science and practice continually shape each other in ongoing, important ways and that communication about the two services cannot be truly separated. I think we do a disservice to those we attempt to reach when we make efforts to divide research and application, yet I think we are not doing enough to share basic research in accessible ways or disseminate applications in diverse settings. I want to work with the Board and various ACBS committees (as well as ACBS membership as a whole) to share more evidenced-based protocols that bridge the gap between basic science and application in diverse ACBS settings (not just ACT clinical work), and I am committed to increase aware of CBS related basic-applied topics outside of ACBS as well.

Member at Large 4

Jonathan Bricker, Ph.D.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center & University of Washington (USA)

I learned behavioral theory and therapies, and the science of conducting inclusive research at the University of Washington clinical psychology doctoral program. After graduating in 2003, I joined the faculty of Seattle's Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center. I am Full Member and Affiliate Professor of psychology at University of Washington. I lead a multidisciplinary and diverse team focused on testing ACT for stopping smoking—a behavior that disproportionality affects the underserved. With $15 million US dollars in funding, we are conducting the largest studies of ACT. I have a private practice devoted to ACT. I am the president of the Washington State ACBS, a member of the Technology SIG, and was a member of the ACBS 2016 conference planning committee. In 2014, I became an ACBS Fellow. I serve on the diversity leadership committee at Fred Hutch.

Statement: I love ACBS. An active member since 2007, my first conference experience was parasailing over Clear Lake in Houston TX. Over the years, I have become passionate about three inter-related initiatives. The first is to make CBS science more accessible and relevant to our expanding worldwide membership. The second initiative is to give CBS away by communicating CBS theories, concepts, and techniques to the general public--similar to what I did with my TEDx talk "The Secret to Self-Control." The third is to promote CBS-based interventions delivered through mobile technologies (e.g., apps), as they can help overcome enormous disparities in access to effective behavioral care. The essence of these initiatives is inclusion: tools to empower all ACBS members to tell their story and share their knowledge--to each other, to their patients, and to the public.

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2016-2017 ACBS Board

President:
Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D., MidAmerican Psychological Institute/ Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

President - Elect:
Giovambattista "Nanni" Presti, M.D., Ph.D., University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Past President:
Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D., Utah State University (USA)

Secretary Treasurer:
Andrew Gloster, Ph.D., University of Basel (Switzerland)

Member at Large 1:
Maria Karekla, Ph.D., University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Emily K. Sandoz, Ph.D., University of Louisiana at Lafayette (USA)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Nic Hooper, Ph.D., University of the West of England (UK)

Member at Large 4:
Niloo Afari, Ph.D., University of CA, San Diego and Department of Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (USA)

Student Representative:
Houyuan Luo, University of Alberta (Canada)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Daniel D.J. Moran, Ph.D.
MidAmerican Psychological Institute/ Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Leadership and contextual behavioral science skills supported my career accomplishments, and I will use those skills to benefit ACBS members. As founder of the MidAmerican Psychological Institute and Pickslyde Consulting, I put ACT in practice while achieving prosocial goals. I’ve trained ACT on six continents and aim to continue disseminating CBS to a greater diversity of professionals. As Secretary-Treasurer of ACBS, my actions significantly improved our organization’s finances, leading to substantial benefits for all members. I worked to increase investments in research grants, travel grants, Journal of CBS advancements, staff hiring, and extraordinary conference programs. I review ACBS’s budget every month and know how to offer even more membership benefits. For 21 years, I’ve contributed to developing our community, and the important project I’m leading now is the Investment Committee, through which my personal interaction with financial specialists outside our organization will continue to safeguard ACBS’s long-term economic health.

Statement:I have a genuine vision for continuing to expand the reach of ACBS. During my five years serving on the Board, I’ve worked hard to generate broader diversity in our membership, and a wider range of environments for our scientific applications. I’m very aware of our Membership Survey results and understand what our community wants for the future. I will strengthen the Board’s focus on the Diversity Committee, local chapters, international Training Institutes, the Developing Nations Fund, and our Conference programs. I will continue making participation in ACBS affordable and beneficial for all members. My recent publications focus on ACT for organizations and leadership, and I will apply effective ACT principles while leading the Board. I hope I have earned your trust, not just based on my extensive volunteer service and successful track record on the membership’s behalf, but for the vision I have for our lovely organization.

President- Elect

Giovambattista "Nanni" Presti
University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Nanni was trained as a Medical Doctor and attended a Clinical School in Psychotherapy as a post-doc, and received his Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis. As Associate Professor at Kore University in Enna, he coordinates the undergrad program in Psychology. Nanni has a broad experience of teaching and living outside Italy and helped establishing as Treasurer the European Association for Behavior Analysis. He founded and co-managed IESCUM, which has fostered the diffusion of CBS in Italy. He deepened my research interests in BA and ABA focusing on the early equivalence studies and then RFT. Alternating clinical and basic science interests, he encountered ACT at the turning of the millennium, after knowing its first steps. Nanni served ACBS co-chairing the meeting in Parma and serving on the Conference Committee for Washington. He has served on the ACBS Board as a member-at-large for the past two years and co-founded the Italian ACBS Chapter.

Statement: I will be honored to continue to bring my national and international experience at the service of ACBS and foster its mission. I would like to see ACBS grow as a strong international contextual behavior association as the house for behaviorally oriented clinicians, educators, social workers, physicians, psychologists, and researchers. ACBS needs to to strengthen this common house of professional and researchers and I envision the need to serve also members beyond the original clinical core that are focused on the application of a CBS to other areas, like education, workplace and health, to mention only a few. As a growing organization I recognize that members have different needs according to their “seniority”, interests, professional role and area of the globe were they live and work. So there is a need to insure that the International members are served and Diversity being cultivated.

Past President

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D.
Utah State University (USA)

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D. received his B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Behavior Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and completed his CBT-focused internship at the University of British Columbia Hospital. He is a licensed psychologist and an Associate Professor of Psychology. Mike runs a research laboratory and a clinic focusing on ACT for anxiety disorders and the translation of basic behavioral principles into clinical psychology. His research is funded through the NIMH and the International OCD Foundation. He has published over 80 works including two books. Mike successfully facilitates links with other organizations in psychology. In 2012 he edited an issue on ACT in Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, in 2014 co-edited an issue of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior on RFT, and he is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS).

Statement: After serving on ACBS’s board for the past two years, serving on many additional committees within ACBS, and being part of JCBS, I feel as though I have a good grasp of how ACBS is growing as an organization. Serving as president would allow me the opportunity to continue to help ACBS grow while staying consistent with the values of the organization.
ACBS serves people throughout the world and across disciplines and professions. We need to continue to find ways to increase our availability of resources to our membership. This includes increasing materials and resources offered on our website, continuing to make conferences and training available across the globe, supporting scientific development, and working to make ACBS accessible to all members regardless of financial status or where they live. If elected president, I will work to offer new, useful materials via the website, increase the number of events that ACBS organizes, support contextual behavioral sciences by bolstering our grant program as well as our journal, and disseminate research and clinical resources to all members. An additional goal is to bring people into ACBS who share contextual behavioral values but work in applied or research fields that are underrepresented at ACBS such as education, social work, and the biological and neurosciences. As ACBS grows, I will strive to keep any changes consistent with our values of openness, support, humor, and compassion. Finally, I am fully aware of the time and effort this position takes and I am excited for the possible opportunity to represent ACBS in this essential position. I am happy to offer my personal time to ACBS and am pleased Utah State University has also offered support by releasing me from some University duties so I can best serve ACBS.

Secretary Treasurer

Andrew Gloster, Ph.D.
University of Basel (Switzerland)

I am currently a research scientist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, where I research several aspects of CBS that include epidemiological/public health approaches, technology enhanced assessment and treatment, and randomized controlled trials. I offer regular workshops, seminars, and supervision in ACT and have been an active member of both ACBS and the German-speaking Chapter. Together with my lab and collaborators, I have published numerous publications as well as created and translated various instruments relevant for ACBS. I am a licensed psychotherapist and a passionate mentor.

Statement: ACBS is my intellectual and professional home. Born and trained in the U.S.A., I have worked at German and Swiss universities since 2006. My work concentrates on ACT/RFT in my research, training, supervision, and therapy. Proudly, I have trained hundreds of students and professionals in ACT, while supporting some of the first studies in German speaking countries. I have served on the 1st German Chapter board, ACBS program committees, and am the Program Chair for this year’s conference in Berlin. I want to continue giving back to an organization that has given me much personally and professionally. As secretary/ treasurer, I would capitalize on my experience of running multi-site studies – including their finances – and of already working closely with our executive director (Emily). If elected, I will contribute my international perspective and experiences to help deal with the challenges/ develop the opportunities that face ACBS.

Member at Large 1

Maria Karekla, Ph.D.
University of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Maria is a licensed Clinical Psychologist (works part time at the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Psychology), an Assistant Professor at the University of Cyprus and a peer-reviewed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) trainer. At the University of Cyprus, she is heading the ACThealthy: Anxiety Disorders and Behavioral Medicine Clinical Psychology Laboratory. She completed her doctorate in Clinical psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York and her residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS. She has received numerous local and European grants to fund her research in the areas of anxiety disorders, smoking and smoking cessation, asthma, diabetes, cancer and thalassemia and in the evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for various conditions. Her research on prevention and smoking cessation among high-risk adolescents in Cyprus provided her with a European Drug Prevention Prize in 2010 from the Pompidou group and the European Council.

Statement: Ancient Greek philosophers were among the first to speculate about human nature. Epicurean Philosophers for example noted the therapeutic nature of values and believed that we should abandon our restraints and live in the moment. Expanding on my ancestor’s ideas, I have tried to further the field of contextual behavioral science in my country as well as the region around me. I have been a part of ACBS almost from its inception and I have tried to serve the association through various capacities: serving on conference committees, on the board of various SIGs, becoming an ACT trainer, and starting the Cyprus-Greece ACBS chapter. I believe my experiences, my drive for research training and helping all those in need, and my love for this association and group of individuals will help serve this association with a continued fervor towards excellence in all aspects; research, practice, training, and human development in general.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Emily K. Sandoz
University of Louisiana at Lafayette (USA)

Dr. Emily K. Sandoz is the Emma Louise LeBlanc Burguieres/BORSF Endowed Professor of Social Sciences in the Psychology Department at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Emily is the Director of the Louisiana Contextual Science Research Group and Editor of the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. She has co-authored three books on acceptance and commitment therapy for struggles with eating and body image, along with chapters and journal articles on ACT, values, the therapeutic relationship, and psychological flexibility. Emily has led more than 40 professional training workshops around the world, and serves as a peer-reviewed ACT trainer. She also practices as a Clinical Psychologist in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she lives with her husband and three children.

Statement: I love karaoke. The thing that gets me is that Everybody sings. Not everyone gets in front of the crowd and pours their heart out. But everybody does sing. Something about being surrounded by familiar music and a chorus of unfamiliar voices opens folks up to find their own voice - even if it's a voice only heard if you look into their eyes. I've bet a chunk of my life on the idea that ACBS can be like that, providing a place where we can come together in different roles, from different corners of the world, acknowledging our universal struggle, finding where our own voices fit and matter. My hope is that, if elected to serve, I might have the opportunity to celebrate the variability and the harmony in our voices, especially the ones without much space or practice. I want ACBS to be a place where everybody sings.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Nic Hooper, Ph.D.
University of the West of England (UK)

Nic completed his Ph.D. at Swansea University under the supervision of Dr. Louise McHugh. Following this, Nic lectured at a number of Universities before accepting his current position at UWE. Most of Nic’s research falls under the rubric of Contextual Behavioural Science, and can be divided into two areas; firstly, he uses Derived Stimulus Relations to explain how thought suppression attempts may narrow our behavioural repertoire. Secondly, he compares avoidance against components of ACT in the management of unwanted thoughts. Thus far, his research has displayed that acceptance-based techniques are useful in managing spider fear, learned helplessness, eating behaviour, stereotype threat and the fundamental attribution error. Nic also contributes to CBS in other ways; he writes a popular blog (http://nichooper.com/blog/), he will soon publish a book detailing the “Research Journey of ACT” and he has talked about ACT/RFT in many contexts; CBS relevant conferences, invited University talks and local radio.

Statement: At the end of every CBS conference an event happens in which people from the audience get up on stage and provide some sort of entertainment. This event is called ‘The Follies’. I love the follies. Not because it is thoroughly entertaining, but because it encapsulates what I like to call ‘The ACBS Spirit’. The idea that all of us are connected by our humanity, that no one person at our conferences is more important than anyone else, and that our small group of people, for better or for worse, and in unison, will continue to search for an adequate way to help people manage psychological struggles. I breathe the ACBS spirit, and although I would use my position on the board to promote and encourage basic and applied research activities in the community, it is this spirit that would shape my contribution across the range of topics discussed.

Member at Large 4

Niloo Afari, Ph.D.
University of CA, San Diego and Department of Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (USA)

I received my Ph.D. in clinical psychology from University of Nevada, Reno in 1996, under the mentorship of Steve Hayes. I am an associate professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego and hold leadership roles at VA San Diego Healthcare System and the VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health. My work involves clinical and research administration, funded research, and mentorship of doctoral graduate students. Since 1996, I’ve had continuous research funding for interdisciplinary research to examine the mechanisms of health conditions like pain and obesity; ACT-based interventions; and implementation of eHealth technology for monitoring of physical and mental health symptoms. I’ve been a member of ACBS since its beginning, have served as the founding Chair of the ACBS Diversity Committee for the last 3 years, and work closely with the Farsi-speaking Chapter to make sure individuals from Iran have access to ACBS resources.

Statement: I would be honored to serve on the ACBS Board and believe that my skills and strengths in administration, research, and mentorship could be useful to the Board and ACBS as we move our ever-growing multinational and multidisciplinary organization forward. The ACBS Diversity Committee has made a lot of progress in the past several years to highlight our organizational value of inclusion, from developing the diversity mission to establishing the Diversity Committee conference scholarships, and increasing the number and scope of diversity-related presentations at conferences. Having been immersed in that work, my goal in joining the ACBS Board is to continue advocating for inclusivity in all activities of our organization.

Student Representative

Houyuan Luo
University of Alberta (Canada)

Houyuan Luo is a second-year doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at the University of Alberta. Houyuan Luo got his Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology from Hunan Normal University (China) and Master of Arts in Counseling and Clinical Psychology from Nanjing Normal University (China). Houyuan Luo joined the ACBS on April, 2015. Houyuan Luo has been serving as a member of the Social Media Committee at the Student SIG since October, 2015 and the moderator of ACT for Public Listserve since February, 2016. Houyuan Luo has been attending Online ACT training at the PracticeGround since September, 2015. Houyuan Luo is doing his doctoral practicum at the Faculty of Education Teaching Clinic, University of Alberta and the Department of Psychosocial and Spiritual Resources, Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton. Houyuan Luo lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Statement: After I joined the ACBS as a student member, I have been always curious about what I can get out of this organization. Then I found out the listserve and the website has a lot of useful information. It made me wonder how can I get more out of this organization and how can I contribute to it as well. I think this is a common confusion that many new student members have. What I plan to do are: 1. Summarize the resources within this organization and provide it to each student members (including new members). Also, these resources can be used as a promotional capital of the ACBS. 2. Given the financial statues of students, I will try to get more cost-effective resources for students. 3. Launch a survey to investigate what student members need and make further plan. 4. Finish other tasks based on needs from relevant parties.

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2015-2016 ACBS Board

President:
Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D., Utah State University (USA)

President - Elect:
Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D., MidAmerican Psychological Institute/ Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Past President:
Jason Luoma, Ph.D., Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (USA)

Secretary Treasurer:
Andrew Gloster, Ph.D., University of Basel (Switzerland)

Member at Large 1:
Giovambattista (Nanni) Presti, M.D., Ph.D., University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Louise McHugh, Ph.D., University College Dublin (Ireland)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Nic Hooper, Ph.D., University of the West of England (UK)

Member at Large 4:
Niloo Afari, Ph.D., University of CA, San Diego and Department of Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (USA)

Student Representative:
Jessica Borushok, Bowling Green State University (USA)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D.
Utah State University (USA)

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D. received his B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Behavior Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and completed his CBT-focused internship at the University of British Columbia Hospital. He is a licensed psychologist and an Associate Professor of Psychology. Mike runs a research laboratory and a clinic focusing on ACT for anxiety disorders and the translation of basic behavioral principles into clinical psychology. His research is funded through the NIMH and the International OCD Foundation. He has published over 80 works including two books. Mike successfully facilitates links with other organizations in psychology. In 2012 he edited an issue on ACT in Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, in 2014 co-edited an issue of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior on RFT, and he is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS).

Statement: After serving on ACBS’s board for the past two years, serving on many additional committees within ACBS, and being part of JCBS, I feel as though I have a good grasp of how ACBS is growing as an organization. Serving as president would allow me the opportunity to continue to help ACBS grow while staying consistent with the values of the organization.
ACBS serves people throughout the world and across disciplines and professions. We need to continue to find ways to increase our availability of resources to our membership. This includes increasing materials and resources offered on our website, continuing to make conferences and training available across the globe, supporting scientific development, and working to make ACBS accessible to all members regardless of financial status or where they live. If elected president, I will work to offer new, useful materials via the website, increase the number of events that ACBS organizes, support contextual behavioral sciences by bolstering our grant program as well as our journal, and disseminate research and clinical resources to all members. An additional goal is to bring people into ACBS who share contextual behavioral values but work in applied or research fields that are underrepresented at ACBS such as education, social work, and the biological and neurosciences. As ACBS grows, I will strive to keep any changes consistent with our values of openness, support, humor, and compassion. Finally, I am fully aware of the time and effort this position takes and I am excited for the possible opportunity to represent ACBS in this essential position. I am happy to offer my personal time to ACBS and am pleased Utah State University has also offered support by releasing me from some University duties so I can best serve ACBS.

President- Elect

Daniel D.J. Moran, Ph.D.
MidAmerican Psychological Institute/ Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Leadership and contextual behavioral science skills supported my career accomplishments, and I will use those skills to benefit ACBS members. As founder of the MidAmerican Psychological Institute and Pickslyde Consulting, I put ACT in practice while achieving prosocial goals. I’ve trained ACT on six continents and aim to continue disseminating CBS to a greater diversity of professionals. As Secretary-Treasurer of ACBS, my actions significantly improved our organization’s finances, leading to substantial benefits for all members. I worked to increase investments in research grants, travel grants, Journal of CBS advancements, staff hiring, and extraordinary conference programs. I review ACBS’s budget every month and know how to offer even more membership benefits. For 21 years, I’ve contributed to developing our community, and the important project I’m leading now is the Investment Committee, through which my personal interaction with financial specialists outside our organization will continue to safeguard ACBS’s long-term economic health.

Statement:I have a genuine vision for continuing to expand the reach of ACBS. During my five years serving on the Board, I’ve worked hard to generate broader diversity in our membership, and a wider range of environments for our scientific applications. I’m very aware of our Membership Survey results and understand what our community wants for the future. I will strengthen the Board’s focus on the Diversity Committee, local chapters, international Training Institutes, the Developing Nations Fund, and our Conference programs. I will continue making participation in ACBS affordable and beneficial for all members. My recent publications focus on ACT for organizations and leadership, and I will apply effective ACT principles while leading the Board. I hope I have earned your trust, not just based on my extensive volunteer service and successful track record on the membership’s behalf, but for the vision I have for our lovely organization.

Past President

Jason Luoma, Ph.D.
Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (USA)

Jason Luoma is a clinical psychologist, entrepreneur-scientist, and director of the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center in Portland, Oregon, USA. His career has taken an unconventional path. After discovering ACT and behavior analysis toward the end of graduate school, he took a leap of faith in moving to Reno to become a member of Steve Hayes’ lab. He remained in Reno for four years as an intern and grant funded early-career psychologist. When he saw that federal funding possibilities for psychosocial research in the United States were drying up, he decided to use his entrepreneurial, business, marketing, and organizational skills to establish a stable line of research funding based on business revenue. The result was Portland Psychotherapy, a research and training clinic that uses an innovative business model to fund substantial clinical research and an ongoing postdoctoral research fellowship.

In terms of research, Jason’s interests focus on contextual behavioral science approaches to stigma, shame, self-compassion, and the training of evidence-based practices. This research has resulted in over two dozen articles and chapters related to ACT, a book on ACT (Learning ACT), and two successful co-authored NIH grants on stigma. He also is an internationally recognized ACT trainer and has traveled around the globe providing trainings, including Europe, Asia, and Australia, in addition to North America.

Jason has actively served ACBS since the organization began. He served as director (and instigator) of the first ACT Summer Training Institute, program director of the eighth ACBS World Conference, a founding member of the ACBS Training Committee, and past chair of the ACBS Training Committee. He currently serves as a member-at-large on the ACBS board, a member of the conference strategy committee, and president of the stigma SIG. Most importantly, he is a very active contributor to the ACBS follies where he most enjoys showing video and audio creations that he develops with other staff at Portland Psychotherapy.

Statement: We are at a very important time in the development of ACBS. As ACBS president, I will work to support ACBS in rising to the challenge of burgeoning public and professional interest in contextual behavioral science while maintaining the values that have allowed us to progress so far -- values of openness, scientific rigor, and collegiality.

As someone who has been intimately involved in ACBS operations for many years, I understand the organization from the inside and believe I have a good sense for where the organization needs further development. As both a researcher and clinician, I have the skills to support ongoing collaboration and conversation between basic researchers and applied professionals who use these principles in their work every day. As a small business owner, I have the financial and organizational skills to help guide the growth of the ACBS central office and help our organization be effective and efficient with the use of our growing budget. As an entrepreneur, I have the skills in marketing needed to develop effective and reliable campaigns that can increase the reach of contextual behavior science and bring more people into ACBS. And as a human being, I am persistently working to foster a sense of community where all have the opportunity to contribute to something larger than themselves. I will bring all these skills to bear if I am elected ACBS president.

I thought long and hard about whether I would be willing to set aside the substantial time it would take to be the kind of ACBS president I want to be. I only decided to run after I concluded that I am ready and willing to make the kind of time investment that matches the responsibility of the position. I am ready to serve and would be honored to be president of the organization that I see as my professional home.

Secretary Treasurer

Andrew Gloster, Ph.D.
University of Basel (Switzerland)

I am currently a research scientist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, where I research several aspects of CBS that include epidemiological/public health approaches, technology enhanced assessment and treatment, and randomized controlled trials. I offer regular workshops, seminars, and supervision in ACT and have been an active member of both ACBS and the German-speaking Chapter. Together with my lab and collaborators, I have published numerous publications as well as created and translated various instruments relevant for ACBS. I am a licensed psychotherapist and a passionate mentor.

Statement: ACBS is my intellectual and professional home. Born and trained in the U.S.A., I have worked at German and Swiss universities since 2006. My work concentrates on ACT/RFT in my research, training, supervision, and therapy. Proudly, I have trained hundreds of students and professionals in ACT, while supporting some of the first studies in German speaking countries. I have served on the 1st German Chapter board, ACBS program committees, and am the Program Chair for this year’s conference in Berlin. I want to continue giving back to an organization that has given me much personally and professionally. As secretary/ treasurer, I would capitalize on my experience of running multi-site studies – including their finances – and of already working closely with our executive director (Emily). If elected, I will contribute my international perspective and experiences to help deal with the challenges/ develop the opportunities that face ACBS.

Member at Large 1

Giovambattista (Nanni) Presti
University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Someone once said that the term “renaissance man” describes me. Maybe he was referring to my Italian origins, my background as a Medical Doctor, Clinical Psychologist or Behavior Analyst. I was introduced to contextualism at 22 by Sidney Bijou. Further on I deepened my research interests in BA and ABA focusing on the early equivalence studies and then RFT. Alternating clinical and basic science interests, I met ACT at the turning of the millennium, after knowing its first steps as “comprehensive distancing”. I have a broad experience of teaching and living outside Italy and helped establishing the European Association for Behavior Analysis and served as Treasurer for two years. I founded and co-managed a non-profit Italian association, IESCUM, which has fostered the expansion of a Contextual Behavioral Science in Italy. I co-chaired the ACBS meeting in Parma. I’m Associate Professor and coordinator of the undergrad program in Psychology in Enna.

Statement: I believe I can bring my national and international experience as an instructor, researcher, manager and Treasurer in an International organization at the service of the members of ACBS. I will be humbled and honored to serve in the Board, and if elected I will commit to foster the International breadth of this Organization. I share the value of ACBS and I think they are helpful pillars to help the expansion of this rapidly growing community and embed excellent science in good quality of life. I will also bring my training in understanding the point of view of different people in different cultures to expand the activities of the Association.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Louise McHugh, Ph.D.
University College Dublin (Ireland)

I’m a faculty member at University College Dublin. Over the past 13 years my research and teaching have centered around the experimental analysis of language and cognition and Relational Frame Theory, including especially the development of complex cognitive skills such as perspective-taking and the process-level investigation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I have published widely and regularly provide training workshops on these topics. I have also been an active member in the ACBS community.

Statement: Currently I am a member of the conference steering and ACT trainer committees. Given my research focus and long standing commitment to the ACBS community I think I would have a lot to offer the community as a member of the official ACBS board. My goal in joining the board would be to encourage the ongoing development of RFT research and bridging the gap between basic work and its application to educational and clinical contexts.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Nic Hooper, Ph.D.
University of the West of England (UK)

Nic completed his Ph.D. at Swansea University under the supervision of Dr. Louise McHugh. Following this, Nic lectured at a number of Universities before accepting his current position at UWE. Most of Nic’s research falls under the rubric of Contextual Behavioural Science, and can be divided into two areas; firstly, he uses Derived Stimulus Relations to explain how thought suppression attempts may narrow our behavioural repertoire. Secondly, he compares avoidance against components of ACT in the management of unwanted thoughts. Thus far, his research has displayed that acceptance-based techniques are useful in managing spider fear, learned helplessness, eating behaviour, stereotype threat and the fundamental attribution error. Nic also contributes to CBS in other ways; he writes a popular blog (http://nichooper.com/blog/), he will soon publish a book detailing the “Research Journey of ACT” and he has talked about ACT/RFT in many contexts; CBS relevant conferences, invited University talks and local radio.

Statement: At the end of every CBS conference an event happens in which people from the audience get up on stage and provide some sort of entertainment. This event is called ‘The Follies’. I love the follies. Not because it is thoroughly entertaining, but because it encapsulates what I like to call ‘The ACBS Spirit’. The idea that all of us are connected by our humanity, that no one person at our conferences is more important than anyone else, and that our small group of people, for better or for worse, and in unison, will continue to search for an adequate way to help people manage psychological struggles. I breathe the ACBS spirit, and although I would use my position on the board to promote and encourage basic and applied research activities in the community, it is this spirit that would shape my contribution across the range of topics discussed.

Member at Large 4

Niloo Afari, Ph.D.
University of CA, San Diego and Department of Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (USA)

I received my Ph.D. in clinical psychology from University of Nevada, Reno in 1996, under the mentorship of Steve Hayes. I am an associate professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego and hold leadership roles at VA San Diego Healthcare System and the VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health. My work involves clinical and research administration, funded research, and mentorship of doctoral graduate students. Since 1996, I’ve had continuous research funding for interdisciplinary research to examine the mechanisms of health conditions like pain and obesity; ACT-based interventions; and implementation of eHealth technology for monitoring of physical and mental health symptoms. I’ve been a member of ACBS since its beginning, have served as the founding Chair of the ACBS Diversity Committee for the last 3 years, and work closely with the Farsi-speaking Chapter to make sure individuals from Iran have access to ACBS resources.

Statement: I would be honored to serve on the ACBS Board and believe that my skills and strengths in administration, research, and mentorship could be useful to the Board and ACBS as we move our ever-growing multinational and multidisciplinary organization forward. The ACBS Diversity Committee has made a lot of progress in the past several years to highlight our organizational value of inclusion, from developing the diversity mission to establishing the Diversity Committee conference scholarships, and increasing the number and scope of diversity-related presentations at conferences. Having been immersed in that work, my goal in joining the ACBS Board is to continue advocating for inclusivity in all activities of our organization.

Student Representative

Jessica Borushok
Bowling Green State University (USA)

I am currently a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Bowling Green State University in the behavioral medicine track. My research examines healthy living and ACT-based workshops/interventions in a variety of populations. Currently, my dissertation focuses on conducting a RCT with sedentary workers examining the effect of a brief ACT versus educational control workshop on physical activity, sedentary behaviors, occupational stress, and overall wellbeing. Additionally, I have also co-facilitated multiple ACT therapy groups for anxiety and depression with both college students and community members, implemented a mindfulness group for individuals with developmental disabilities, and attended multiple ACT workshop as well as last year’s ACBS Conference. One of my favorite experiences within ACBS has been serving as the Co-Chair for the Student SIG in ACBS alongside the Student Representative for the past year. As Co-Chair I helped create the first free ACBS student webinar series, which has been a rewarding experience.

Statement: This community has transformed the way I interact with the world in both my personal and professional life and profoundly influenced my career goals. I have loved the opportunity to serve as ACBS Student SIG Co-Chair this past year and hope to continue and build upon the work we have begun as Student Representative. This includes working to offer more free resources for students, ensuring that students all over the world have access to support and information from the ACBS community, and bridging the gap between students and professionals. The ACBS community is filled with a diverse array of people excited about the future of contextual behavioral science and how this approach can be applied to different populations, communities, and levels to move the world in a more values driven direction. I believe serving as Student Representative is my opportunity to work towards that. 

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2014-2015 ACBS Board

President:
Jason Luoma, Ph.D., Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (USA)

President - Elect:
Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D., Utah State University (USA)

Past President:
Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D., United States Department of Veterans Affairs and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USA)

Secretary Treasurer:
Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D., Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Member at Large 1:
Giovambattista (Nanni) Presti, M.D., Ph.D., University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Louise McHugh, Ph.D., University College Dublin (Ireland)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Ian Stewart, Ph.D., NUI Galway (Ireland)

Member at Large 4:
Louise Hayes, Ph.D., University of Melbourne (Australia)

Student Representative:
Rosaura E. Orengo-Aguayo, University of Iowa (USA)

The Bios and Platform statements for the board members are below:

President

Jason Luoma, Ph.D.
Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (USA)

Jason Luoma is a clinical psychologist, entrepreneur-scientist, and director of the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center in Portland, Oregon, USA. His career has taken an unconventional path. After discovering ACT and behavior analysis toward the end of graduate school, he took a leap of faith in moving to Reno to become a member of Steve Hayes’ lab. He remained in Reno for four years as an intern and grant funded early-career psychologist. When he saw that federal funding possibilities for psychosocial research in the United States were drying up, he decided to use his entrepreneurial, business, marketing, and organizational skills to establish a stable line of research funding based on business revenue. The result was Portland Psychotherapy, a research and training clinic that uses an innovative business model to fund substantial clinical research and an ongoing postdoctoral research fellowship.

In terms of research, Jason’s interests focus on contextual behavioral science approaches to stigma, shame, self-compassion, and the training of evidence-based practices. This research has resulted in over two dozen articles and chapters related to ACT, a book on ACT (Learning ACT), and two successful co-authored NIH grants on stigma. He also is an internationally recognized ACT trainer and has traveled around the globe providing trainings, including Europe, Asia, and Australia, in addition to North America.

Jason has actively served ACBS since the organization began. He served as director (and instigator) of the first ACT Summer Training Institute, program director of the eighth ACBS World Conference, a founding member of the ACBS Training Committee, and past chair of the ACBS Training Committee. He currently serves as a member-at-large on the ACBS board, a member of the conference strategy committee, and president of the stigma SIG. Most importantly, he is a very active contributor to the ACBS follies where he most enjoys showing video and audio creations that he develops with other staff at Portland Psychotherapy.

Statement: We are at a very important time in the development of ACBS. As ACBS president, I will work to support ACBS in rising to the challenge of burgeoning public and professional interest in contextual behavioral science while maintaining the values that have allowed us to progress so far -- values of openness, scientific rigor, and collegiality.

As someone who has been intimately involved in ACBS operations for many years, I understand the organization from the inside and believe I have a good sense for where the organization needs further development. As both a researcher and clinician, I have the skills to support ongoing collaboration and conversation between basic researchers and applied professionals who use these principles in their work every day. As a small business owner, I have the financial and organizational skills to help guide the growth of the ACBS central office and help our organization be effective and efficient with the use of our growing budget. As an entrepreneur, I have the skills in marketing needed to develop effective and reliable campaigns that can increase the reach of contextual behavior science and bring more people into ACBS. And as a human being, I am persistently working to foster a sense of community where all have the opportunity to contribute to something larger than themselves. I will bring all these skills to bear if I am elected ACBS president.

I thought long and hard about whether I would be willing to set aside the substantial time it would take to be the kind of ACBS president I want to be. I only decided to run after I concluded that I am ready and willing to make the kind of time investment that matches the responsibility of the position. I am ready to serve and would be honored to be president of the organization that I see as my professional home.

President- Elect

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D.
Utah State University (USA)

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D. received his B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Behavior Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and completed his CBT-focused internship at the University of British Columbia Hospital. He is a licensed psychologist and an Associate Professor of Psychology. Mike runs a research laboratory and a clinic focusing on ACT for anxiety disorders and the translation of basic behavioral principles into clinical psychology. His research is funded through the NIMH and the International OCD Foundation. He has published over 80 works including two books. Mike successfully facilitates links with other organizations in psychology. In 2012 he edited an issue on ACT in Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, in 2014 co-edited an issue of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior on RFT, and he is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS).

Statement: After serving on ACBS’s board for the past two years, serving on many additional committees within ACBS, and being part of JCBS, I feel as though I have a good grasp of how ACBS is growing as an organization. Serving as president would allow me the opportunity to continue to help ACBS grow while staying consistent with the values of the organization.
ACBS serves people throughout the world and across disciplines and professions. We need to continue to find ways to increase our availability of resources to our membership. This includes increasing materials and resources offered on our website, continuing to make conferences and training available across the globe, supporting scientific development, and working to make ACBS accessible to all members regardless of financial status or where they live. If elected president, I will work to offer new, useful materials via the website, increase the number of events that ACBS organizes, support contextual behavioral sciences by bolstering our grant program as well as our journal, and disseminate research and clinical resources to all members. An additional goal is to bring people into ACBS who share contextual behavioral values but work in applied or research fields that are underrepresented at ACBS such as education, social work, and the biological and neurosciences. As ACBS grows, I will strive to keep any changes consistent with our values of openness, support, humor, and compassion. Finally, I am fully aware of the time and effort this position takes and I am excited for the possible opportunity to represent ACBS in this essential position. I am happy to offer my personal time to ACBS and am pleased Utah State University has also offered support by releasing me from some University duties so I can best serve ACBS.

Past President

Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D.
United States Department of Veterans Affairs and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USA)

I began my Contextual Behavioral Science studies in Reno in 1994 and have served ACBS as a board member for the past 6 years. I hold a leadership position in an ACBS Chapter, serve on multiple committees and was the Director for the 2005 Conference. As an original board Member-at-Large, I participated in the creation of the founding policies and procedures for ACBS; as Secretary-Treasurer since 2009, I have worked extremely closely with our Executive Director and board to ensure financial stability, analyzing when to be fiscally conservative and when to take calculated risks for our society’s growth. In my day job, I lead national mental health policy development for the largest integrated health care system in the U.S. and have learned how to balance strategic thinking with ensuring accountability and successful execution of immediate plans. Based on my ACBS experience and my professional career, I believe that I am uniquely experienced to be able to move the organization forward. Now that our society has over 5,000 members, we must learn to foster expansion without losing what is special about ACBS – our values, community, and international connections. If elected, I will promote organizational development that provides ACBS with the structures to be successful in the long-term while encouraging processes that increase personal connections, commitment, and collaboration. I feel that I have more of myself to give to our community, and I would be honored to be chosen as President to serve the brilliant, creative members of ACBS who inspire me.

Secretary Treasurer

Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D.
Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Since 1994, I have dedicated the heart of my work toward the Contextual Behavioral Sciences. I served in volunteer and appointed positions aimed at our organization’s mission, including elected Member-At-Large for the ACBS Board. Other highlights include serving on the inaugural Recognized ACTrainer committee, co-directing the 2008 ACT Summer Institute, and currently serving on our Continuing Education Board. I’ve held leadership positions in related organizations, including President of the Behavior Analysis Society of Illinois. My career prepared me to significantly contribute to ACBS as Secretary-Treasurer. Because I value helping people, I founded the MidAmerican Psychological Institute and Pickslyde Consulting. I also directed a non-profit community center for five years and staffed it with ACT practitioners. These enterprises provided services for thousands of people, and income and opportunities for ACBS members. These ventures succeed because I commit time to accounting, balancing books, paying therapists and the various financial concerns of these ACT-based businesses. I actually enjoy quarterly meetings with my accountant, read Harvard Business Review as avidly as Behavior Therapy, and get a geeky rush of excitement when QuickBooks tells me that my company ledgers reconciled! If elected, I’ll blend my ACT skills and business acumen to optimize ACBS’s financial status so we can actively broaden our mission to more fully address the challenges of the human condition. I will investigate the feasibility of getting Developing Nations Fund donations to be tax-deductible, oversee the growth of student scholarships, and contribute my ideas for reducing operating costs to preserve our organization’s future.

Member at Large 1

Giovambattista (Nanni) Presti
University Kore, Enna (Italy)

Someone once said that the term “renaissance man” describes me. Maybe he was referring to my Italian origins, my background as a Medical Doctor, Clinical Psychologist or Behavior Analyst. I was introduced to contextualism at 22 by Sidney Bijou. Further on I deepened my research interests in BA and ABA focusing on the early equivalence studies and then RFT. Alternating clinical and basic science interests, I met ACT at the turning of the millennium, after knowing its first steps as “comprehensive distancing”. I have a broad experience of teaching and living outside Italy and helped establishing the European Association for Behavior Analysis and served as Treasurer for two years. I founded and co-managed a non-profit Italian association, IESCUM, which has fostered the expansion of a Contextual Behavioral Science in Italy. I co-chaired the ACBS meeting in Parma. I’m Associate Professor and coordinator of the undergrad program in Psychology in Enna.

Statement: I believe I can bring my national and international experience as an instructor, researcher, manager and Treasurer in an International organization at the service of the members of ACBS. I will be humbled and honored to serve in the Board, and if elected I will commit to foster the International breadth of this Organization. I share the value of ACBS and I think they are helpful pillars to help the expansion of this rapidly growing community and embed excellent science in good quality of life. I will also bring my training in understanding the point of view of different people in different cultures to expand the activities of the Association.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Louise McHugh, Ph.D.
University College Dublin (Ireland)

I’m a faculty member at University College Dublin. Over the past 13 years my research and teaching have centered around the experimental analysis of language and cognition and Relational Frame Theory, including especially the development of complex cognitive skills such as perspective-taking and the process-level investigation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I have published widely and regularly provide training workshops on these topics. I have also been an active member in the ACBS community.

Statement: Currently I am a member of the conference steering and ACT trainer committees. Given my research focus and long standing commitment to the ACBS community I think I would have a lot to offer the community as a member of the official ACBS board. My goal in joining the board would be to encourage the ongoing development of RFT research and bridging the gap between basic work and its application to educational and clinical contexts.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Ian Stewart, Ph.D.
NUI Galway (Ireland)

I've been a member of faculty at NUI Galway since August, 2002. A core area of my research has involved developing and evaluating behavior analytic and especially Relational Frame Theory based procedures for training and assessing derived relational responding in children and adults and in both typically developing as well as developmentally delayed populations. I'm a member of several behavioral science associations (e.g., Association for Behavior Analysis International and the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group) in addition to the ACBS.

I share the values of ACBS and I've gotten a lot from membership down through the years and hope I've contributed too. If given the opportunity to contribute in terms of decision making I'd push for more promotion of RFT and empirical work in ACBS meaning more RFT research at ACBS conferences and more emphasis on supporting international collaboration in terms of both research and teaching of RFT.

Member at Large 4

Louise Hayes, Ph.D.
University of Melbourne (Australia)

My involvement in ACBS has been life changing. I love that we have this incredible model for helping humans find their way -- one that it is based on science. I am an academic at Orygen Youth Health Research Centre at the University of Melbourne, an ACT peer reviewed trainer, private practitioner, and co-author of an ACT book for teens. I am committed to our future generations and supporting our young people to achieve their potential. I was introduced to ACT in 2003, and became a member of ACBS shortly after its inception. Within ACBS, I am the President Elect of the Australian and New Zealand Chapter, a member of the Training Committee, the Conference Strategy Committee, the Developing Nations Committee, and Program Chair for the Sydney World Conference.

Statement: I would be humbled and honoured to serve on the ACBS board, and would focus on developing our community within our scientific framework. ACBS has seen wonderful growth in membership and I see this as a major challenge for the board. Our rapid growth can bring disconnection, and yet I know we value our community connection so much. It seems timely to me that evolution science has become an important influence within ACBS, I would seek to use our knowledge of group behaviours to focus on how we can stay connected as a community, while we grow SIGs and Chapters, while we grow our scientific interests, and while we expand our training and networking.

Student Representative

Rosaura E. Orengo-Aguayo
The University of Iowa (USA)

Rosaura is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Iowa. She was born in Puerto Rico where she completed her undergraduate studies. Rosaura was awarded two national fellowships to conduct research on relationship dynamics and intimate partner violence among low-income populations. She has been actively involved in developing an ACT based intervention aiming to reduce violent behaviors among men convicted of domestic assault. For her dissertation, she is conducting an RCT with incarcerated domestic violence offenders examining the effect of ACT versus treatment-as-usual on externalizing behaviors. She has co-authored four different treatment and training manuals that focus on the delivery of ACT with high-risk externalizing populations, and helped train over 100 Department of Correction employees to facilitate ACT in forensic settings. Rosaura hopes to continue translating empirically supported therapeutic processes rooted in contextual behavioral science into interventions that can improve the quality of life of underserved populations.

Statement: The ACBS community has been instrumental in my professional and personal development. I remember going into my first ACT seminar and feeling inspired to live a life that is in the here-and-now and consistent with my values; every step of this journey has been priceless. This community has informed my research, practice, and personal life, as well as it has transformed the way that I conceptualize mental health. As a student representative, I would like to come up with innovative ways to bring ACT training to more graduate programs across the nation, promote more active dialogue amongst current ACBS student members and professionals, and serve as a liaison to the future generation of clinical scientist and practitioners informed by a contextual behavioral science approach. As Mahatma Ghandi said, we should strive to “be the change we wish to see in the world.” This is one step towards honoring that value.

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2013-2014 ACBS Board

President:
Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D., United States Department of Veterans Affairs and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USA)

President - Elect:
Jason Luoma, Ph.D., Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (USA)

Past President:
Joseph Ciarrochi, Ph.D., University of Wollongong (Australia)

Secretary Treasurer:
Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D., Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Member at Large 1:
Mary Sawyer, Psychologist, One to One Counselling and Education (Australia)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D., Utah State University (USA)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Ian Stewart, Ph.D., NUI Galway (Ireland)

Member at Large 4:
Louise Hayes, Ph.D., University of Melbourne (Australia)

Student Representative:
Rawya Al-Jabari, M.S., University of North Texas (USA)

The Bios and Platform statements for the new board members are below:

President

Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D.
United States Department of Veterans Affairs and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USA)

I began my Contextual Behavioral Science studies in Reno in 1994 and have served ACBS as a board member for the past 6 years. I hold a leadership position in an ACBS Chapter, serve on multiple committees and was the Director for the 2005 Conference. As an original board Member-at-Large, I participated in the creation of the founding policies and procedures for ACBS; as Secretary-Treasurer since 2009, I have worked extremely closely with our Executive Director and board to ensure financial stability, analyzing when to be fiscally conservative and when to take calculated risks for our society’s growth. In my day job, I lead national mental health policy development for the largest integrated health care system in the U.S. and have learned how to balance strategic thinking with ensuring accountability and successful execution of immediate plans. Based on my ACBS experience and my professional career, I believe that I am uniquely experienced to be able to move the organization forward. Now that our society has over 5,000 members, we must learn to foster expansion without losing what is special about ACBS – our values, community, and international connections. If elected, I will promote organizational development that provides ACBS with the structures to be successful in the long-term while encouraging processes that increase personal connections, commitment, and collaboration. I feel that I have more of myself to give to our community, and I would be honored to be chosen as President to serve the brilliant, creative members of ACBS who inspire me.

President- Elect

Jason Luoma, Ph.D.
Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (USA)

Jason Luoma is a clinical psychologist, entrepreneur-scientist, and director of the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center in Portland, Oregon, USA. His career has taken an unconventional path. After discovering ACT and behavior analysis toward the end of graduate school, he took a leap of faith in moving to Reno to become a member of Steve Hayes’ lab. He remained in Reno for four years as an intern and grant funded early-career psychologist. When he saw that federal funding possibilities for psychosocial research in the United States were drying up, he decided to use his entrepreneurial, business, marketing, and organizational skills to establish a stable line of research funding based on business revenue. The result was Portland Psychotherapy, a research and training clinic that uses an innovative business model to fund substantial clinical research and an ongoing postdoctoral research fellowship.

In terms of research, Jason’s interests focus on contextual behavioral science approaches to stigma, shame, self-compassion, and the training of evidence-based practices. This research has resulted in over two dozen articles and chapters related to ACT, a book on ACT (Learning ACT), and two successful co-authored NIH grants on stigma. He also is an internationally recognized ACT trainer and has traveled around the globe providing trainings, including Europe, Asia, and Australia, in addition to North America.

Jason has actively served ACBS since the organization began. He served as director (and instigator) of the first ACT Summer Training Institute, program director of the eighth ACBS World Conference, a founding member of the ACBS Training Committee, and past chair of the ACBS Training Committee. He currently serves as a member-at-large on the ACBS board, a member of the conference strategy committee, and president of the stigma SIG. Most importantly, he is a very active contributor to the ACBS follies where he most enjoys showing video and audio creations that he develops with other staff at Portland Psychotherapy.

Statement: We are at a very important time in the development of ACBS. As ACBS president, I will work to support ACBS in rising to the challenge of burgeoning public and professional interest in contextual behavioral science while maintaining the values that have allowed us to progress so far -- values of openness, scientific rigor, and collegiality.

As someone who has been intimately involved in ACBS operations for many years, I understand the organization from the inside and believe I have a good sense for where the organization needs further development. As both a researcher and clinician, I have the skills to support ongoing collaboration and conversation between basic researchers and applied professionals who use these principles in their work every day. As a small business owner, I have the financial and organizational skills to help guide the growth of the ACBS central office and help our organization be effective and efficient with the use of our growing budget. As an entrepreneur, I have the skills in marketing needed to develop effective and reliable campaigns that can increase the reach of contextual behavior science and bring more people into ACBS. And as a human being, I am persistently working to foster a sense of community where all have the opportunity to contribute to something larger than themselves. I will bring all these skills to bear if I am elected ACBS president.

I thought long and hard about whether I would be willing to set aside the substantial time it would take to be the kind of ACBS president I want to be. I only decided to run after I concluded that I am ready and willing to make the kind of time investment that matches the responsibility of the position. I am ready to serve and would be honored to be president of the organization that I see as my professional home.

Past President

Joseph Ciarrochi, Ph.D.
University of Wollongong (Australia)

Dr. Joseph Ciarrochi is an Associate lecturer at University of Wollongong and has been extensively involved in ACT sense 2001. I have authored and edited five books, and over 60 peer reviewed articles related to the promotion of mental health and emotional well-being. I've written a book on integrating ACT with CBT, and am currently working with community members on three books related to adolescence, weight issues, and ACT and positive psychology. I am leading the push to form a new journal for ACBS, a journal that is intended to be of interest to both scientists and practitioners. My main mission is to build a community that can better support people in the field to conduct psychological interventions.

Secretary Treasurer

Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D.
Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Since 1994, I have dedicated the heart of my work toward the Contextual Behavioral Sciences. I served in volunteer and appointed positions aimed at our organization’s mission, including elected Member-At-Large for the ACBS Board. Other highlights include serving on the inaugural Recognized ACTrainer committee, co-directing the 2008 ACT Summer Institute, and currently serving on our Continuing Education Board. I’ve held leadership positions in related organizations, including President of the Behavior Analysis Society of Illinois. My career prepared me to significantly contribute to ACBS as Secretary-Treasurer. Because I value helping people, I founded the MidAmerican Psychological Institute and Pickslyde Consulting. I also directed a non-profit community center for five years and staffed it with ACT practitioners. These enterprises provided services for thousands of people, and income and opportunities for ACBS members. These ventures succeed because I commit time to accounting, balancing books, paying therapists and the various financial concerns of these ACT-based businesses. I actually enjoy quarterly meetings with my accountant, read Harvard Business Review as avidly as Behavior Therapy, and get a geeky rush of excitement when QuickBooks tells me that my company ledgers reconciled! If elected, I’ll blend my ACT skills and business acumen to optimize ACBS’s financial status so we can actively broaden our mission to more fully address the challenges of the human condition. I will investigate the feasibility of getting Developing Nations Fund donations to be tax-deductible, oversee the growth of student scholarships, and contribute my ideas for reducing operating costs to preserve our organization’s future.

Member at Large 1

Mary Sawyer, Psychologist
One to One Counselling and Education (Australia)

I am a psychologist working in private practice in Sydney Australia since 1997. I was a Registered Nurse in a former life with years of clinical experience in critical care in Sydney hospitals. Later I completed my Psychology qualifications at Macquarie University. Before setting up private practice, I lectured in psychology and psychosocial care at University of Western Sydney (UWS) and Australian Catholic University ACU National in Australia and Hong Kong. My portfolio of duties included research, curriculum development, teaching and administration of offshore teaching in Hong Kong. In the past, I have been successfully contracted to a range of New South Wales (NSW) state government organisations to develop and facilitate curriculum using ACT based processes for drug and alcohol programs. Since 2003, I have been facilitating introductory ACT workshops, and conduct ACT talks for Mental Health Professionals and General Practitioners across Sydney. I am well known for my work in the local community of ACT practitioners and have hosted an ACT discussion group for several years and give free public lectures to large audiences on ACT. My latest challenge is teaching Relational Frame Theory (RFT) to our monthly ACT group. By being part of the ACBS board, I would continue to promote my passion for training and the professional development of others, especially those regions that are disadvantaged by distance and resources, such as country areas of Australia and developing nations in the South East Asian regions. I see role as a promoter of quality ACT training in collaboration with the latest research and RFT.

Member at Large 2 (basic science)

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D.
Utah State University (USA)

I received my B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Behavior Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and completed my clinical internship in the CBT track at the University of British Columbia. I am a licensed psychologist in Utah and an Associate Professor of Psychology at Utah State University. I run a research laboratory and a university based clinic that focuses on using ACT and exposure therapy to treat anxiety disorders. I also do translational research on basic behavioral principles. I have published over 70 scholarly works including two books. My research is funded through multiple sources including the NIMH and International OCD Foundation. I have participated in ACBS since its beginning and watched it grow at an amazing rate. Two of the things that I believe makes ACBS special are its openness to new members and ideas and its strong scientific foundation. I feel that if we keep an open mind, allow new and contradictory ideas to exist within this organization, but hold scientific ways of knowing high regard, that ACBS will grow in a sound way for many years. I am proud of many of the new things that are occurring in ACBS such as the journal and the research grants. I am offering my services to help the organization grow in similar ways that are consistent with the values of the organization.

Member at Large 3 (basic science)

Ian Stewart, Ph.D.
NUI Galway (Ireland)

I've been a member of faculty at NUI Galway since August, 2002. A core area of my research has involved developing and evaluating behavior analytic and especially Relational Frame Theory based procedures for training and assessing derived relational responding in children and adults and in both typically developing as well as developmentally delayed populations. I'm a member of several behavioral science associations (e.g., Association for Behavior Analysis International and the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group) in addition to the ACBS.

I share the values of ACBS and I've gotten a lot from membership down through the years and hope I've contributed too. If given the opportunity to contribute in terms of decision making I'd push for more promotion of RFT and empirical work in ACBS meaning more RFT research at ACBS conferences and more emphasis on supporting international collaboration in terms of both research and teaching of RFT.

Member at Large 4

Louise Hayes, Ph.D.
University of Melbourne (Australia)

My involvement in ACBS has been life changing. I love that we have this incredible model for helping humans find their way -- one that it is based on science. I am an academic at Orygen Youth Health Research Centre at the University of Melbourne, an ACT peer reviewed trainer, private practitioner, and co-author of an ACT book for teens. I am committed to our future generations and supporting our young people to achieve their potential. I was introduced to ACT in 2003, and became a member of ACBS shortly after its inception. Within ACBS, I am the President Elect of the Australian and New Zealand Chapter, a member of the Training Committee, the Conference Strategy Committee, the Developing Nations Committee, and Program Chair for the Sydney World Conference.

Statement: I would be humbled and honoured to serve on the ACBS board, and would focus on developing our community within our scientific framework. ACBS has seen wonderful growth in membership and I see this as a major challenge for the board. Our rapid growth can bring disconnection, and yet I know we value our community connection so much. It seems timely to me that evolution science has become an important influence within ACBS, I would seek to use our knowledge of group behaviours to focus on how we can stay connected as a community, while we grow SIGs and Chapters, while we grow our scientific interests, and while we expand our training and networking.

Student Representative

Rawya Al-Jabari, M.S.
University of North Texas (USA)

I am in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of North Texas. I was born in Palestine, but grew up in Texas. Mental health was (and is) a taboo topic in my culture; yet, I was drawn to this profession despite the disproval of my family and relatives. At first, I wanted to “fix” and take away pain and suffering. Then, my mentor Dr. Murrell introduced me to functional contextualism and ACT and I learned that people do not need “fixing,” they have everything they need within themselves to attain their desired life. ACT has made a difference for me and I hope to make a difference for others through ACT.

Statement: In order to spread the functional contextualism and ACT philosophy there needs to be open communication between the future consumers (i.e., students) and those in charge. I hope to help facilitate the communication between the two bodies in order to meet the needs and concerns of the ACBS student members. I have done something similar to this as the clinical student representative at UNT, where I serve as the intermediate container of information between the clinical students and the clinical faculty to help bring forward changes and improvements in our program. I am confident that I can give a voice to concerns to enhance student involvement in the ACBS community.

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2012-2013 ACBS Board

President:
Joseph Ciarrochi, Ph.D., University of Wollongong (Australia)

President - Elect:
Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D., United States Department of Veterans Affairs and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USA)

Past President:
Patricia Bach, Ph.D., lllinois Institute of Technology (USA)

Secretary Treasurer:
Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D., Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Member at Large 1:
Mary Sawyer, Psychologist, One to One Counselling and Education (Australia)

Member at Large 2 (basic science):
Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D., Utah State University (USA)

Member at Large 3 (basic science):
Akihiko (Aki) Masuda, Ph.D., Georgia State University (USA)

Member at Large 4:
Jason Luoma, Ph.D., Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (USA)

Student Representative:
Maureen Flynn, M.A., University of Mississippi (USA)
 

President

Joseph Ciarrochi, Ph.D.
University of Wollongong (Australia)

Dr. Joseph Ciarrochi is an Associate lecturer at University of Wollongong and has been extensively involved in ACT sense 2001. I have authored and edited five books, and over 60 peer reviewed articles related to the promotion of mental health and emotional well-being. I've written a book on integrating ACT with CBT, and am currently working with community members on three books related to adolescence, weight issues, and ACT and positive psychology. I am leading the push to form a new journal for ACBS, a journal that is intended to be of interest to both scientists and practitioners. My main mission is to build a community that can better support people in the field to conduct psychological interventions.

President- Elect

Sonja V. Batten, Ph.D.
United States Department of Veterans Affairs and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USA)

I began my Contextual Behavioral Science studies in Reno in 1994 and have served ACBS as a board member for the past 6 years. I hold a leadership position in an ACBS Chapter, serve on multiple committees and was the Director for the 2005 Conference. As an original board Member-at-Large, I participated in the creation of the founding policies and procedures for ACBS; as Secretary-Treasurer since 2009, I have worked extremely closely with our Executive Director and board to ensure financial stability, analyzing when to be fiscally conservative and when to take calculated risks for our society’s growth. In my day job, I lead national mental health policy development for the largest integrated health care system in the U.S. and have learned how to balance strategic thinking with ensuring accountability and successful execution of immediate plans. Based on my ACBS experience and my professional career, I believe that I am uniquely experienced to be able to move the organization forward. Now that our society has over 5,000 members, we must learn to foster expansion without losing what is special about ACBS – our values, community, and international connections. If elected, I will promote organizational development that provides ACBS with the structures to be successful in the long-term while encouraging processes that increase personal connections, commitment, and collaboration. I feel that I have more of myself to give to our community, and I would be honored to be chosen as President to serve the brilliant, creative members of ACBS who inspire me. 

Past President

Patricia Bach, Ph.D.
lllinois Institute of Technology (USA)

Patty Bach is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology training doctoral students of clinical psychology. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Nevada. Research interests include exploring the role of verbal processes in the etiology and treatment of psychopathology, and especially relationships among core ACT processes and psychosis, obesity, and stigma; and understanding symptoms of psychosis in terms of relational frame theory. She provides applied psychological services at the Mid-American Psychological Institute conducting ACT therapy, supervision, consultation and training. Patty is a co-author of ACT in Practice: case conceptualization in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy "ACBS is special. I first became part of the ACT/RFT community while a student at the University of Nevada in the 1990’s. After moving far from the then heart of the ACT community I was thrilled to discover the ACT listserv and connect online with fellow travelers from around the world, and then to see the fledgling group grow into ACBS. I would like to see ACBS continue to innovate in disseminating ACT and RFT, providing web-based and live forums for scientists, practitioners, and students of functional contextualism to ask questions, share ideas and innovations, and provide and receive first-rate training. I’d like to further tap our collective enthusiasm and talent and see more of our membership involved in the functioning of ACBS as we continue to grow. ACBS is special; I’ve been privileged to serve as secretary/treasurer and to help organize and host an ACT summer institute, and I would be honored to serve our community in the role of president."

Secretary-Treasurer

Daniel "D.J." Moran, Ph.D.
Pickslyde Consulting (USA)

Since 1994, I have dedicated the heart of my work toward the Contextual Behavioral Sciences. I served in volunteer and appointed positions aimed at our organization’s mission, including elected Member-At-Large for the ACBS Board. Other highlights include serving on the inaugural Recognized ACTrainer committee, co-directing the 2008 ACT Summer Institute, and currently serving on our Continuing Education Board. I’ve held leadership positions in related organizations, including President of the Behavior Analysis Society of Illinois. My career prepared me to significantly contribute to ACBS as Secretary-Treasurer. Because I value helping people, I founded the MidAmerican Psychological Institute and Pickslyde Consulting. I also directed a non-profit community center for five years and staffed it with ACT practitioners. These enterprises provided services for thousands of people, and income and opportunities for ACBS members. These ventures succeed because I commit time to accounting, balancing books, paying therapists and the various financial concerns of these ACT-based businesses. I actually enjoy quarterly meetings with my accountant, read Harvard Business Review as avidly as Behavior Therapy, and get a geeky rush of excitement when QuickBooks tells me that my company ledgers reconciled! If elected, I’ll blend my ACT skills and business acumen to optimize ACBS’s financial status so we can actively broaden our mission to more fully address the challenges of the human condition. I will investigate the feasibility of getting Developing Nations Fund donations to be tax-deductible, oversee the growth of student scholarships, and contribute my ideas for reducing operating costs to preserve our organization’s future.

Member-at-large 1

Mary Sawyer, Psychologist
One to One Counselling and Education (Australia)

I am a psychologist working in private practice in Sydney Australia since 1997. I was a Registered Nurse in a former life with years of clinical experience in critical care in Sydney hospitals. Later I completed my Psychology qualifications at Macquarie University. Before setting up private practice, I lectured in psychology and psychosocial care at University of Western Sydney (UWS) and Australian Catholic University ACU National in Australia and Hong Kong. My portfolio of duties included research, curriculum development, teaching and administration of offshore teaching in Hong Kong. In the past, I have been successfully contracted to a range of New South Wales (NSW) state government organisations to develop and facilitate curriculum using ACT based processes for drug and alcohol programs. Since 2003, I have been facilitating introductory ACT workshops, and conduct ACT talks for Mental Health Professionals and General Practitioners across Sydney. I am well known for my work in the local community of ACT practitioners and have hosted an ACT discussion group for several years and give free public lectures to large audiences on ACT. My latest challenge is teaching Relational Frame Theory (RFT) to our monthly ACT group. By being part of the ACBS board, I would continue to promote my passion for training and the professional development of others, especially those regions that are disadvantaged by distance and resources, such as country areas of Australia and developing nations in the South East Asian regions. I see role as a promoter of quality ACT training in collaboration with the latest research and RFT.

Member-at-large 2 (basic science)

Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D.
Utah State University (USA)

I received my B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Behavior Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and completed my clinical internship in the CBT track at the University of British Columbia. I am a licensed psychologist in Utah and an Associate Professor of Psychology at Utah State University. I run a research laboratory and a university based clinic that focuses on using ACT and exposure therapy to treat anxiety disorders. I also do translational research on basic behavioral principles. I have published over 70 scholarly works including two books. My research is funded through multiple sources including the NIMH and International OCD Foundation. I have participated in ACBS since its beginning and watched it grow at an amazing rate. Two of the things that I believe makes ACBS special are its openness to new members and ideas and its strong scientific foundation. I feel that if we keep an open mind, allow new and contradictory ideas to exist within this organization, but hold scientific ways of knowing high regard, that ACBS will grow in a sound way for many years. I am proud of many of the new things that are occurring in ACBS such as the journal and the research grants. I am offering my services to help the organization grow in similar ways that are consistent with the values of the organization.

Member-at-large 3 (basic science)

Akihiko (Aki) Masuda, Ph.D.
Georgia State University (USA)

Aki Masuda is an Assistant Professor at Georgia State University (2007-present). In 2006, he received a Ph.D. in Psychology (Clinical) from University of Nevada, Reno under the supervision of Dr. Steven C. Hayes. To date Aki has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on ACT and related topics. His current research/clinical interests are broad, including the applicability of ACT to ethnically, culturally, and cross-nationally diverse groups of people, stigma and prejudice, disordered eating problems, Zen and Buddhism, and psychological flexibility as a corner stone of behavioral and physical health. Statement: If elected, I would like to primarily focus on two things. First, I will work for ACBS to fill in the gap between applied work and basic work within ACBS. I would like to do so by facilitating and promoting open dialogues among practitioners and researchers. Second, I would like to expand our understanding and practice of ACT within the diverse cultural and cross-national contexts. To date, ACT has been studied and practiced with diverse languages under various cultural contexts (i.e., verbal community). I think this second 2nd focus is important because Understanding ACT in diverse contexts is likely to elucidate the very essence of ACT, and such understanding is likely to bring us into one as a whole.

Member-at-large 4

Jason Luoma, Ph.D.
Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (USA)

Jason Luoma, Ph.D., is Director of Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center. After discovering ACT in 1997, he moved to Reno where he trained with Steven Hayes as an intern and early career psychologist. He has published over a dozen articles related to ACT, a book on ACT, and co-authored two successful NIH grants on stigma. His current research focuses on stigma and shame in addictive behavior along with a secondary focus on training and dissemination. As director of a center dedicated to promoting evidence-based practice, he supervises a postdoctoral fellowship in ACT and provides training locally and internationally. He also maintains an active clinical practice.

Statement: The ACBS community has inspired me like no other professional community I have ever participated in. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to ACBS as director of the first ACT Summer Training Institute and the 8th ACBS World Conference, a founding member of the ACBS Training Committee, and current chair of the ACBS Training Committee. I hope to continue my service as member at large. As both a researcher and clinician, one of my priorities is to support conversation and sharing between basic researchers and clinicians who apply basic principles in their work every day. As a business person, I hope to be more involved in the financial decisions of ACBS, to help this relatively new organization utilize its money wisely and efficiently. And as a human being (and enthusiastic contributor to the follies), I will work to foster a sense of community where all can feel they are contributing to something larger than themselves.

Student Representative

Maureen Flynn, M.A.
University of Mississippi (USA)

Maureen Flynn is a doctoral student at the University of Mississippi and has studied ACT with Kelly Wilson for the past 4 years. She will be interning at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Reno, Nevada this fall. She has co-authored book chapters on ACT and substance abuse, assessing, treating values processes, acceptance in CBT, and similarities and differences between ACT and traditional CBT. She is broadly interested in treatment development research, particularly mechanisms of action. Most of her research so far has focused on values and acceptance component analyses. She has co-facilitated workshops and presented papers at the ACBS World Conference and ABAI for the past 3 years.I am devoting my life to using science to help people live fuller, richer, more meaningful lives and teaching others to do the same. The ACBS community has been instrumental in this endeavor over the past few years. I would like to give something back to this community in some small way. As the student representative, I hope to help increase student engagement in the ACBS community and help make the student voice strong.

*********************************

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2011-2012 ACBS Board

President: Patricia Bach, Ph.D., lllinois Institute of Technology (US)

President-Elect: Joseph Ciarrochi, Ph.D., University of Wollongong (Australia)

Past President: Robyn Walser, Ph.D., National Center for PTSD (Dissemination and Training Division), VA Palo Alto Healthcare System (US)

Secretary-Treasurer: Sonja Batten, Ph.D., Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (US)

Member-at-large 1 (basic science): Akihiko (Aki) Masuda, Ph.D., Georgia State University (US)

Member-at-large 2: Jason Luoma, Ph.D., Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center (US)

Member-at-large 3: Rikard Wicksell, Ph.D., Karolinska Institute (Sweden)

Member-at-large 4: Matthieu Villatte, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno (US)

Student Representative: Amie Langer, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Iowa (US)

President:

Patricia Bach, Ph.D., lllinois Institute of Technology (US)

Patty Bach is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology training doctoral students of clinical psychology. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Nevada. Research interests include exploring the role of verbal processes in the etiology and treatment of psychopathology, and especially relationships among core ACT processes and psychosis, obesity, and stigma; and understanding symptoms of psychosis in terms of relational frame theory. She provides applied psychological services at the Mid-American Psychological Institute conducting ACT therapy, supervision, consultation and training. Patty is a co-author of ACT in Practice: case conceptualization in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy "ACBS is special. I first became part of the ACT/RFT community while a student at the University of Nevada in the 1990’s. After moving far from the then heart of the ACT community I was thrilled to discover the ACT listserv and connect online with fellow travelers from around the world, and then to see the fledgling group grow into ACBS. I would like to see ACBS continue to innovate in disseminating ACT and RFT, providing web-based and live forums for scientists, practitioners, and students of functional contextualism to ask questions, share ideas and innovations, and provide and receive first-rate training. I’d like to further tap our collective enthusiasm and talent and see more of our membership involved in the functioning of ACBS as we continue to grow. ACBS is special; I’ve been privileged to serve as secretary/treasurer and to help organize and host an ACT summer institute, and I would be honored to serve our community in the role of president."

President-Elect:

Joseph Ciarrochi, Ph.D., University of Wollongong, Australia

Dr. Joseph Ciarrochi is an Associate lecturer at University of Wollongong and has been extensively involved in ACT sense 2001. I have authored and edited five books, and over 60 peer reviewed articles related to the promotion of mental health and emotional well-being. I've written a book on integrating ACT with CBT, and am currently working with community members on three books related to adolescence, weight issues, and ACT and positive psychology. I am leading the push to form a new journal for ACBS, a journal that is intended to be of interest to both scientists and practitioners. My main mission is to build a community that can better support people in the field to conduct psychological interventions.

Past President:

Robyn Walser, Ph.D., National Center for PTSD (Dissemination and Training Division), VA Palo Alto Healthcare System (US)

Robyn D. Walser, Ph.D. is Associate Director of Dissemination and Training Division of the National Center for PTSD and Director of TL Consultation Services. As a licensed psychologist, she maintains an international training, consulting and therapy practice. Dr. Walser is an expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and has co-authored 3 books on ACT including a book on learning ACT. She has been doing ACT workshops since 1998; training in multiple formats and for multiple client problems. Dr. Walser is also an expert in traumatic stress and has authored a number of articles on this topic and has presented her research findings and papers at international and national conferences. She is invested in developing innovative ways to translate science-into-practice and continues to do research on dissemination of ACT and other therapies. As a member of the ACT/RFT community since 1991, I have been interested in its growth and committed to its values. Since the inception of ACBS I have been dedicated to supporting the organization, serving as Member at Large, serving on the committee to establish guidelines for the recognition of trainers, and serving as Ad Hoc Chair for the committee to develop bylaws for international chapters and SIGs. As president I would continue this service, focusing on growth and larger member involvement in the organization while also looking to address some of the challenges important to the organization such as training and dissemination needs. And, on a more personal note, I am dedicated to this important work that is about a progressive behavioral science that is working to more adequately address the challenge of human suffering…it would be a privilege to serve this community in that endeavor.

Secretary-Treasurer:

Sonja Batten, Ph.D., Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (US)

Sonja Batten, Ph.D., serves on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs as the Deputy Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. She studied ACT with Steve Hayes at the University of Nevada Reno, applying ACT to posttraumatic problems in living, substance abuse, and depression. She was a collaborative study member on the grant evaluating the efficacy of ACT for opiate addiction. She has continued treatment development of ACT for PTSD and PTSD comorbid with substance abuse, and has been fortunate to conduct ACT trainings internationally over the past decade. Statement I have been delighted to serve on the Board of ACBS since its inception in 2006. As Member-At-Large for the past three years, I have had the fun task of working with my esteemed contextual behavioral colleagues to develop a scientific organization like no other. Contributing to the decisions to adopt values-based dues and challenging ourselves to come up with a trainer recognition system that we hope is valid and engaging, being part of this Board of Directors has been a unique opportunity to give back to the community that has given me so much over the years. As Secretary-Treasurer, I would welcome the opportunity to bring my skills at being organized and detail-oriented, as well as my institutional knowledge of ACBS from its roots, to the ongoing collaboration with my ACBS colleagues in bringing our organization to its next levels of development in training, education, research, and practical applications.

Member-at-large 1:

Akihiko (Aki) Masuda, Ph.D.

Aki Masuda is an Assistant Professor at Georgia State University (2007-present). In 2006, he received a Ph.D. in Psychology (Clinical) from University of Nevada, Reno under the supervision of Dr. Steven C. Hayes. To date Aki has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on ACT and related topics. His current research/clinical interests are broad, including the applicability of ACT to ethnically, culturally, and cross-nationally diverse groups of people, stigma and prejudice, disordered eating problems, Zen and Buddhism, and psychological flexibility as a corner stone of behavioral and physical health. Statement: If elected, I would like to primarily focus on two things. First, I will work for ACBS to fill in the gap between applied work and basic work within ACBS. I would like to do so by facilitating and promoting open dialogues among practitioners and researchers. Second, I would like to expand our understanding and practice of ACT within the diverse cultural and cross-national contexts. To date, ACT has been studied and practiced with diverse languages under various cultural contexts (i.e., verbal community). I think this second 2nd focus is important because Understanding ACT in diverse contexts is likely to elucidate the very essence of ACT, and such understanding is likely to bring us into one as a whole. 

Member-at-large 2:

Jason Luoma, Ph.D., Private Practice

Jason Luoma, Ph.D., is Director of Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, & Training Center. After discovering ACT in 1997, he moved to Reno where he trained with Steven Hayes as an intern and early career psychologist. He has published over a dozen articles related to ACT, a book on ACT, and co-authored two successful NIH grants on stigma. His current research focuses on stigma and shame in addictive behavior along with a secondary focus on training and dissemination. As director of a center dedicated to promoting evidence-based practice, he supervises a postdoctoral fellowship in ACT and provides training locally and internationally. He also maintains an active clinical practice.

Statement: The ACBS community has inspired me like no other professional community I have ever participated in. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to ACBS as director of the first ACT Summer Training Institute and the 8th ACBS World Conference, a founding member of the ACBS Training Committee, and current chair of the ACBS Training Committee. I hope to continue my service as member at large. As both a researcher and clinician, one of my priorities is to support conversation and sharing between basic researchers and clinicians who apply basic principles in their work every day. As a business person, I hope to be more involved in the financial decisions of ACBS, to help this relatively new organization utilize its money wisely and efficiently. And as a human being (and enthusiastic contributor to the follies), I will work to foster a sense of community where all can feel they are contributing to something larger than themselves.

Member-at-large 3:

Rikard Wicksell, Ph.D., Karolinska Institute (Sweden)

Rikard K. Wicksell, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist, a clinical researcher at the Behavioral Medicine Pain Treatment Service, Karolinska University Hospital and Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, in Stockholm, Sweden. Since 2001, he has, in collaboration with colleagues, developed a treatment approach based on ACT for children, adolescents, and adults with chronic pain. Today, clinical activities involve both therapeutic work and supervision of psychologists, physicians, nurses, and physiotherapists. Ongoing research is primarily focused on further development of the clinical model, and includes treatment evaluations, measurement development, and analyses of change processes, as well as RFT-oriented lab-research (IRAP). He also spends time writing empirical papers and book chapters. Rikard is frequently running lectures and workshops in various settings, such as the clinical training programs for psychologists and physicians, and is continuously presenting research findings at international and national conferences. "ACBS is important for future progress within the science of psychology in general and behavior therapy in particular. The aspiration and efforts seen among those who formed this community has been reflected in the growth of clinical and empirical work conducted in clinics and departments worldwide. During the last decade, a theoretical and empirical platform has been established. Nevertheless, the ACBS community should take an active role also in further development, requiring more, larger, better, and different studies. This includes studies to clarify the relationship between RFT and ACT processes, large RCT’s with cost-effectiveness analyses and long term follow-up, and identification of predictors, moderators, and mediators. Psychological inflexibility represents a barrier for valued living and effective behaviors in many different settings. ACBS should work to increase research and development in subgroups less attended to, including children. Furthermore, we should encourage international collaborations for several reasons: multi-center studies are eagerly awaited, more ideas will be shared and created, and it will be fun. As member at large, I hope to contribute to the organization by discussing strategies to support ACBS members in conducting more and better research, implement clinical interventions, as well as receive and provide good training."

Member-at-large 4:

Matthieu Villatte, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno (US)

Matthieu Villatte, PhD, is a French post-doctoral fellow at the University of Nevada, Reno, in Steve Hayes’ lab. He conducted his doctoral research in Relational Frame Theory on deictic relational responding in psychosis and has published a series of papers and chapters in RFT and ACT. Among his current interests are the use of perspective-taking to enhance mindfulness, empathy and self-compassion, and the use of ACT processes in prevention interventions. He is also dedicated to the linking of RFT to ACT in research and clinical settings. Also trained as an ACT therapist, Matthieu currently co-writes a French ACT Handbook and conducts workshops in France and in the USA. "As a member-at-large, I will work at building links between ACT and other approaches to clinical psychology. ACT is a good candidate for integrating other models by remaining open and providing solid empirical analyses. However, this requires flexibility in our way of speaking with fellows coming from different traditions. I will use my experience in research and clinical practice with professionals coming from various orientations (CBT, Behavior Analysis, psychoanalysis, neuroscience, etc.) to help at spreading contextual behavioral science outside our association. As both a basic researcher and a clinician, I will also contribute to linking relationships between basic research in RFT and ACT applications. Fantastic studies are being conducted in different labs all over the world and can be directly relevant to clinicians’ practice. I believe it is crucial to improve exchanges between these two branches of ACBS."

Student Representative:

Amie Langer, University of Iowa

Amie Langer is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Iowa where she has received training in ACT, DBT, and FAP under the supervision of Dr. James Marchman. She will be starting a one year clinical internship in the Adult CBT track at Duke University Medical Center in the summer of 2011. Her interests include examining the processes of change in third-wave therapies, particularly as they relate to social and interpersonal functioning in treatment-resistant populations, and engaging in research, consulting, and teaching efforts to promote the development and dissemination of effective interventions. She is currently examining the ability of ACT-based group interventions to reduce psychological and physical aggression in clinical and forensic populations. She is collaborating with the Judicial Branch, the Coalition against Domestic Violence, and the Department of Corrections in the state of Iowa to apply ACT to the development of a new, empirically-supported intervention for court-mandated domestic violence offenders. She will continue training facilitators, collecting process and outcome data, and disseminating this new program over the next several years.

I am committed to the purpose and philosophy of contextual behavioral science in my life and work. I hope to become more involved in the ACBS learning and research community as Student Representative. ACBS has been an invaluable source of support and inspiration throughout my graduate training, and I aim to facilitate student involvement and connection to this outstanding community and all it has to offer.

The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

The board members for 2010-2011 included the following:

President: Robyn Walser, National Center for PTSD (Dissemination and Training Division), VA Palo Alto Healthcare System (US)

President-Elect: Patricia Bach, Illinois Institute of Technology (US)

Past President: Frank Bond, University of London (UK)

Secretary/Treasurer (year 2 of term): Sonja Batten, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (US)

Member-at-large (year 1 of term): Matthieu Villatte, University of Nevada, Reno (US)

Member-at-large (year 1 of term): Rikard Wicksell, Karolinska Institute (Sweden)

Member-at-large (year 2 of term): Joseph Ciarrochi, University of Wollongong (Australia)

Member-at-large (year 2 of term): Carmen Luciano, University of Almeria (Spain)

Student representative: Jennifer Boulanger, University of Nevada, Reno (US)

Consulting Member (non-voting): Steven Hayes, University of Nevada, Reno (US)

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The Bios and Platform statements for newly elected members are below:

President elect: Patricia Bach, Ph.D.

Patty Bach is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology training doctoral students of clinical psychology. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Nevada. Research interests include exploring the role of verbal processes in the etiology and treatment of psychopathology, and especially relationships among core ACT processes and psychosis, obesity, and stigma; and understanding symptoms of psychosis in terms of relational frame theory. She provides applied psychological services at the Mid-American Psychological Institute conducting ACT therapy, supervision, consultation and training. Patty is a co-author of ACT in Practice: case conceptualization in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy "ACBS is special. I first became part of the ACT/RFT community while a student at the University of Nevada in the 1990’s. After moving far from the then heart of the ACT community I was thrilled to discover the ACT listserv and connect online with fellow travelers from around the world, and then to see the fledgling group grow into ACBS. I would like to see ACBS continue to innovate in disseminating ACT and RFT, providing web-based and live forums for scientists, practitioners, and students of functional contextualism to ask questions, share ideas and innovations, and provide and receive first-rate training. I’d like to further tap our collective enthusiasm and talent and see more of our membership involved in the functioning of ACBS as we continue to grow. ACBS is special; I’ve been privileged to serve as secretary/treasurer and to help organize and host an ACT summer institute, and I would be honored to serve our community in the role of president."

Member-at-large (slate 1): Matthieu Villatte

Matthieu Villatte, PhD, is a French post-doctoral fellow at the University of Nevada, Reno, in Steve Hayes’ lab. He conducted his doctoral research in Relational Frame Theory on deictic relational responding in psychosis and has published a series of papers and chapters in RFT and ACT. Among his current interests are the use of perspective-taking to enhance mindfulness, empathy and self-compassion, and the use of ACT processes in prevention interventions. He is also dedicated to the linking of RFT to ACT in research and clinical settings. Also trained as an ACT therapist, Matthieu currently co-writes a French ACT Handbook and conducts workshops in France and in the USA. "As a member-at-large, I will work at building links between ACT and other approaches to clinical psychology. ACT is a good candidate for integrating other models by remaining open and providing solid empirical analyses. However, this requires flexibility in our way of speaking with fellows coming from different traditions. I will use my experience in research and clinical practice with professionals coming from various orientations (CBT, Behavior Analysis, psychoanalysis, neuroscience, etc.) to help at spreading contextual behavioral science outside our association. As both a basic researcher and a clinician, I will also contribute to linking relationships between basic research in RFT and ACT applications. Fantastic studies are being conducted in different labs all over the world and can be directly relevant to clinicians’ practice. I believe it is crucial to improve exchanges between these two branches of ACBS."

Member-at-large (slate 2): Rikard Wicksell

Rikard K. Wicksell, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist, a clinical researcher at the Behavioral Medicine Pain Treatment Service, Karolinska University Hospital and Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, in Stockholm, Sweden. Since 2001, he has, in collaboration with colleagues, developed a treatment approach based on ACT for children, adolescents, and adults with chronic pain. Today, clinical activities involve both therapeutic work and supervision of psychologists, physicians, nurses, and physiotherapists. Ongoing research is primarily focused on further development of the clinical model, and includes treatment evaluations, measurement development, and analyses of change processes, as well as RFT-oriented lab-research (IRAP). He also spends time writing empirical papers and book chapters. Rikard is frequently running lectures and workshops in various settings, such as the clinical training programs for psychologists and physicians, and is continuously presenting research findings at international and national conferences. "ACBS is important for future progress within the science of psychology in general and behavior therapy in particular. The aspiration and efforts seen among those who formed this community has been reflected in the growth of clinical and empirical work conducted in clinics and departments worldwide. During the last decade, a theoretical and empirical platform has been established. Nevertheless, the ACBS community should take an active role also in further development, requiring more, larger, better, and different studies. This includes studies to clarify the relationship between RFT and ACT processes, large RCT’s with cost-effectiveness analyses and long term follow-up, and identification of predictors, moderators, and mediators. Psychological inflexibility represents a barrier for valued living and effective behaviors in many different settings. ACBS should work to increase research and development in subgroups less attended to, including children. Furthermore, we should encourage international collaborations for several reasons: multi-center studies are eagerly awaited, more ideas will be shared and created, and it will be fun. As member at large, I hope to contribute to the organization by discussing strategies to support ACBS members in conducting more and better research, implement clinical interventions, as well as receive and provide good training."

Student Representative: Jennifer Boulanger

Jennifer Boulanger is a doctoral student at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she has received training in ACT, DBT, and FAP. Under the supervision of Steve Hayes, she has led and co-led ACT training workshops for the Nevada State Psychological Association, University of California, Los Angeles, and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. Her interests include explicating the processes of change in third-wave therapies and applying an RFT analysis of the self to the prevention and treatment of self-harm and suicidality. She is currently investigating the effects of mindfulness on decision-making and cognitive flexibility when applied as an emotion regulation strategy and is also involved in research examining a classroom-based ACT intervention to prevent self-harm and suicidality among college students. Jennifer is a proud member of the emerging ACBS SIG currently known as the Behavioral Collective, whose aim is to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice by making practice-based research feasible, relevant, and exciting. She is also a member of the programming committee for the 8th World Conference of ACBS in Reno, Nevada.

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The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

2009-2010 Board of Directors:

President: Frank Bond, University of London (UK)

President-elect: Robyn Walser, National Center for PTSD (Dissemination and Training Division), VA Palo Alto Healthcare System (US)

Past President: Steven Hayes, University of Nevada, Reno (US)

Secretary/Treasurer (year 1 of term): Sonja Batten, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (US)

Member-at-large (year 1 of term): Joseph Ciarrochi, University of Wollongong (Australia) 

Member-at-large (year 2 of term): JT Blackledge, Moorehead State University (US)

Member-at-large (year 1 of term): Carmen Luciano, University of Almeria (Spain)

Member-at-large (year 2 of term): DJ Moran, Family Counseling Center, Trinity Services (US)

Student-representative: Priscilla Almada, University of Mississippi (US)

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The Bios and Platform statements for the newly elected members are below:

President elect: Robyn Walser, Ph.D.

Robyn D. Walser, Ph.D. is Associate Director of Dissemination and Training Division of the National Center for PTSD and Director of TL Consultation Services. As a licensed psychologist, she maintains an international training, consulting and therapy practice. Dr. Walser is an expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and has co-authored 3 books on ACT including a book on learning ACT. She has been doing ACT workshops since 1998; training in multiple formats and for multiple client problems. Dr. Walser is also an expert in traumatic stress and has authored a number of articles on this topic and has presented her research findings and papers at international and national conferences. She is invested in developing innovative ways to translate science-into-practice and continues to do research on dissemination of ACT and other therapies. As a member of the ACT/RFT community since 1991, I have been interested in its growth and committed to its values. Since the inception of ACBS I have been dedicated to supporting the organization, serving as Member at Large, serving on the committee to establish guidelines for the recognition of trainers, and serving as Ad Hoc Chair for the committee to develop bylaws for international chapters and SIGs. As president I would continue this service, focusing on growth and larger member involvement in the organization while also looking to address some of the challenges important to the organization such as training and dissemination needs. And, on a more personal note, I am dedicated to this important work that is about a progressive behavioral science that is working to more adequately address the challenge of human suffering…it would be a privilege to serve this community in that endeavor.

Secretary/ Treasurer: Sonja Batten, Ph.D.

Sonja Batten, Ph.D., serves on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs as the Deputy Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. She studied ACT with Steve Hayes at the University of Nevada Reno, applying ACT to posttraumatic problems in living, substance abuse, and depression. She was a collaborative study member on the grant evaluating the efficacy of ACT for opiate addiction. She has continued treatment development of ACT for PTSD and PTSD comorbid with substance abuse, and has been fortunate to conduct ACT trainings internationally over the past decade. Statement I have been delighted to serve on the Board of ACBS since its inception in 2006. As Member-At-Large for the past three years, I have had the fun task of working with my esteemed contextual behavioral colleagues to develop a scientific organization like no other. Contributing to the decisions to adopt values-based dues and challenging ourselves to come up with a trainer recognition system that we hope is valid and engaging, being part of this Board of Directors has been a unique opportunity to give back to the community that has given me so much over the years. As Secretary-Treasurer, I would welcome the opportunity to bring my skills at being organized and detail-oriented, as well as my institutional knowledge of ACBS from its roots, to the ongoing collaboration with my ACBS colleagues in bringing our organization to its next levels of development in training, education, research, and practical applications.

Member at large (slate 1) Carmen Luciano, Ph.D.

Full Professor, 1995-present in University Almería, after 1986-95 Universidad Granada. Ph.D. Psychology by Universidad Complutense, Madrid, 1984. Fulbright Post-doc, 1985 in Boston University & CCBS. Director ACT Institute (www.institutoact.es) and Máster/Doctorate Functional Analysis Program in University Almería (www.postgradoanalisis.com). Research funding by National and Autonomic govertments. Publications on basic research on language, emergence of novel behavior and transformations of functions (RFT) with applications in developmental areas, psychopathology (Experiential Avoidance Disorder) and ACT clinical methods, especially values clarification and defusion. Statement I will work for ACBS to make clear the bridge between the behavior analysis background and research on relational frame theory. I would work for promoting research on several areas: (a) the development of novelty by identifying the conditions under which relational framing takes place and the impact of transformation of functions in several human domains; (b) the isolating the conditions under which develops the verbal regulation of behavior, mainly, the destructive regulation of private events (as in destructive experiential avoidance); and (c) the necessary conditions, or transformation of functions, needed for the ACT clinical methods to generate the creative hopeless, acceptance, values clarification and defusion effects. In addition, I should improve my work for extending the impact of BA and RFT in the international domains, and by promoting research on the conditions necessary for learning the conceptualization and the abilities defining ACT.

Member at large (slate 2) Joseph Ciarrochi

I have authored and edited five books, and over 40 peer reviewed articles related to the promotion of mental health and emotional well-being. I’ve written a book with Ann Bailey on integrating ACT and CBT. I’ve also co-edited a book on ACT, and cowrote a special journal issue on the link between ACT and CBT. I have conducted ACT in organizations and produced a substantial number of free materials (e.g., visual metaphors) for ACT practitioners. Mission Statement I have spent five years helping to build a values-based ACT community in the Oceania region. If elected, I would do every thing in my power to continue building an international community that is devoted to the reduction of human suffering, promotion of vital living, and in general, the improvement of the human condition. I would like to help ACBS to do the following things: *** communicate the important ACT and RFT findings to non-ACBS members ***communicate the practical value of RFT and basic behavioural research to practitioners, ***promote a tighter link between practitioners and science, by providing a supportive environment for practitioners to discuss their research ideas and receive statistical and methodological support. ***provide support for international student travel (as the students will form the backbone of our future community)

Student Representative: Priscilla Almada

Priscilla V. Almada is a graduate student at San Jose State University under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Gregg. She is currently pursuing research investigating the impact of different intervention strategies on psychological processes related to food cravings and actual eating behavior. Her research interests include cultural alternatives to applied ACT practices, 3rd wave behavior therapies, behavioral medicine and stigma. Platform Statement: I value continuing a conversation that Dr. Hayes began last summer concerning the Roots of Compassion. To harness the flexibility of seeing the world through the eyes of others, I would like to continue to take more mindful efforts to inspire diversity within our community. I wonder how we can further create an environment in which all aspiring behavioral scientists can be nurtured. I wonder what kinds of conversations we have missed out on by not hearing the voice of all of our global partners. I daydream about the conversations we could have.

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The ACBS bylaws say:

The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term.

• President: Steve Hayes, University of Nevada, Reno (US)

• President-elect: Frank Bond, University of London (UK)

• Past President: Kelly G. Wilson, University of Mississippi (US)

• Secretary-Treasurer: Patty Bach, Illinois Institute of Technology (US)

• Member-at-large: Sonja Batten, VA Maryland Healthcare System (US)

• Member-at-large: Yvonne Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Ireland)

• Member-at-large: DJ Moran, Family Counseling Center, Trinity Services (US)

• Member-at-large: JT Blackledge, Moorehead State University (US)

• Student-representative: Emily Sandoz, University of Mississippi (US)

PRESIDENT: Dermot Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Ireland)

PRESIDENT-ELECT: Steven C. Hayes, University of Nevada, Reno (US)

PAST PRESIDENT: Kelly G. Wilson, University of Mississippi (US) 

SECRETARY-TREASURER: Patty Bach, Illinois Institute of Technology (US)

MEMBER AT LARGE: Yvonne Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Ireland)

MEMBER AT LARGE: Sonja V. Batten, VA Maryland Health Care System and University of Maryland School of Medicine (US)

MEMBER AT LARGE: Eric J. Fox, Western Michigan University (US)

MEMBER AT LARGE: Robyn D. Walser, National Center for PTSD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System (US)

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: Chad Drake, University of Mississippi (US)

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The ACBS bylaws say: The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, a student representative, and four Members-at-Large of the Board of Directors. Each shall perform the usual duties of the respective office and specific duties provided elsewhere in these Bylaws or as assigned by the Board of Directors. Elections for officers shall be held every year. The President, President-Elect, Past-President, and student representative shall each serve a one-year term and may not hold any other offices within the Association. The Members-at-Large shall be elected every two years. In each two-year cycle one of the Members-at-Large shall have a strong background and interest in basic science relevant to the purposes of the Association. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve a three year term. Next year, Members-at-Large, Robyn Walser and Eric Fox will rotate out of the board. A new president-elect, student rep., and 2 new members-at-large will be elected.

The first ACBS Board was:

• PRESIDENT: Kelly G. Wilson, University of Mississippi (US)

• PRESIDENT-ELECT: Dermot Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Ireland)

• SECRETARY-TREASURER: Patty Bach, Illinois Institute of Technology (US)

• MEMBER AT LARGE: Yvonne Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Ireland)

• MEMBER AT LARGE: Sonja V. Batten, VA Maryland Health Care System and University of Maryland School of Medicine (US)

• MEMBER AT LARGE: Eric J. Fox, Western Michigan University (US)

• MEMBER AT LARGE: Robyn D. Walser, National Center for PTSD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System (US)

• STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: Jason Lillis, University of Nevada, Reno (US)