2010-2011 Board of Directors

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.