The ACT/RFT Lab at UNR is winding down because Steve is 73 and in a retirement glideout that will put him outside UNR as of JUne 2023.

Current lab members are:

Fred Chin (who will be on clinical internship in the Fall of 2022)

Patrick Smith (expected to finish his PhD in Spring of 2022)

Stu Law 

Michelle Foreman

Neal Falletta-Cowden

Here are the dissertations that have come from the lab over the years

University of North Carolina at Greensboro Dissertations

1. Cognitive Therapy of Depression: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis of Component and Process Issues. Zettle, Robert Douglas, PhD. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1984.

2. Stimulus Equivalence and Language Development In Children By Devany, Jeanne Marie, PhD. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1985.

3. The Relationship Between Two Classes of Measures Examined Idiothetically and Nomothetically. Turner, Arlinza Earl, PhD. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1986.

4. The Use of Therapist Rules, Self-Rules, and Contingency-Shaped Feedback in the Treatment of Social Skills Deficits in Adults. Rosenfarb, Irwin Shimon, PhD. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1986.

5. Higher-Order Control Over Equivalence Classes and Response Sequences: An Experimental Analogue of Simple Syntactical Relations. Wulfert, Edelgard, PhD. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1987.

6. Conditional Control of Equivalence and the Relations Different and Opposite: A Behavior Analytic Model of Complex Verbal Behavior. Steele, David Lee, PhD. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1987.

7. The effects of verbal consequences for rule-following on sensitivity to programmed contingencies of reinforcement. Haas, Joseph Raymond, PhD. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1991.

University of Nevada, Reno Dissertations

8. Client metaphor use in a contextual form of therapy.
McCurry, Susan Melancon. 1991

9. An analysis of the process of client change in a contextual approach to therapy.
Khorakiwala, Durriyah. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1991. 9131276.

10. A behavior analysis of complex human functioning: Analogical reasoning.
Lipkens, Regina. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1992. 9230123.

11.The evaluation, and remediation of obstacles to Japanese/European-American intercultural communication from a behavior analytic perspective.
Leonhard, Christoph Harald. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1994. 9507030.

12. Transfer of function through equivalence: Modification effects based upon nodality and contextual control.
Kohlenberg, Barbara Saree. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1994. 9511783.

13. Examining the differential effects of feedback in ply-form and track-form on staff training of consumers in a sheltered workshop.
Huntley, Kenneth Robert. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1995. 9607988.

14. A study of paradoxical cognitive responding in thought suppression.
Afari, Niloofar. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1996. 9716666.

15. Acceptance, suppression, and monitoring of personally-relevant unwanted thoughts in women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Pistorello, Jacqueline. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1998. 9833383.

16. Relational acquisition of stimulus function in substance dependence: A preliminary examination of drug versus nondrug related equivalence classes.
Wilson, Kelly Gene. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1998. 9916966.

17. The effects of suppression and acceptance on thought and emotion.
Walser, Robyn Darleen. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1998. 9916965.

18. An experimental analysis of the effects of an intrusive academic advising package on academic performance, satisfaction, and retention.
Sayrs, David Michael. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1999. 9961154.

19. Toward an empirical analysis of verbal motivation: A possible preparation for distinguishing discriminative and motivational functions of verbal stimuli.
Ju, Winifred Chin-Teh. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2000. 9985720.

20. Dismantling instruction to distract from a painful stimulus: Approach /avoidance functions of distracting instructions.
Grundt, Adam Matthew. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2000. 9963610.

21. Acceptance and commitment therapy in the treatment of symptoms of psychosis.
Bach, Patricia Ann. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2000. 9995329.

22. Processes of change: Acceptance versus 12 -step in polysubstance -abusing methadone clients.
Bissett, Richard Thorman. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2001. 3042769.

23. Culture and acceptance and control -based strategies: Predictors of psychological adjustment among Asian Americans and Caucasian Americans.
Cook, Dosheen. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2003. 3099703.

24. Acceptance -based treatment of regulatory internal stimuli in nicotine -dependent smokers: A controlled comparison with transdermal nicotine replacement.
Gifford, Elizabeth Ruth van der Veen. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2003. 3090908.

25. Using acceptance and commitment therapy in the support of parents of children diagnosed with autism.
Blackledge, John T. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2004. 3164681.

26. A randomized controlled effectiveness trial comparing patient education with and without acceptance and commitment therapy for type 2 diabetes self-management.
Gregg, Jennifer Ann. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2004. 3131748.

27. The impact of training deictic frames on perspective taking with young children: A relational frame approach to theory of mind.
Weil, Timothy M. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2006. 3239878.

28. Acceptance and Commitment Training and stigma toward people with psychological disorders: Developing a new technology.
Masuda, Akihiko. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2006. 3231683.

29. A randomized clinical trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy versus Progressive Relaxation Training in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder.
Twohig, Michael P. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2007. 3275827.

30. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for the treatment of obesity -related stigma and weight control.
Lillis, Jason. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2007. 3275825.

31. The effect of acceptance and commitment training on clinician willingness to use empirically-supported pharmacotherapy for drug and alcohol abuse.
Varra, Alethea A. A. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2007. 3280752.

32. The role of acceptance in cognitive behavioral treatment for chronic pain in an HIV -positive community sample.
Pierson, Heather M. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2008. 3339137.

33. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with dually diagnosed individuals.
Pankey, Julieann. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2008. 3339134.

34. Examining the motivational effects of verbal stimuli: An application of motivational augmentals.
Jackson, Marianne. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2008. 3311921.

35.Relational coherence and transformation of function in ambiguous and unambiguous relational networks.
Quinones, Jennifer L. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2008. 3312249.

36. In search of operant classes in the real world: A case for synonyms and antonyms.
Berens, Nicholas M. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2009. 3375369.
 

37. A Valued Path to Change: Evaluation of a Brief Values Intervention with College Students Seeking Therapy.
Bunting, Kara. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2010. 3434072.

38. Examining the use of Cognitive Defusion Exercises to Treat High-Order Repetitive and Restrictive Behaviors Displayed by Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Eilers, Heidi J. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2010. 3434078.

39. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy For Improving Adaptive Functioning in Persons with a History of Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury.
Sylvester, Merry. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2011. 3472789.

40. A Mindfulness and Acceptance-based Intervention for Increasing Physical Activity and Reducing Obesity.
Fletcher, Lindsay. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2011. 3490761.

41. An Experience Sampling Study of Psychological Processes and their Relation to Functional Outcome among Individuals with Severe Psychopathology.
Vilardaga, Roger. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2012. 3539204.

42. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Longstanding Chronic Pain in a Community-Based Outpatient Group Setting.
Plumb Vilardaga, Jennifer C. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2012. 3550275.

43. Evaluating a Prototype Acceptance and Commitment Training Web-Based Prevention Program for Depression and Anxiety in College Students.
Levin, Michael E. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2013. 3595669.

44. Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Decrease High-Prevalence Psychopathology by Targeting Self-Compassion: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Yadavaia, James E. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2013. 3595782.

45.Examining the Utility of Functional Process Models of Distress Tolerance in Predicting Psychopathology.
Villatte, Jennifer L. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2013. 3608797.

46. Examining the Efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Reducing Cardiovascular Risk in Patients Diagnosed with Hypertension.
Hildebrandt, Mikaela J. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2014. 3626068.

47. Development and Evaluation of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Online Competency Assessment: A Contextual Behavioral Building Block Approach.
Long, Douglas M. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2015. 3724133.

48. Development of the Reno Inventory of Self-Perspective (RISP): Measuring self in the ACT model.
Jeffcoat, Tami R. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2015. 3724131.

49. Mental Toughness: An Investigation of Verbal Processes on Athletic Performance.
Leeming, Emily M. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2016. 10126158.

50. Values Across the Lifespan Questionnaire (VALQUEST): Development of a New Values Assessment Tool for Use with Older Adults.
Catlin, Casey C. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2018. 13420927.

51. A Component and Process Analysis of the Impact of Enhanced Self-Instructional Packets on Behavioral Programming.
Al-Nasser, Thouraya. University of Nevada, Reno. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2020. 27738608.

52. An Idionomic Network Analysis of Psychological Processes and Outcomes.
Sanford, Brandon T. University of Nevada, Reno. 2021.
 

This list of lab graduates is in order of first to most recent. Below their names are their first major post-doctoral and / or current positions.

• Robert Douglas "the Z" Zettle Wichita State University

• Jeanne M. Devany Auburn University (now retired)

• Arlinza E. "Sonny" Turner* Albert Einstein School of Medicine (deceased)

• Irwin Rosenfarb Auburn University (now at Alliant University)

• Edelgard Wulfert State University of New York at Albany

• David Steele Greensboro Area Health Education Center (now retired)

• Joseph Raymond Haas Children's Behavioral Services, Reno, NV  (now retired)

• Susan Melancon McCurry University of Washington School of Medicine  (now retired)

• Durriyah Khorakiwala Keiser Permanente Hospital (now in private practice, Pleasanton, CA)

• Regina Lipkens University College of North Wales (now at Sancta Maria Psychiatric Hospital, Sint-Truiden, Belgium)

• Christoph Leonhard Harvard Medical School (now at Chicago School of Professional Psychology)

• Barbara S. Kohlenberg Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Reno (now at the University of Nevada, Reno)
• Kenneth R. Huntley
• Niloofar Afari University of Washington School of Medicine (now at the University of California San Diego)
• Jacqueline Pistorello University of Nevada, Reno  (now retired)
• Robyn Walser Weber State University (now at the Palo Alto VA, National Center for PTSD)
• Kelly G. Wilson University of Mississippi (now retired)
• David M. Sayrs Pierce College (now at the University of Washington)
• Winifred C. T. Ju Center for the Disabled, Cohoes, NY (now at the West Salem Clinic, Salem, OR)
• Adam M. Grundt Dartmouth College (now at the Hazelton Institute)
• Patricia Bach University of Chicago School of Medicine (now in private practice)
• Richard Bissett University of Nevada, Reno (now retired)
• Dosheen Cook Rural Regional Clinics, Carson City, NV
• Elizabeth Gifford Center for Health Care Evaluation Palo Alto Veteran's Administration and Stanford University  (now retired)
• J. T. Blackledge University of Wollongong, Australia (now at Morehead State University, Morehead, KY)
• Jennifer Gregg San Jose State University
• Akihiko Masuda University of Texas, Houston Health Sciences Center (now University of Hawaii)
• Timothy Weil University of South Florida (now in private practice)=
• Jason Lillis Palo Alto Veteran's Administration and Stanford University (now at Brown University)
• Michael Twohig Utah State University, Logan, UT
• Alethea Varra VA Puget Sound Healthcare System, Seattle, WA 
• Julieann Pankey University of Alaska, Fairbanks (now in private practice)
• Heather Pierson VA Puget Sound Healthcare System, Seattle, WA
• Nicholas Berens Center for Advanced Learning, Reno, NV (now at Fit Learning, New York)
• Kara Bunting Private practice
• Heidi J. Eilers Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles
• Merry Sylvester Private practice
• Lindsay Fletcher Private practice
• Roger Vilardaga University of Washington (now at Duke University)
• Jennifer C. Plumb Vilardaga University of Washington (now at Duke University)
• Michael E. Levin Utah State University
• James E. Yadavaia Long Beach VA
• Jennifer L. Villatte University of Washington (now at the National Institute of Mental Health)
• Mikaela J. Hildebrandt Private practice
• Douglas M. Long Brown University
• Tami R. Jeffcoat University of Nevada, Reno (now in private practice)
• Emily M. Leeming Military resilience training
• Casey C. Catlin Brown University
• Thouraya Al-Nasser Memphis University
• Brandon T. Sanford Medical University of South Carolina
   

At the end of their training lab graduates are offered the opportunity to take the lab science oath. If they do, they then can receive the "Behavioralis Junkus" degree and be eligible for all of the incredible benefits that flow from it such as being able to sign their letters "Behavioral Yours." Steve Hayes conducts a solemn ceremony in which lab graduates swear to the oath, learn the secret behavioral handshake, and are awarded the highest honor any lab graduate can ever receive, the Behavioralis Junkus degree.

The Behavioralis Junkus Science Oath

Among other more specific forms of training, lab members are trained to have a set of scientific values. These are they. As I state each, affirm it -- if it is in your values to do so:

1. Without diminishing the importance of other forms of knowledge, such as that based in clinical and life experience, do you affirm the value of science as a way of knowing?

2. Will you work to protect science from social, personal, and political pressures that can distort its integrity and do you promise never to lie in a scientific document?

3. Will you fight for the right of scientists to observe, analyze, experiment, theorize, and freely exchange ideas in any domain of human interest?

4. Will you promote the broad application of scientific knowledge to problems of human concern and will you insist that scientific knowledge be given proper attention and due weight in human decision making, in public policy, and in the alleviation of human suffering?

Then as chief Bozo on this Bus, by the powers invested in me by my mentors and by my mentors’ mentors, from

John D. Cone, who was given that authority by  
Allen L. Edwards, who was given that authority by
A.    R. Gilliland; and from

David H. Barlow who was given that authority by 
Hal Leitenberg who was given that authority by
Jim Dinsmoor who was given that authority by
Nate Schoenfeld and Fred Keller, 

I ask you now to respect the best of that tradition, to help repair its flaws, and to carry forward what is good inside it to others as I declare you recipient of the Behavioralis Junkus Degree (B.J.D.) with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that obtain thereto.
 

Let us all congratulate xx as (she/he) learns the secret behavioral handshake.