Congratulations to Inês A. Trindade on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for March 2018!

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

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

Learn more about Inês:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I started researching in CBS during my Master’s Thesis in Clinical and Health Psychology at University of Coimbra. My thesis aimed to develop a body image-related cognitive fusion questionnaire and analyse the impact of this construct on eating psychopathology. During this time I was a clinical psychology intern at the Psychiatric Unit of the Coimbra University Hospital, where I was trained in CBS clinical practise. After my MSc I did a professional voluntary internship where I applied ACT in women with eating difficulties. At this time, I became a collaborator at CINEICC (University of Coimbra), a research centre with a strong focus on CBS, and later a PhD student at the same centre. My PhD studies have two main focuses. The first is the analysis of the impact of processes such as experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and shame on psychological and physical outcomes in chronic illness, which has provided interesting findings on the importance of these processes in several chronic health conditions. The most relevant published paper from my PhD studies to date has longitudinally demonstrated that cognitive fusion predicts the evolution of psychological as well as physical health among inflammatory bowel disease patients. The second focus of my PhD was to integrate acceptance, mindfulness and compassion-based psychotherapies in one intervention adapted to cancer patients, the MIND (as in “mentality” and “care”) programme. I applied this intervention to groups of breast cancer patients as principal therapist. The feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the intervention have been demonstrated (paper under review).

Autobiography:
I was born and raised in Coimbra, a city in the centre of Portugal. I’m a 4th year PhD student in Clinical Psychology at CINEICC, University of Coimbra, Portugal, working with Dr. José Pinto-Gouveia and Dr. Cláudia Ferreira. I discovered mindfulness meditation in my adolescence and have stuck with it almost ever since. In my master’s I started professional training in contemplative practices and CBS. Choosing to study CBS in chronic illness came from a personal motivation. Having been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease at 15, my late adolescence was marked by the adaptation to the illness, which now, after 12 years, I can say will probably never be over. This is my motivation to study chronic illness (and in particular inflammatory bowel disease) in my PhD studies, and I hope I am able to continue to do so. In my spare time I love to read and travel to places I’ve never been to. I’m also passionate about vegan cooking, interior design, and photography.

Future goals:
After my PhD, I have two main goals. The first is to adapt the MIND programme to inflammatory bowel disease and to test its efficacy on psychosocial outcomes on this population; the second (and more far away) goal is to test the effects of mindfulness and related processes on inflammation and other disease markers in inflammatory bowel disease patients.

Relevant publications:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjhp.12280/abstract

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00384-017-2774-z

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1359105315587142

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpp.2035/abstract

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1359105317718925

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10620-015-3786-6

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10862-015-9509-7

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpp.2125/abstract

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11136-016-1378-3

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03630242.2016.1267688

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/papt.12047/full

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566631400227X

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1359105315573438

Congratulations to Adam Kuczynskion being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for September 2020!

The purpose of this award is to highlight students who are doing important work in the CBS community whether for research, clinical, and/or volunteer-humanitarian efforts. This is a way to highlight their achievements, let the ACBS community know important work students are doing, and possibly provide a platform for mentoring/collaboration/professional development/conversations around highlighted areas.

Learn more about Adam:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I am, at my core, a functional contextualist. My first experience in research was with Dr. Marsha Linehan, where I workid on a federally funded randomized trial of DBT for suicidal and self-harming adolescents. It was there where I was trained to view behavior from a functional perspective, influenced greatly by other third-wave therapies such as ACT and FAP. Shortly thereafter, I began working with Drs. Kohlenberg and Tsai in their efforts to establish a stronger empirical literature for FAP. Fast forward several years and I am now a fifth year graduate student at the University of Washington, where I have continued to pursue contextual-behavioral research agenda. For my master’s thesis, I led a multi-site scale development project aimed at measuring intimate relational functioning for use in FAP outcomes research. Since then, I have worked to develop CBS-informed interventions for couples and therapists at high risk of burnout, evaluated the current state of empirical research on FAP, and pursued research that aims to reduce the perpetration of racial microaggressions. Now, I am a lead researcher and study therapist on the largest-to-date randomized trial of FAP. My clinical work is also heavily influenced by CBS. I have worked with several clients in both inpatient and outpatient settings using ACT, FAP, and comprehensive DBT. I have reviewed several manuscript submissions for JCBS and served as the student representative for the FAP special interest group of ACBS since 2015. Last year, I served as a reviewer for the ACBS student spotlight awards.

Autobiography:
I am incredibly fortunate for the opportunities offered to me throughout my lifetime. As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, I worked with Dr. Marsha Linehan on a federally funded trial of DBT for adolescents who, despite their best efforts, struggled to build worth living. Shortly thereafter, Drs. Robert Kohlenberg and Mavis Tsai took me into their lab and trained me in the fundamental principles of FAP and contextual behavioral science. When Dr. Jonathan Kanter moved to the University of Washington, he hired me as his first research coordinator and then graduate student, we we have worked together on a variety of research projects aimed at improving social functioning and decreasing the perpetration of racial microaggressions. I am truly a product of my social environment and have worked diligently in my graduate career to pass my fortune along, particularly for underrepresented individuals in psychological science (e.g., students of color, first-generation students). For my dissertation, I am using idiographic research methods to understand how momentary feelings of loneliness are associated with changes in depressive symptomatology and hope to inform contextual-behavioral treatment efforts aimed at reducing the burden of these afflictions.

Future goals:
After graduate school, I hope to continue pursuing a research agenda focused on the ways in which social functioning outcomes can be improved by bridging the gap between CBS and relationship science.

Publications:

• Kuczynski, A. M., Kanter, J. W., & Robinaugh, D. J. (2019). Differential associations between interpersonal variables and quality-of-life in a sample of college students. Quality of Life Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-019-02298-3
• Kuczynski, A. M., Kanter, J. W., Wetterneck, C. T., Olaz, F. O., Singh, R. S., Lee, E. B., … Corey, M. D. (2019). Measuring intimacy as a contextual-behavioral process: Psychometric development and evaluation of the Awareness, Courage, and Responsiveness Scale. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.02.004
• Reyes Ortega, M. A., Kuczynski, A. M., Kanter, J. W., de Montis, I. A., & Santos, M. M. (2019). A preliminary test of a social connectedness burnout intervention for Mexican mental health professionals. The Psychological Record, 69(2), 267-276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-019-00338-5
• Kanter, J. W., Kuczynski, A. M., Tsai, M., & Kohlenberg, R. J. (2018). A brief contextual-behavioral intervention to improve relationships: A randomized trial. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 10, 75-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.09.001
• Kanter, J. W., Manbeck, K. E., Kuczynski, A. M., Maitland, D .W. M., Villas-Bôas, A., & Reyes Ortega, M. A. (2017). A comprehensive review of research on Functional Analytic Psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology Review, 58, 141-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.09.010
• Kanter, J. W., Williams, M. T., Kuczynski, A. M., Manbeck, K. E., Debreaux, M., & Rosen, D. C. (2017). A preliminary report on the relationship between microaggressions against Black people and racism among White college students. Race and Social Problems, 9(4), 291-299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-017-9214-0
• Maitland, D. W. M., Kanter, J. W., Manbeck, K. E., & Kuczynski, A. M. (2017). Relationship science informed clinically relevant behaviors in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy: The Awareness, Courage, and Love Model. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6(4), 347-359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.07.002
• Maitland, D. W. M., Kanter, J. W., Tsai, M., Kuczynski, A. M., Manbeck, K. E., & Kohlenberg, R. J. (2016). Preliminary findings on the effects of online Functional Analytic Psychotherapy training on therapist competency. The Psychological Record, 66(4), 627-637. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-016-0198-8
• Haworth, K., Kanter, J. W., Tsai, M., Kuczynski, A. M., Rae, J. R., & Kohlenberg, R. J. (2015). Reinforcement matters: A preliminary, laboratory-based component-process analysis of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy's model of social connection. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 4(4), 281-291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2015.08.003
• Kohlenberg, R. J., Tsai, M., Kuczynski, A. M., Rae, J. R., Lagbas, E. Lo, J., & Kanter, J. W. (2015). A brief, interpersonally oriented mindfulness intervention incorporating Functional Analytic Psychotherapy's model of awareness, courage and love. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 4(2), 107-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2015.03.003

Congratulations to Alison Stapleton on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for October 2020!

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

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

Learn more about Alison:

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

Throughout my academic career, I have been involved in CBS research projects. My undergraduate thesis (in press in JCBS) examined the relationships between health values directed behavior and engagement in health-related behaviors. My first PhD study, examining adaptive correlates of adolescents’ generalized pliance, was also recently published in JCBS. I am currently extending this line of research, doing much-needed work to consolidate theoretical perspectives on rule-governed behavior, and using text-based conversational agents (chatbots) to promote flexible rule-following. Beyond my PhD research, I am the lead on a systematic review examining the use of metaphor in ACT and on a project evaluating brief ACT interventions for academic procrastination (funded by the Higher Education Authority). I recently contributed to a paper using the Functional Self-Discrimination Measure with members of the homeless population and I am coordinating a large cross-cultural study with CBS labs around the world. I am passionate about dissemination and making CBS accessible. In addition to publishing manuscripts and presenting CBS research at national and international conferences, I produce CBS videos and blog posts with an abundance of pop culture references to facilitate effective and engaging knowledge transfer. I am also currently contributing to outreach programs that aim to provide the public with CBS skills to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., the #FEELINGBetter initiative and Power of Small Workshops). I truly believe CBS can alleviate human suffering if we strive to collaborate, engage in effective knowledge transfer, and produce high-quality research, all practices I am committed to.

Autobiography:

I’m from Dublin, Ireland, and was the first in my family to attend university, graduating from University College Dublin with a BA in Psychology. I was introduced to CBS by my BA thesis supervisor, Professor Louise McHugh, who then took me on for my PhD. Now in the second year of my PhD, I realize how exceptionally lucky I’ve been. Being able to work and grow within the CBS community, while having an exemplary mentor who truly cares about my development, is an absolute privilege. CBS has completely changed my life, from the philosophical approach I adopt in my research, to the ACT techniques I use to manage everyday living. Through the CBS community, I have met amazing friends and collaborators who have been instrumental in supporting my research. Being able to conduct cross-cultural research within a range of contexts has been invaluable, allowing me to start making a serious contribution to the CBS literature. My main topic of interest is rule-following with regard to cultural context, gender, and socio-economic status. I am currently trying to enhance our understanding of rule-following in accordance with RFT and developing interventions to enhance adolescents’ flexible rule-following. When I am not stressing about my PhD, you can find me crying over the “purple book” and justifying my Netflix binging by saying it facilitates me living in line with my value of “Connection”. I still have a lot to learn, but I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to do so within our CBS community.

Future goals:

I want to continue increasing accessibility to CBS and engaging in collaborative projects alongside CBS labs around the world to stay in academia and make a meaningful contribution to the ACBS community.

Relevant publications:

Stapleton, A. (2020). Choosing not to follow rules that will reduce the spread of COVID-19. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 17, 73-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.07.002

Stapleton, A. & McHugh, L. (2020). Adolescent correlates of the Generalized Pliance Questionnaire – Children. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 15, 131-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.12.006

Stapleton, A., O’Connor, M., Feerick, E., Kerr, J. & McHugh, L. (2020). Testing the relationship between health values consistent living and health-related behavior. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 17, 17-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.05.002

Stapleton, A., Ruiz, F. J., & McHugh, L. (2020). Comparative investigation of adolescents’ generalized pliance and psychological inflexibility across cultural contexts. The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00412-3

Stapleton, A. & McHugh, L. (2020, February 5). Rule one: No rules! [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://science.abainternational.org/rule-one-no-rules/louise-mchughucd-ie/ 

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

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

Congratulations to Amanda Chastain on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for August 2022!

Learn more about Amanda Chastain:

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

I have participated in the CBS community through my research and practice over the last number of years. After becoming completely captivated by what Relational Frame Theory and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy had to offer, I worked to expand my understanding of the relationship between complex verbal behavior and our environment, in generating and refining tools such as ACT to more systematically and efficiently support individuals, and in closing the gap between research and practice within complex verbal behavior and psychological well-being.

I volunteered at the University of Southern California, where I worked with the students and faculty to develop and conduct research in ACT. Examples of projects include the effects of ACT on staff burnout in ABA, physical health of college students, ACT for individuals with developmental disabilities, and studying the effects of components of ACT on delay discounting. I have also worked with a team of scientist-practitioners in the development of the ACT Functional Analysis.

During my time as a Clinician/BCBA, I was given many opportunities to train others in my field on how to incorporate RFT and ACT into their programming. Simultaneously, I was a co-author of an article outlining how ACT may be useful in promoting psychological flexibility at the beginning of the pandemic, and for the chapter on ACT in ABA in the Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I regularly present at conferences in the form of posters and symposia, in addition to the occasional workshop or invited talk for ABA and ACT organizations.

Autobiography:

I completed my master’s degree in Psychology (Applied Behavior Analysis) at California State University, Sacramento, where I studied verbal behavior and stimulus equivalence. Through evaluating verbal behavior around my own struggles, I realized that it plays an important role in psychological well-being and the way that we experience the world around us, leading to my obsession with ACT and RFT.

Realizing then that my lifelong academic journey was just beginning, I moved to Los Angeles to receive training and supervision in ACT. During this time, I worked as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Southern California under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Tarbox and as a Lab Manager for the ACT/Prosocial lab with Dr. Thomas Szabo. With the support of my mentors, I worked to build upon my existing knowledge in verbal behavior, relational frame theory, and ACT, while participating in several publications and conference presentations along the way. As a result of my mentors’ ongoing support, I have also been invited to give additional trainings for BCBAs to do my part in closing the gap between research and practice.

I am currently working on my PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, under the co-supervision of Dr. Mark Dixon and Dr. Tamar Heller. This has allowed me the opportunity to continue basic, translational, and applied research in complex verbal behavior and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, while also working towards making a career out of my greatest passion by becoming a professor.

Future goals:

I hope to contribute to our understanding of complex verbal behavior at the group and individual levels for the purpose of refining current interventions (e.g., ACT, Prosocial) to make them more individualized, systematic, effective, and efficient.

Relevant publications:

Tarbox, J., Chastain, A. N. & Szabo, T.G. (In press). Acceptance and commitment therapy inside behavior analysis. In Twohig, M.P., Levin, M.E., & Petersen, J.M. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Oxford University Press.

Chastain, A.N., Tarbox, J., Meshes, E., Wang, Y. (2022). A Pilot Study: Evaluating the Effects of Defusion on Choice Making Under Negative and Positive Reinforcement Contingencies. The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-022-00511-3 (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40732-022-00511-3)

Chastain, A.N, Love, S., Luoma, S., Miguel, C.(2022) The Role of Irrelevant, Class-Consistent, and Class-Inconsistent Intraverbals on the Establishment of Equivalence Classes. The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.10071540732-021-00492-9 (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40732-021-00492-9)

Pyles, M.L., Chastain, A.N. & Miguel, C.F. (2021) Teaching Children with Autism to Mand for Information Using “Why?” as a Function of Denied Access. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-020-00141-2 (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40616-020-00141-2)

Wang, Y., Tarbox, J., Chastain, A., Cameron, M. (2020). The Effects of Bilingual Acceptance and Commitment Training on Exercise in Bilingual International University Students. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.08.002 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221214472030168X)

Tarbox, C.M., Silverman, E.A., Chastain, A.N., Little, A., Bermudez, T.L., Tarbox, J. (2020).Taking ACTion: 18 Simple Strategies for Supporting Children With Autism During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Behavior Analysis in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00448-5 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7466929/)

Congratulations to Amanda Rhodes on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for September 2018!

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

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

Learn more about Amanda:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I became involved in the CBS community during the first year of my doctoral program in Combined Clinical and School Psychology at Kean University in the Greater New York City Area. I began my journey by researching psychological flexibility and emotion regulation in undergraduate students. In addition, my interest in CBS sparked my applied ACT work with clinical populations. In the past few years, I have expanded my use of ACT and other mindfulness-based approaches (ERT) to in clinical populations including college students, adult outpatient, adult inpatient, and medical populations. Through my doctoral work, I have become increasingly interested in co-occurring psychological and physiological difficulties. My doctoral dissertation examined how risk of opioid misuse is affected by pain severity, pain interference, and early aversive histories in patients with noncancerous chronic pain. My data analysis suggested that psychological flexibility (examined by the AAQ-II) plays a significant and specific role in many of these pathways, providing important information on the developing opioid crisis in the United States and around the world. I look forward to presenting this data in an accepted symposium at ACBS World Conference 16 titled “ACT for People with Pain: What We Still Have to Learn.” Next year, I am continuing my CBS journey through an APA-accredited internship at Brattleboro Retreat (Vermont, US) rolling out ACT for trauma in uniformed service personnel and a Mind-Body Pain Management program.

Autobiography:
I was born and raised in the suburbs of New York City. I am currently a 4th doctoral candidate in Combined Clinical and School Psychology at Kean University. Before my doctoral studies, I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. I’ve been developing my theoretical orientation in contextual behavioral science my whole life, but just didn’t know it. Long hikes with my dad to remote mountain peaks were exercises in mindfulness -- tuning into the beauty of nature while observing, with curiosity, variations in my inner human experience. Growing up with the freedom to pursue my dreams and take responsibility for my own life was existentialism before I even knew how to spell it. Ultimately, I was drawn instantly to ACT with its blend of mindfulness- and acceptance-based behaviorism and values-based existentialism. I have been studying, exploring, and applying ACT since the day it was introduced to me and I look forward to a life time of inquiry and curiosity in the CBS community. Now that my dissertation is defended, I have been able to shift my attention towards other important life values like yoga, hiking with my dog, Karl, and spending time with family, friends, and husband.

Future goals:
In the near future, I have two main goals. The first is to conduct more research on the underlying mechanisms influencing the subjective experience of physical pain and become certified in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in order to expand my applied clinical work with pain populations. My second goal (value) is to lean in to the 'full catastrophe' of everything that life as to offer and the many challenges ahead as I develop my professional identity as a future clinical health psychologist.

Congratulations to Anne I. Roche on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for March 2021!

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

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

Learn more about Anne I. Roche:

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

My research as a graduate student has focused on the association between acceptance and mindfulness processes and behavioral, physical, and psychological outcomes. I have studied acceptance and mindfulness across the lifespan, from adolescence to older adulthood. My principal aim is to contribute to the identification of modifiable targets for psychological intervention. My dissertation project, mentored by my wonderful advisor Dr. Natalie Denburg, is a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of group ACT on psychological outcomes (e.g., well-being) in community-dwelling older adults. Older adults inevitably experience a variety of life changes, and the limited research focused on promoting well-being in this population is a diversity issue at both an individual and societal level. I am hopeful that my dissertation will provide useful insights into the potential utility of acceptance- and mindfulness-based interventions in this growing proportion of our population. Concurrently, our group is working to validate existing ACT measures this population. Most recently, I have contributed to research examining mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and how ACT processes may serve as protective factors during this time period.

Clinically, I have had strong training in ACT and other CBS-based interventions from mentors such as Dr. James Marchman and Dr. Emily Kroska at the University of Iowa. Beyond the excellent training in my graduate program, I have sought additional in-person and online training workshops from CBS practitioners. I have had the opportunity to deliver CBS-based interventions in a variety of different settings and with both individuals and groups with diverse presenting concerns. I have delivered ACT interventions with domestic violence victims (group setting), with domestic violence offenders (individually), and with community-dwelling older adults (group setting). Additionally, I have had the opportunity to provide tiered teaching and supervision to junior clinical psychology students in delivering evidence-based behavioral interventions.

Autobiography:

I am a sixth-year graduate student at the University of Iowa, where I am mentored by Dr. Natalie Denburg. I am currently completing my clinical internship at the University of Kansas Medical Center. I was introduced to ACT during my first year of graduate school, and I was immediately hooked. I have had the opportunity to be trained in functional contextualism by exceptional teachers such as Dr. James Marchman and Dr. Emily Kroska who have instilled in me a passion for learning, delivering, sharing, teaching, and living ACT. I have now had the chance to attend three ACBS World Conferences which have inspired and fed my curiosity and desire to learn. I hope to pursue a career that allows me to combine clinical, research, teaching, and supervision activities that will contribute to the CBS community and help to impact lives with CBS approaches.

Outside of my graduate training, my values include my amazing and loving family and my dear friends. Years ago, I played college basketball, and I still very much enjoy following sports, being active, and spending time outdoors.

Future goals:

I hope to pursue a career that allows me to explore, deliver, teach/supervise, and disseminate ACT and other CBS-based interventions.

Relevant publications:

Kroska, E.B., Roche, A. I., Adamowicz, J.L., & Stegall, M.S. (2020). Psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19 adversity: Associations with distress. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 28-33.   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7406424/

Kroska, E.B., Roche, A.I., & O’Hara, M.W. (2020). How much is enough in brief acceptance and commitment therapy? Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 15, 235-244.   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212144719302364?via%3Dihub

Green, M. A., Miles, L., Sage, E., Smith, J., Carlson, G., Hogan, K., Bogucki, J., Ferenzi, L., Hartman, E., Tao, Y., Peng, Y., Roche, A.I., Bolenbaugh, M.A., Wienkes, C., Garrison, Y., & Eilers, S. ... & Peng, Y. (2020). Cardiac biomarkers of disordered eating as a function of diagnostic subtypes. Eating Behaviors, 39, 101425.

Howren, M.B, Christensen, A.J., & Roche, A.I. (2020). Cognitive behavioral and eHealth approaches to promote engagement in treatment. In A. Hadler, S. Sutton, & L. Osterberg, (Eds), The Wiley Handbook of Healthcare Treatment Engagement (pp. 223-242). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119129530.ch12

Roche, A.I. (2019). Testing for testamentary capacity in the older adult: A model of ethical considerations for the clinical neuropsychologist. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1905.

Pierson, M.M., Roche, A.I., & Denburg, N.L. (2019). Mindfulness, experiential avoidance, and affective experience in older adults. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 14, 32-36.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212144719300341

Roche, A.I., Kroska, E.B., & Denburg, N.L. (2019). Acceptance- and mindfulness-based interventions for smoking cessation and weight loss: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 13, 74-93. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212144718302722

Vélez-Bermúdez, M., Christensen, A. J., Kinner, E. M., Roche, A. I., & Fraer, M. (2019). Exploring the relationship between patient activation, treatment satisfaction, and decisional conflict in patients approaching end stage renal disease. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 53, 816-826.

Roche, A.I., Kroska, E.B., Miller, M.M., Kroska, S.K., & O’Hara, M.W. (2019). Childhood trauma and problem behaviors: Examining the mediating roles of experiential avoidance and mindfulness processes. Journal of American College Health, 67, 17-26. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07448481.2018.1455689

Kroska, E.B.*, Roche, A.I.*, & O’Hara, M.W. (2018). Childhood trauma and somatization: Identifying mechanisms for targeted intervention. Mindfulness, 9, 1845-1856. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-018-0927-y

Kroska, E. B., Miller, M. L., Roche, A. I., Kroska, S. K., & O’Hara, M. W. (2018). Effects of traumatic experiences on obsessive-compulsive and internalizing symptoms: The role of avoidance and mindfulness. Journal of Affective Disorders, 225, 326-336. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032717308005

Manuscripts Under Review

Roche, A. I., Adamowicz, J. L., Stegall, M. S., Toovey, C.R., & Kroska, E.B. (under review). College student resilience during COVID-19: Examining the roles of mindfulness, compassion, and prosocial behavior.

Congratulations to Carter Haskell Davis on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for February 2022!

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

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

Learn more about Carter Haskell Davis:

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

I was first introduced to CBS in 2013, when I volunteered to teach art classes at a psychiatric hospital where there happened to be very active ACT research and implementation going on. It changed the course of my life professionally and personally. I was working in the fine arts field at the time, and decided to switch careers and eventually pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology. This was because I saw the potential of CBS to help so many people who were suffering deeply. It also expanded my own worldview in a way that has brought me so much joy. Professionally, I worked full time in an ACT for psychosis lab with Brandon Gaudiano at Brown University for two years. Brandon taught me how to be a scientist. I then entered grad school where I have been conducting research for four years with Michael Levin and Michael Twohig in the ACT Research Group at Utah State University. My research focuses on widespread dissemination of ACT through accessible self-help means in order to fill critical caps in public health. For instance, my dissertation project is a clinical trial of antidepressants versus a storytelling-based ACT intervention for individuals who are not currently working with a mental health professional. I also work as a therapist in an ACT speciality clinic where I treat both community members as well as Division I student-athletes at Utah State.

Autobiography:

I relate strongly to the notion of the wounded healer. A number of my family members struggled with addictions or mental health challenges when I was growing up. Embracing ACT has helped me, years later, to view their stories as complicated and courageous. I was raised in New York City, where I was fortunate to “grow up fast” and encounter cultures from all around the world. As early as I can remember, I wanted to be an artist, and I went on to study printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design. I worked in a handful of fine arts printing presses and fell in love with the beauty and tradition of this discipline. However, an opportunity to volunteer to teach art at a psychiatric hospital nearly ten years ago changed the course of my career. I am now a 4th-year PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Utah State University. I have completely fallen for the beauty and spaciousness of the Mountain West and how it compares to my urban upbringing. I recently started painting after many years, and it has been very meaningful to awaken this part of myself again. I also lead occasional meditation groups in my city, which I see as an important means of building wellness and community.

Future goals:

I hope to become a clinical psychologist who both provides treatment and conducts research so that CBS can touch even more areas where there is suffering.

Relevant publications:

Davis, C.H., Gaudiano, B.A., McHugh, L., & Levin, M.E. (2021). Integrating storytelling into the science and practice of contextual behavioral science. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 20, 155-162.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2021.04.004

Davis, C.H., Krafft, J., Hicks, E.T., & Levin, M.E. (2021). The role of psychological inflexibility and perspective taking in anti-racism and anti-sexism. Personality and Individual Differences, 175.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110724

Gaudiano, B.A., Davis, C.H., Miller, I.W., & Uebelacker, L.A. (2020). Pilot randomized controlled trial of a video self-help intervention for depression based on acceptance and commitment therapy: Feasibility and acceptability. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 27(3), 396-407. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2436

Congratulations to Clarissa Ong on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for December 2019!

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

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

Learn more about Clarissa:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I started researching and practicing ACT in 2015 in graduate school under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Twohig. My research in ACT initially focused on obsessive-compulsive and related presentations, especially hoarding, and broadened to functionally defined presentations like clinical perfectionism. My dissertation examined the effect of ACT on clinical perfectionism and, more broadly, tested the feasibility of using a process-based approach to treat a functionally defined concern. Currently, my research focuses on evaluating interventions and assessments through the lens of process-based therapy and using theory and data to make treatments more parsimonious, effective, and accessible to those who need them. I have also used ACT in my clinical practicums in various formats including individual therapy in a community clinic and group therapy in a residential eating disorder treatment center. While ACT is a central piece of my work, I see clinical RFT, functional contextualism, and the model of process-based therapy as comprising the theoretical backdrop for my research and clinical endeavors. Thus, I strive to actively incorporate scientific principles, empirical evidence, and considerations of individual characteristics in my case conceptualizations and study designs. Given my value of supporting others in their pursuit of fulfilling lives, I hope to use my knowledge and skills to develop effective, efficient, and accessible treatments so the mental health field can maximize the positive impact of available resources.

Autobiography:
I spent the first 18 years of my life in Singapore and attended college in Massachusetts where I grew to value social consciousness and activism. My value of equity has driven me to investigate ways to make helpful treatments more accessible and to consider how intersecting identities influence the people with whom I work including clients and colleagues. I have been living in Utah for the past 4.5 years attending graduate school at Utah State University. This is where I fell in love with the mountains and rock climbing, which is what you will find me doing when I am not working or sleeping. Besides climbing, I like reading, watching The Great British Bakeoff, scrolling through dog adoption webpages, and learning how to make downward-facing dog a resting pose in yoga.

Future goals:
My goal is to use my knowledge and skills to develop effective, efficient, and accessible treatments that will empower people to move toward the life they freely choose for themselves.

Relevant publications:
Ong, C. W., Barney, J. L., Barrett, T. S., Lee, E. B., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2019). The role of psychological inflexibility and self-compassion in acceptance and commitment therapy for clinical perfectionism. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 13, 7-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.06.005

Ong, C. W., Lee, E. B., Krafft, J., Terry, C. L., Barrett, T. S., Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy for clinical perfectionism. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 22, 100444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2019.100444

Ong, C. W.*, Lee, E. B.*, Levin, M. E., & Twohig, M. P. (2019). A review of AAQ variants and other context-specific measures of psychological flexibility. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 12, 329-346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.02.007 [*Co-first authors.]

Congratulations to Conor McCloskey on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for February 2023!

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

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

Learn more about Conor McCloskey:

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

My ongoing PhD research looks at Rule-Following in line with Relational Frame Theory, and how it can help improve clinical practice. This basic work has previously been used to develop theories about clinical communication (i.e. how clinicians should talk to their clients to maximise treatment effectiveness), such as the use of metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. My PhD is seeking to understand the precise contribution that rule-governed behaviour plays in this process. Additionally, I am working on a rule-governed behaviour study looking at the role that generalised pliance plays within educational choice in low-income communities, as in Ireland, many individuals from underprivileged communities do not attend college despite it being free. Coming from a similar low-income background, I believe that my basic research can go on to produce better outcomes in these communities. I have published research around rule-governed behaviour and COVID-19 public health adherence in the past. I have also volunteered in a number of roles for the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), most notably as the incoming President of the Contextual Philosophy of Science Special Interest Group within ACBS, as well as a number of smaller roles such as a member of the EvoSci Special Interest Group Sprint Group, in which we set out to better clarify the purpose of the group. Overall, I am a passionate CBS researcher and an engaged member of ACBS.

Autobiography:

I recall being interested in psychology from a very young age, primarily stemming from a will to understand why people act badly when there is so much good in the world. This interest guided me very gradually to a to a lecture on relational frame theory (RFT) that I attended as a second year undergraduate student. The elegance of the theory instantly captured my interest more than anything I had ever come across prior to that, and since then I have spent countless hours studying RFT in order to better understand it and to understand how I can contribute to it. This passion brought me to the University College Dublin Contextual Behavioural Science lab, where I conduct research under the supervision of Professor Louise McHugh and with the guidance of the other lab members. The level of brilliance that emanates from this lab is like nothing I have ever witnessed, and I believe that the support and kindness of its coordinator and members, past and present, is the key to the research that comes out from it.

Outside of my research I am a keen reader with a particular fondness for the Irish writer James Joyce. I have written about Joyce and CBS principles for public readership in the past. I am also a keen musician – when I was younger I knew I wanted to be a famous musician if I couldn’t be a psychologist.

Future goals:

I aim to continue to work a basic RFT researcher and to explore the philosophical foundations of CBS and the developmental account of derived relational responding.

Relevant publications:

McCloskey, C., Stapleton, A., Collins, S., Hagshenas, P., Kelly, J., Kenny, S., Rodin, C., & McHugh, L. (2022). The Psychometric Properties of the Values Clarity Questionnaire and its Relationship to Psychological Flexibility. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/z9p6x

Stapleton, A., McCloskey, C. & McHugh, L., (2022). Exploring the relationships between rule-governed behavior and adherence to guidelines aiming to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 25, 73-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2022.06.005

McCloskey, C. (2022). Evolutionary Science in Joyce’s Ulysses. This View of Life. https://thisviewoflife.com/evolutionary-science-in-joyces-ulysses/

McCloskey, C. (2020). Effective Communication and Vaccinations: An Uphill Battle. The College Tribune. https://collegetribune.ie/effective-communication-and-vaccinations-an-uphill-battle/

Congratulations to Diana Cox on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for September 2024!

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

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

Learn more about Diana Cox

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

My first introduction to contextual behavioral science (CBS) was when I worked with veterans who had HIV in the Washington DC VA’s Infectious Disease Clinic. Though my traditional cognitive behavioral therapy knowledge was useful in this setting, I noticed that my patients, many of whom had been living with their chronic illness for years, responded positively to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This informed my decision to gain more intensive ACT training by working with Miranda Morris and Evan Marks at their ACT-focused private practice, True North, so I could better understand the theoretical underpinnings of this orientation. At True North, I became familiar with how functional contextualism, relational frame theory, and CBS inform ACT, which has greatly enhanced my clinical practice. After training at True North, I continued my CBS-informed training at NIH to learn how to better tailor my ACT interventions to diverse patient populations living with chronic illness and undergoing stem cell transplants. At NIH, I am developing a project focused on how illness identity is informed by principles of CBS and how the medical and psychological communities can better support individuals affected by lifelong chronic illness. I am also involved on a novel research protocol investigating the feasibility and efficacy of ACT for sleep disturbance in patients with sickle cell disease. For this project, I am providing sleep training from an ACT perspective to sickle cell patients. Furthermore, I regularly attend CBS workshops hosted by ACBS practitioners in my geographic area and across the country.

Autobiography:

My first experience with chronic disease was when my father was diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer. As a young girl, I did not fully grasp the intensity of his cancer treatment and how it impacted his physical and mental health. It was only years later when he shared a diary he kept of his treatment experiences that I began to understand what he went through. This diary not only opened my eyes to the pain and isolation he experienced as a cancer patient, but also his resilience in a time of great adversity. My reflections upon his cancer journey and the lasting impact it had on me and my family drove me to pursue a career dedicated to supporting the emotional needs of medical patients navigating challenging diagnoses.

When I started graduate school, learning therapy filled me with excitement as my professional dreams were becoming fully realized. Beneath my enthusiasm, I had questions about how certain therapeutic techniques would generalize to medical patient populations. How would I use cognitive restructuring with a cancer patient who has concerns about remission? How would I adapt behavioral activation for someone with a disability status due to their chronic condition? These questions lead me to learning ACT and I immediately felt at home in its theoretical orientation. ACT helps me conceptualize my chronic illness patients from a more humanistic perspective and less diagnostically. As I look towards my future career, I hope to continue helping patients improve their quality of life through values-based living.

Future goals:

My career goal is to clinically and empirically apply principles of contextual behavioral science to improve the quality of life of individuals and caregivers impacted by chronic illness.

PEER-REVIEWED BOOK CHAPTERS 

Cox, D. J., Behar, E., Gunthert, K. C. Tripartite Model of Anxiety and Depression (in press). In D. G. Friedman-Wheeler (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Sage Publications. 

Cox, D. J., Sullivan, T. R., E., Mereish, E. H. Facilitating Identity Development and Affirmation among LGBTQ+ People (under revision). In N. Livingston, B. Feinstein, & P. Galupo (Eds.), Addressing Minority Stress and Enhancing Resilience in Therapy with Diverse LGBTQ+ Clients. Springer Nature. 

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES 

Murphy, E.R., Cox, D. J., Fisseha, F., Gunthert, K.C., (2023) Category-Specific Stress Mindsets: Beliefs about the Debilitating Versus Enhancing Effects of Specific Types of Stressors among Young Adults. Behavioral Sciences, 13(9), 709. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13090709 

Mereish, E. H., Cox, D. J., Goldbach, J. T. (2022). Homophobic Bullying Victimization and Perpetration and Substance Use among Heterosexual Adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-022-10109-2 

Mereish, E. H., Cox, D. J., Harris, J. C., Anderson, Q. R., Hawthorne, D. J. (2020). Familial Influences, Shame, Guilt, and Depression among Sexual Minority Adolescents. Family Relations. 70(5), 1546-1555. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12514 

MANUSRCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW & IN PREPARATION 

Loucas, C., Taouk, L., Cox, D. J., Gunthert., K. C. The Efficacy of a Three-Week Stress Mindset Intervention with Daily Rehearsal on Psychological Health and Daily Cognitive-Emotional Functioning (under revision). Anxiety, Stress, and Coping.

Congratulations to Diane Dallal on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for August 2020!

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

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

Learn more about Diane:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
Since beginning graduate school, I have developed a deep interest in understanding, developing, and improving mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions for behavioral health populations. In joining a research lab devoted to optimizing ACT for individuals with obesity and eating disorders, I have had the opportunity to receive extensive research and clinical training in these interventions. As my interest in ACT – and CBS more broadly – has grown, I have begun pursuing an independent line of research devoted to identifying and evaluating mechanistic factors that influence ACT treatment outcomes for individuals with obesity. Recently, I completed my CBS-driven Master’s thesis project, in which I dismantled and isolated the values component of ACT for weight control, developed an analog values-based weight loss intervention, and evaluated target engagement of theorized mechanisms inherent in the valuing process. I have also developed of the field’s first measure of values clarity and values awareness, presented my independent CBS-based research at four national conferences, and co-authored two manuscripts and book chapters on innovations in ACT for obesity and physical activity. In tandem with my research, my clinical interests have grown to center around CBS interventions for individuals with weight and eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. In my current practicum placement and study therapist roles, I have been able to deliver ACT in both group and individual treatments. I have also had the opportunity to receive supervision in the application of CBS principles for weight and eating disorders, and to provide didactic training to my peers.

Autobiography:
I am a native Californian who was born and raised in Los Angeles. After receiving my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, I worked as a research coordinator at the UCLA Anxiety and Depression Research Center. Currently, I am a third year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at Drexel University working under the mentorship of Evan Forman, Ph.D., where my clinical and research interests center around developing and improving treatments for individuals with obesity and eating disorders. In particular, I am interested in the use of mindfulness and acceptance-based treatments to understand and intervene on cognitive and affective mechanisms that maintain unhealthy eating. Upon completion of my doctoral training, I hope to continue integrating ACT into my research and practice as a clinical psychologist for individuals struggling with behavioral health disorders. I believe my continued efforts to grow as an ACT practitioner will aid in my ability to help individuals build lives in line with the values that drive them. In pursuit of a values-driven life of my own, I enjoy reading, performing at open mic nights, watching musical theater, and spending quality time with loved ones (and their dogs).

Future goals:
Upon completion of my doctoral training, I hope to continue integrating ACT into my research and practice as a clinical psychologist for individuals struggling with behavioral health disorders.

Publications:

• Lillis, J., Dallal, D.H., & Forman, E.M. (in press). Innovations in applying ACT for obesity and physical activity. In Levin, M.E., Twohig, M.P., & Krafft, J. (Eds.), Innovations in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Clinical advancements and applications in ACT. (Chapter 9). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
• Forman, E.M., Manasse, S.M., Butryn, M.L., Crosby, R.D., Dallal, D.H., & Crochiere, R.J. (2019). Long-term follow-up of the Mind Your Health Project: Acceptance-based versus standard behavioral treatment for obesity. Obesity, 27(4), 565-571.

Manuscripts in Preparation:

• Dallal, D.H. & Forman, E.M. (Manuscript in preparation). Can an acceptance-based smartphone application for weight loss promote change in ACT-based mechanistic processes?
• Dallal, D.H. & Forman, E.M. (Manuscript in preparation). Clarifying the role of values in weight control: A pilot study of a values-based intervention to promote weight loss.
• Dallal, D.H. & Forman, E.M. (Manuscript in preparation). The Values Interview: Developing and validating a new measure of values clarity and values awareness.

Conference Presentations:

• Dallal, D.H. & Forman, E.M. (2020, July). The Values Interview: Developing and validating a new measure of values clarity and values awareness. In Assessing CBS constructs with precision and validity. Paper to be presented at the 18th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.
• Dallal, D.H. & Forman, E.M. (2020, April). Clarifying the role of values in weight control: A pilot study of a values-based intervention to promote weight loss. Poster to be presented at the 41st Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, San Francisco, CA.
• Dallal, D.H. & Forman, E.M. (2019, Nov.). Can an acceptance-based smartphone application for weight loss promote change in ACT-based mechanistic processes? Poster presented at the Behavioral Medicine and Integrated Primary Care Special Interest Group Exposition at the 53rd Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Atlanta, GA.
• Dallal, D.H., Manasse, S.M., Lampe, E., & Forman, E.M. (2019, March). Examining the utility of three acceptance-based skills in facilitating weight change in the behavioral treatment of obesity. Poster presented at the 40th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Washington, D.C.
• Forman, E.M., Butryn, M.L., Manasse, S.M., Crosby, R.D., Dallal, D.H., & Crochiere, R.J. (2019, March). RCT of an acceptance-based behavioral treatment for obesity: Weight and quality of life across 3 years. Paper presented at the 40th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Washington, D.C.
• Dallal, D.H., Shaw Tronieri, J., Manasse, S.M., & Forman, E.M. (2018, April). Development of a measure of values clarity in a behavioral weight loss-seeking sample. Poster presented at the 39th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, New Orleans, LA.

Congratulations to Duckhyun Jo on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for February 2024!

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

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

Learn more about Duckhyun Jo

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

My scholarly works are firmly rooted in the framework of Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS), a systematic and pragmatic approach to the understanding of human behavior. My research program focuses on three key strategic areas. First, my research has centered on understanding the process of change within the CBS. Over the past few years, I have concentrated on assessing the conceptual and psychometric validity of various measures within the CBS. I have applied both traditional and modern test theory techniques to establish validity evidence for recently developed measures. Furthermore, I have investigated the roles of each process in various contexts, such as eating disorders and mood disorders. Second, I have examined potential risk and protective factors for mental health within diverse populations. Hawai‘i, due to its racial diversity, has provided an ideal environment for my research, and I have recently expanded the understanding of this population within the framework of the CBS. Finally, my interest extends to the application of innovative modalities in intervention sciences. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, novel forms of psychotherapy have gained widespread adoption, and I have conducted research on the effectiveness of metaverse psychotherapy. My ultimate goal is to explore the effects of psychotherapies informed by CBS within newly developed platforms, such as the metaverse or virtual reality.

Autobiography:

I am currently a fourth-year doctoral student pursuing clinical psychology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. My academic focus centers on understanding the intricate, dynamic, and transdiagnostic aspects of psychological flexibility. To achieve this, I am keen on employing diverse methodologies, including item response theory, network analysis, and mixed-effect modeling. My educational background includes a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Clinical and Counseling Psychology, both earned from Korea University. Additionally, I have accumulated over five years of experience in Sri Lanka, Laos, and Thailand, actively contributing to international development initiatives aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Outside my academic pursuits, I relish spending quality time with my family, exploring the beautiful landscapes of Hawaii, particularly its picturesque mountains and beaches.

Future goals:

I aspire to pursue a career as a clinical researcher in an academic setting to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of CBS.

Publications:

11. Im, S., Jo, D., & Lee, S. (Accepted). Exploring the Impact of Therapeutic Presence on Working Alliance in Metaverse Counseling. Counseling Psychologist

10. Jo, D., Seong, B., & Yang, E. (2023). Psychometric properties of the Psy-flex scale: A validation study in a community sample in Korea. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. 30, 70-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2023.09.004

9. Jo, D., Im, S., Suh, D., Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2023). The Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI): An Item Response Theory Analysis with Racially Diverse College Students. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-023-10076-2

8. Jo, D. & Kim, H. (2023). Network Analysis of Depressive Symptoms in South Korean Adults: Similarities and differences between women and men. Current Psychology, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04824-6

7. Jo, D., Woo, S., & Yang, E. (2022). Role of Family Acculturation Stress in Career Development Among Adolescents From Multicultural Families in Korea. Journal of Career Development. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453221131362

6. Spencer, S. D., Jo, D., Hamagami, F., Antonio, M., Qinaʻau. J., Masuda, A., & Hishinuma, E. (2022). A Preliminary Psychometric Validation of Contextual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Informed Measures with Racially and Ethnically Diverse Adults. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 25, 61-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2022.06.004

5. Nakamura, L., Jo, D., & Masuda, A. (2022). Mental Health Help-Seeking Experience and Attitudes in Asian American, Multiracial American, and White. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling 44(3), 432-452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-022-09470-4

4. Jo, D., Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2022). Mindfulness as a Moderator of the Relationship between Engaged Living and Depression in Emerging Adulthood. Mindfulness, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01831-9

3. Jo, D., Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2022). Mindfulness attenuates the positive association between disordered eating cognition and disordered eating behavior in a sample of college women. Current Psychology, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00969-w

2. Jo D., & Yang E. (2019). The role of awareness and cognitive fusion with food craving in the relationship between depression and binge eating. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 13, 126-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.08.001

1. Son Y. M., Woo S., Jo D., & Yang E. (2018). The role of relationship quality on social media in college-to-work transition of Korean college students: The longitudinal examination of intimacy on social media, social capital, and loneliness. Japanese Psychological Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpr.12234

Congratulations to Emily Brenny Kroska on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for July 2017!

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

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

Learn more about Emily:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I began learning ACT during my first year at the University of Iowa from Dr. James Marchman. Since that time, I have focused much of my research on exploring avoidance as a target for intervention, as well as intervention and prevention efforts with ACT. I completed a meta-analysis of the association between avoidance and pain intensity among chronic pain patients, as well as several studies examining avoidance as a mediator of the association between traumatic experiences and adverse outcomes, including obsessive-compulsive symptoms, internalizing symptoms, somatic symptoms, and problematic health behaviors. In addition, I have collaborated with community organizations, including an alternative high school and the Iowa Department of Corrections, to develop and implement interventions within these contexts to integrate ACT into the community. As a volunteering effort, I worked with children involved in Boys and Girls Club in Iowa to deliver brief ACT interventions to both the children and their parents. Furthermore, my dissertation is examining the question of how much is enough in brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, comparing three single session time-variant group ACT interventions.

Autobiography:
I am a fifth year doctoral candidate at the University of Iowa, where I work with Dr. Michael O'Hara. In my time at Iowa, I have been fortunate to learn about functional contextualism from Dr. James Marchman, an expert clinician whose depth of ACT knowledge is remarkable. I was introduced to ACT in my first year at Iowa, and I have been able to work clinically with at-risk adolescents, prisoners, migraine patients, and depressed adults. My passion for ACT has grown as I have collaborated with community organizations and providers to integrate ACT into broader systems, including the Iowa Department of Correctional Services. In the future, I hope to broaden the contexts into which I can disseminate ACT and become an ACT trainer. I have found that the fundamental ACT processes apply to those from all walks of life, and the common humanity involved when implementing ACT creates space for clients to grow and evolve into a more flexible self. I firmly believe that if exposed to these skills at an early age, children and adolescents may experience a radical change in trajectory with regard to psychopathology, but more importantly, connection with values--both emotionally and behaviorally. In particular, children and adolescents who are at-risk may be particularly likely to benefit from early intervention. It is my hope that my career can be dedicated to the dissemination and implementation of ACT into contexts where I can directly intervene with at-risk populations, such as schools, medical settings, and prisons.

Future goals:
As a researcher, mentor, and clinician, I hope to disseminate acceptance- and mindfulness-based therapies into broader contexts of at-risk populations, where the principles can have a far-reaching impact upon both the individuals and the context itself.

Relevant publications:
Emily B.Kroska (2016) A meta-analysis of fear-avoidance and pain intensity: The paradox of chronic pain. Scandinavian Journal of Pain, Volume 13, Pages 43-58. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877886016300799

Congratulations to Erin Wolff on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for August 2021!

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

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

Learn more about Erin Wolff:

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

During my four years of graduate training thus far, I have been fortunate to be able to apply a CBS framework with a variety of clinical populations, including college counseling, addictions, and outpatient mental health counseling as well as non-clinical populations undergoing leadership coaching.

Early in my training, I developed a structured interview based on the Hexaflex model. Although I was only a first-year student, licensed clinicians referred their clients to me to identify stuck points and make treatment recommendations based on this interview. Additionally, I utilized the CFQ and AAQ-II to measure progress for my individual and group therapy clients, and the results of these analyses were presented to the executive board of the organization to exemplify the utility of ACT in a dual-diagnosis setting.

At my current internship placement, I utilize a CBS framework to provide culturally-responsive, inclusive therapy to clients suffering the consequences of severe, complex trauma, chronic health conditions, severe mood disorders, psychotic symptoms, issues pertinent to LGBTQIA+ folx, and minority stress.

Outside of clinical placements, I am wrapping up work on my dissertation, which I presented as a poster at last year’s ACBS World Conference, titled “Utilizing ACT to Treat Suicidality: Addressing the Needs of Both the Client and Clinician.” I also serve as a student representative on the executive board for the Pennsylvania chapter of ACBS.

Prior to COVID-19, I also worked with the research and development committee within the Women in ACBS SIG to identify barriers to leadership within ACBS in hopes of creating a more inclusive community.

Autobiography:

In Fall 2021, I will be beginning my fifth, and final, year of my graduate program where I am pursuing a joint-degree PsyD in Clinical Psychology and MBA in Healthcare Management at Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology. I am a transplant to the East Coast after growing up in the Chicagoland area and attending UW-Madison for my undergraduate degree. Prior to beginning my graduate training, I was able to explore my interests within the vast opportunities available in the mental health field through a combination of research and clinical opportunities, including psychopathy research in a forensic setting, clinical work with adolescent girls who had been involved in the sex trade, and case management and group work with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. While I have loved all of the opportunities I have had in this field, I have particular interest in working with clients struggling with suicidality. This passion has been the driver behind my volunteer work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Crisis Textline.

I am devoted to increasing access to mental healthcare for all individuals, especially those who have been systemically marginalized. In my current work, I am passionate about providing culturally-responsive, inclusive therapy to folks across a variety of identity dimensions and experiences while maintaining a sex-positive, kink-positive, and poly-aware stance.

Outside of my clinical work, I love to attend concerts and stand-up comedy shows, explore farmer's and art markets, and check out local bookstores and coffee shops.

Future goals:

I hope to work in hospital administration, implementing ACT-based policies on an organizational level, while continuing to clinically utilize ACT with individual and group therapy clients and in the supervision of other clinicians and students.

Relevant publications:

Poster: Utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Treat Suicidality: Addressing the Needs of Both the Client and the Clinician Why Do Clinical Psychology Graduate Students Choose ACT?  https://contextualscience.org/wc2020online_program_posters

Congratulations to Ethan Lester on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for March 2019!

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

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

Learn more about Ethan:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I am a functional contextual clinical scientist who primarily aligns with a contextual-behavioral theoretical orientation. I place a high value on the individual’s context, with consideration of the individual’s historic and current cultural factors, interpersonal dynamics, and unique learning histories. My research has broadly focused on the exploration and application of mindfulness and acceptance-based practices using novel experimental and intervention-based designs. I have studied the effects of an 8-week Mindfulness-Based-Stress Reduction intervention for college students with ADHD, the acquisition of mindfulness via a behavior analytic matching-to-sample task, and the effects of mindfulness and acceptance-based practices for older adults’ experiences of ageism. Much of my clinical work operates from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) approach, in which behavioral, relational, and humanistic-existential theories and philosophies emerge from my work. I am currently on my clinical internship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School where I both research and implement mind-body interventions for medical populations. In particular, I treat patients who are experiencing neurological illnesses and adjustment difficulties due to their medical status. At MGH/HMS, I see older adult outpatients from a philanthropic neurology clinic who are experiencing emotional distress related to recent neurological diagnoses and health anxiety. I also work in the neurocritical intensive care unit with patients and families who have experienced acute neurological injuries (e.g., strokes, tumor resections), and participate on a DBT team and group. I am in love with what I do and I always incorporate contextual behavioral sciences into my science and practice. It just fits.

Autobiography:
My differences matter to me. I grew up a Hispanic Jew as a product of my parents’ interracial-interreligious marriage. My next-door neighbors were Muslim and Hindu, and I celebrated Christmas with my grandmother and her entire Spanish-speaking neighborhood. I was fortunate that my experience of diversity was always welcomed and celebrated. My doctoral education has allowed me to further explore through clinical research the meaning of my own diversity and fellow humans’ experiences. Consciously working with diversity is ever present in my clinical work, teaching, and research. I have counseled members of marginalized groups and have actively and compassionately advocated with and for these groups. My training has brought me closer to a multitude of individuals’ experiences, including those of children and college students with ADHD, sexual minorities, older adults with neurocognitive impairments, inpatients with disabilities and traumas, and outpatients with little financial stability and social support.
With the guidance of my major professor telling me to “pursue research that matters”, my journey has led me to seek out and meaningful research experiences in contextual behavioral sciences. My hope is that my research tells a story – one of commitment to the alleviation of human suffering through empirically-supported CBS treatment techniques. I am an enthusiastic clinical scientist with a drive to pursue research that matters. In all, I am a person who feels deeply about others - I am in love with the art and science of psychology and plan to do the work that matters for years to come.

Future goals:
I plan to continue working at MGH/HMS as a postdoctoral fellow in psychology in the Integrated Brain Health Clinical and Research Program honing skills in intervention development and clinical research design and implementation for the forseeable future.

Relevant publications:
Lester, E.G., … Vranceanu, A-M. (under review). The Resilient Youth with Neurofibromatosis (RY-NF) Mind-Body Intervention: An Adolescent RCT. Neurology

Murrell, A.R., Hulsey, T.C., Ergüder, L., Lester, E.G. (under review). Supporting Parents, Teachers, School Psychologists and School Counselors Using ACT, Compassion, and Mindfulness.

Lester, E.G. & Murrell, A.R. (in review). Becoming Mindful of Measurement: An experimental-experiential study of state mindfulness measures. Mindfulness. Manuscript submitted for review.

Lester, E.G., Murrell, A.R., & Dickson, D. (2018). A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Misconceptions of Mindfulness Meditation. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine. Accepted for publication

Al-Jabari, R., Murrell, A.M., Callahan, J.L., Cox, R.J., & Lester, E.G. (In press), Do Distress Level and Waitlists Impact Termination in a Training Clinic. Teaching and Education in Professional Psychology.

Lester, E. G., & Murrell, A. R. (2018). Mindfulness Interventions for College Students with ADHD: A Multiple Single Case Research Design. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 1-22.

Moyer, D. N., McMakin, D. Q., Page, A. R., Murrell, A. R., Lester, E. G., & Walker, H. A. (2018). The Impact of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Positive Parenting Strategies Among Parents who have Experienced Relationship Violence. Journal of Family Violence, 33, 4.

Murrell, A. R., Lester, E. G., Moyer, D. N., & Lincoln, T. (2018). Three tweets to the wind: Providing context via simulated social media to decrease stigma toward problematic drinking. The Behavior Therapist, 41, 4

Murrell, A. R., Jackson, R., Lester, E.G., Hulsey, T.C. (2016). Psychological Flexibility and Resilience in Parentally Bereaved College Students. OMEGA Journal of Death and Dying, 76, 3. doi: 10.1177/0030222817693154

Murrell, A. R., Lester, E.G., & Sandoz, E.K. (2015). Grounding Turbulent Minds: The Challenges of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for College Students with ADHD and How to Overcome Them. The Journal of College Student Psychotherapy. 

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

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

Congratulations to Georgia Polyviou on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for October 2022!

Learn more about Georgia Polyviou:

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

I first heard about ACT during my third year as an undergraduate psychology student at University of Cyprus. Since then, I realized that this approach aligns with my career goals, personal values and beliefs. To expand my knowledge and experience in ACT and CBS, I decided to join ‘ACTHealthy’ research laboratory where I had my first research experience under the supervision of Dr. Maria Karekla. In my bachelor thesis we examined values clarification, psychological flexibility, body image acceptance and action and self-compassion as possible risk factors for developing an eating disorder. Now, as a first-year master’s student at the university of Cyprus I have had the opportunity to be a research assistant in multiple projects that examine psychological flexibility and body image perception distortions among women at high-risk for developing an eating disorder. Also, as my research interests focus on eating disorders, currently I am implementing a multi-user virtual reality values augmented exposure early-intervention for women at high-risk for developing an eating disorder in order to test its effectiveness. The combination of ACT with innovative technologies not only do highlight new possible ways to understand and treat mental illnesses but also gives us the opportunity to design more efficient prevention and intervention programs.

Autobiography:

I was born and grew up in Cyprus. I received my bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Cyprus where I am currently a first-year master’s student in applied school psychology. I am a research assistant in ‘ACT Healthy’ lab under the supervision of Dr. Maria Karekla and my research interests focus on eating disorders’ prevention and intervention. ACT and RFT have always attracted my interest as I believe that they approach and explain human behavior in a humanistic, anthropocentric way that aligns with my perspective and point of view. Additionally, I consider myself lucky as mindfulness, psychological flexibility and values-based living are constructs that crossed my path early in life and they have changed the way I look towards myself, other people and my personal experiences. As a result, ‘‘I feel the responsibility’’ to share these ideas with people who suffer, who are marginalized, who believe that life is not worth living. This is one of the main reasons that I have chosen to work with children, I strongly believe that prevention, intervention programs, mindfulness, meditation and values clarification at early age can have long term effects and serve as protective factors especially in the hard times that we are living.

Even though questions like what fulfills you or which are your personal values are hard to answer, I am grateful cause I can name few things that make me feel connected with myself like solo travelling, hiking, photography and spending time with my family and friends.

Future goals:

My goal is to continue my personal development and expand my knowledge and skills in order to apply ACT-based practices that will help people achieve a value-driven meaningful life.

Congratulations to Huanzhen Xu on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for January 2021!

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

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

Learn more about Huanzhen Xu:

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

I became interested in contextual behavioral approaches early in graduate school, and this interest has grown into a passion through my journey in research and clinical practice. As a researcher and clinician with a uniquemulticultural background, I committed significant efforts towards the identification and reduction of acculturative stress experienced by my fellow international students - an enormous student body that has been long neglected. I designed a treatment-outcome study with Chinese international students using ACT because of the similarities between ACT components and Buddhism. The results showed that ACT significantly reduced these students' psychological distress and physical symptoms. Moreover, I found that participants’ familiarity with Buddhism made it easier for them to understand value-driven living and “Acceptance”. I also found that the self-disclosure aspect of ACT was especially effective with Chinese participants due to their “acquaintance culture”. My findings were published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. Additionally, I was involved in multiple research projects relevant to contextual behavioral therapies, including a R21 grant that investigated the efficacy and effectiveness of ACT in treating work-related distress among nursing aides and a pilot study in which we developed a DBT protocol for college students who experience difficulty in physical exercise.

My passion in contextual behavioral science extends to my clinical practice. I assess the form, function, and reinforcing factors of presenting problems. Based on client fit, I strive to draw ingredients from various third-wave therapies and deliver them in an integrative fashion.

Autobiography:

My hometown is Leshan, Sichuan, one of the most famous Buddhistic cities in China. Growing up by The Leshan Giant Buddha, numerous Buddhistic temples and buddha stone figures, I naturally became familiar with Buddhistic values and practices without traces of learning. Though living nearby popular attractions for Chinese tourists, I had almost never seen a person who did not look like myself. A brief summer trip to America in 2009 revealed my talent for and passion in connecting with diverse people. In 2013, I left China for Minnesota, where I completed my bachelor’s degree. I knew I wanted to be a clinical psychologist because, not only would I finally experience diversity daily, but I would also provide concrete help to people of differing backgrounds. If speaking English enabled me to communicate with diverse individuals, training in psychology allowed me to truly connect with them.

Upon graduation, I was accepted into the BGSU clinical psychology PhD program, where I began to combine my passion for diversity with psychological services and research. Through this journey, I discovered my strength in acceptance- and values-based approaches, as they align well with my culturally rooted knowledge and experience in Buddhism. Additionally, I observed that minority populations often happen to be the most underserved in America. As a Chinese international student myself, I found an urgent importance to provide a voice to minority groups. Therefore, I decided to put my strength into good use and devote my research efforts to studies relevant to ACT and acculturation.

Future goals:

I aim to continue growing my capacity in CBS research and practice, and I wish to become a generalist practitioner with multicultural competency and a specialization in CBS.

Relevant publications:

Xu, H., O’Brien, W. H., & Chen, Y. (2020). Chinese international student stress and coping: A pilot study of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 15, 135–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2019.12.010

O’Brien, W. H., Wang, S., Xu, H., Wang, S., Yang, Z., Yang, T., Liu, Q., Zhang, X., Tang, L., Varga, A. V., Sims, T., Lim, C. X., Jarukasemthawee, S., & Pisitsungkagarn, K. (2021) Psychological reactions to COVID-19: Survey data assessing perceived susceptibility, distress, mindfulness, and preventive health behaviors. Data In Brief, 34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2020.106687

O’Brien, W. H., Wang, S., Varga, A. V., Xu, H., Sims, T. E., Horan, K. A., & Lim, C. X. (2020). Predicting PPE use, post-traumatic stress, and physical symptoms during the early weeks of COVID-19 lockdowns in the USA. MedRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.27.20162057

Chen, Y., Peng, Y., Xu, H., & O’Brien, W. H. (2017). Age Differences in Stress and Coping: Problem-Focused Strategies Mediate the Relationship Between Age and Positive Affect. International Journal Of Aging & Human Development, 86(4), 347–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091415017720890

Congratulations to Huiyuan LI on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for July 2022!

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

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

Learn more about Huiyuan LI:

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

My PhD project is about developing and examining an ACT-based intervention program based on Chinese cultural context and conduct it among patients with advanced lung cancer to test its effectiveness in improving fatigue interference and health-related quality of life among the population.

My phase I study was a systematic review to examine the effects of ACT on health outcomes in patients with advanced cancer (Li, H., Wong, C. L., Jin, X., Chen, J., Chong, Y. Y., & Bai, Y. (2021). Effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on health-related outcomes for patients with advanced cancer: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 103876. (2020 IF = 5.837. Q1. Ranking 1/124 in Nursing)). Phase II study was a qualitative study to explore their fatigue experience and how they perceive fatigue experience under of framework of ACT model. Phase III study was a full-scale RCT to examined the fatigue-oriented ACT-based intervention in patients with advanced lung cancer (The paper of the pilot study is under review for Asia-pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing).

I enriched my ACT experience by attending workshops and world conferences. Seven presentations related to ACT research have been oral/poster presented on difference conferences. I also received the group supervision organized by ACBS China Chapter. Two world conference scholarships (The 18th Association of Contextualized Behavior Science World Conference Student Scholarship, The 19th Association of Contextualized Behavior Science 2021 Developing Nations Scholar Award, link for the report: https://contextualscience.org/china_dissemination_activities_2021 ) and one research award (Y. K. Pao Foundation Scholarship 2021-22) were obtained.

Autobiography:

I am Huiyuan LI, Melody, and I come from China. I was born in a beautiful city in northern China, Jinzhong, Shanxi Province. Growing up in a loving and warm family, my family gave me great support in my studies and life. Currently I am a year three PhD candidate in nursing, an ACT learner and practitioner. I got the Bachelor of Medicine in 2016 and Master of Nusing Science in 2019 in Central South University.

Currently, I am working with Dr. Wong Cho Lee (Jojo) on ACT interventions among cancer patients in China. My research interests are mental health among cancer patients and psychological interventions to improve their quality of life among cancer patients, especially in advanced stage. Those interest push me to learn more about ACT based on the preliminary findings on the effectiveness of ACT on patients with advanced cancer. I believe my continued efforts to grow as a true ACT interventionist will have significant value for those patients with advanced lung cancer patients in China.

Besides my school-related responsibilities, I like singing, doing physical exercise, such as running, and playing pingpang, going hiking, travelling, and trying different delicious food and hope to learn to swim and dive later on.

I am a lively and cheerful person who like to listen to other people's stories, which also gives me the ability to empathize with others, as I hope to help more people as much as I can.

Future goals:

I hope to extend the ACT to more patients with advanced cancer in China and truly improve the terminal quality of nursing care and quality of life of the population.

Relevant publications:

1. Systematic review paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2021.103876
2. Systematic review paper 2: https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14798

Congratulations to James Fowler on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for January 2023!

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

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

Learn more about James Fowler:

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

As a researcher, I have been involved in the evaluation of YOLO, a web-based, ACT program for university students, outcomes of which are published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science (JCBS) (See Viskovish et al below). My PhD builds on this work implementing and evaluating the use of YOLO with LGBTQIA+ community members. This will be the first randomised control trial and use of a web-based ACT program with this community. As part of this work, I have published a systematic review evaluating how ACT has been used with LGBTQIA+ clients in JCBS and presented as a poster on this paper at the ACBS world-conference in 2022. I will also be leading two LGBTQIA+ focused workshops at the ANZ ACBS chapter conference this November.

I previously volunteered with the ANZ ACBS as the Communications Officer. This role had me coordinate social media calendars and partway address the gap between research and clinical practice by sharing research and facilitate initiatives such as the ANZ ACBS Book Club. My proudest achievement was the creation of the Author Spotlight Series, which provided a platform for members of ANZ ACBS to share their work throughout the ANZ ACBS network.

As a Lead Tutor within the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland I have been responsible for the teaching of ACT theory and application to students for three years. This involves facilitating lectures on ACT principles, and teaching hundreds of undergraduate students about the impact of ‘dropping the struggle’.

Autobiography:

I am a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Candidate within The University of Queensland (UQ) School of Public Health (SPH). My work involves the use of mixed-methodologies and community-based participatory research to address the needs of vulnerable communities – with a specialist focus on LGBTQI+ issues. My PhD focuses on the co-design and implementation considerations of a web-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy program for the LGBTQI+ community. I also project manage two Australian government funded, multi-site projects exploring gender-affirming hormone therapy and syphilis in pregnancy. I am also co-investigator on projects exploring the needs of the aromantic community, gratitude in university students, and the continual evaluation of a web-based ACT program for university students. I am committed to teaching and mentorship, and currently supervise medical students and psychology masters students completing research placements at UQ. I also hold positions of Lead Academic Tutor and Sessional Lecturer within UQ School of Psychology. In these roles, I have been responsible for integration of LGBTQI+ specific curricula into the teaching programs in two undergraduate courses within UQ School of Psychology (Positive Psychology and Psychotherapies & Counselling). In 2021 I launched the UQ Positive Psychology Lab Group to continue education and research into positive psychology at UQ. I also currently serve on the advisory board for Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. I have 6 peer-reviewed publications (3 as first author; h index 2, 23 citations, Google Scholar 2022), and 18 national and international conference presentations and invited talks.

Future goals:

To create a world where access to healthcare is equitable and everyone has a chance to heal, grow, and thrive.

Relevant publications:

Fowler, J.A., Viskovich, S., Buckley, L., & Dean, J.A. (2022). A call for ACTion: A systematic review of empirical evidence for the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with LGBTQI+ individuals. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221214472200059X?via%3Dihub

Viskovich, Shelley, Pakenham, Kenneth and Fowler, James A. (2021). A mixed-methods evaluation of experiential intervention exercises for values and committed action from an Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) Therapy mental health promotion program for university students. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 22, 108-118. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2021.10.001 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212144721000983

Congratulations to Jenna Lauren Adamowicz on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for March 2023!

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

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

Learn more about Jenna Lauren Adamowicz:

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

I have been involved in the CBS community since 2019, when I began working with my academic advisor Emily Kroska Thomas. Regarding research, I have authored several CBS-related articles, including an investigation into psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19, a meta-analysis examining the association between fatigue severity and avoidance in chronic disease populations, a network analysis exploring connections between ACT processes and internalizing symptoms, and a factor analysis of two psychological flexibility measures in a sample of older adults. Further, I have presented research via poster and oral presentation at the ACBS World Conferences in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Clinically, I use ACT in my work with psychotherapy clients and in two clinical research studies as a study interventionist: a) a telephone-based intervention examining the efficacy of ACT for perinatal anxiety (PI: E. Thomas); and b) a contextual behavioral virtual group intervention for rural women Veterans with chronic pain (PI: K. Hadlandsmyth). I also put together a three-hour clinical workshop to teach ACT skills to practitioners caring for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. This workshop was accepted to the International Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis scientific conference; however, the conference was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerning volunteering, in 2019 I co-lead a conference presentation on acceptance and intentionality to patients with a rare kidney disease (C3g/DDD) and their family members. Finally, in the Spring 2023 I will be leading a “Lunch and Learn” hour about ACT for the National Alliance of Mental Illness Northeast Iowa Chapter.

Autobiography:

I am a fifth-year student in the clinical science program at the University of Iowa. I am a first-generation college student, and I received my B.A. in Psychology at St. Joseph’s College and my M.A. in Psychology at Stony Brook University. Prior to graduate school, I worked at Stony Brook Medicine under the mentorship of Fred Friedberg. I was introduced to ACT and contextual behavioral science as a second-year doctoral student by my current academic advisor, Emily Kroska Thomas. It was then I developed an interest in investigating the efficacy of ACT and CBS-based interventions for fatigue severity in populations such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and other chronic diseases where elevated fatigue severity is prevalent (e.g., multiple sclerosis, cancer, etc.). I have had the opportunity to present my CBS research at the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Association of Contextual Behavioral Science World Conferences. I have also published my CBS research in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Clinical Gerontologist, and Journal of Affective Disorders. It is my hope that during my clinical internship next year (2023-2024), I will be able to continue my CBS research and clinical efforts, with the long-term goal of working in a professional setting where I can integrate CBS research, clinical practice, and interdisciplinary training and supervision. When I am not working, I enjoy sending time with my fiancé Luke, cooking vegetarian meals, and playing board games. I am also the proud aunt to two nieces and a nephew.

Future goals:

I hope to pursue a career that integrates ACT and CBS research, clinical practice, and interdisciplinary training and supervision.

Relevant publications:

Below is a list of relevant CBS publications (+ denotes co first-authorship)

Roche, A. I., Adamowicz, J. L., Stegall, M., Toovey, C., Sirotiak, Z., & Thomas, E. B. K. College student resilience during COVID-19: Examining the roles of mindfulness, compassion, and prosocial behavior. (in press). Adversity and Resilience Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844-022-00083-9

+Eadeh, H., +Adamowicz, J. L., Markon, K., & Thomas, E. B. K. Using network analysis to explore connections between Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) therapeutic processes and internalizing symptom and well-being domains in a sample of undergraduates. (in press). Journal of Affective Disorders. 320:1; 701-709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.10.004

Adamowicz, J. L., Thomas, E. B. K., Hsu, T., Denburg, N. L., Roche, A. I. A preliminary investigation into the factor structure of two psychological flexibility measures in a sample of community-dwelling older adults. (in press). Clinical Gerontologist. http://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2022.2131496

Adamowicz, J. L., Vélez-Bermúdez, M., & Thomas, E. B. K. Fatigue severity and avoidance among individuals with chronic disease: A meta-analysis. (2022). Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 159, 110951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2022.110951

Kroska E. B., Roche, A. I., Adamowicz, J. L., Stegall, M. Psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19 adversity: Associations with distress. (2020). Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. 18, 28-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.07.011
Media coverage: Forbes, Science Daily, Iowa Now, cited in New York Times

Congratulations to Jessica Stark on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for May 2018!

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

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

Learn more about Jessica:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I have done various types of work in CBS including clinical work, research, and volunteering, and have also received ongoing training. Clinically, I currently use CBS to inform my internship work at HealthPoint doing primary care behavioral health. The primary population with whom I work in this setting is low-income, including people who are uninsured or underinsured, unemployed, homeless, addicted to drugs, those who have significant medical and mental illness, and new refugees including using interpreters regularly. For research, I worked on Dr. Jonathan Bricker’s team at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for two years on a study comparing ACT for smoking cessation with typical CBT quit line treatment; in contributing to this research, I provided interventions to primarily low-income, uninsured populations. I also volunteered for two years at South King County Clinic in Seattle providing mental health services, including short interventions such as FACT, to community members who needed free medical, dental, and vision care. Additionally, I have been a student member of ACBS since 2014, was a member of the SIG Review Committee last year, and was the Graduate Student Representative of Washington State Psychological Association for 1.5 years. Lastly, I have attended various CBS-focused conferences including a two-day seminar hosted by the Washington ACBS Chapter with speakers such as Drs. Patty Robinson, Kirk Strosahl, Robert Kohlenberg, and Mavis Tsai, and I have attended multiple online webinars hosted by ACBS’s Dr. D.J. Moran and others.

Autobiography:
I am in my final year towards getting my PsyD at Antioch University Seattle, which has a social justice mission. I have a clinical, empirically-based practice focus to my work, and have a passion working with low-income and underserved populations. I have worked in various clinical settings including in primary care and pediatric clinics, in community mental health, at a school for developmentally differently-abled kids, and an adult psychiatric in-patient facility. I love working with the LGBT community, pregnant and new moms, and individuals on medication assisted treatment for opioid dependence among others, and love being a generalist through the primary care behavioral health (PCBH) model. My dissertation was on video game psychology and what it means for individuals to play the game, The Sims, and find it important to embrace how video games and online communities can contribute to positive identity development. I connected with the Washington State Psychological Association community early in my graduate schooling, connecting to the ACBS community through Dr. Chris McCurry. Since then I have fully embraced using ACT as my main modality for clinical work and conceptualizations, as honed through my training and work with Dr. Jonathan Bricker’s team at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center using ACT for smoking cessation. I have also been fortunate enough to learn about FACT, and its applications in PCBH directly from its creators, Drs. Patty Robinson and Kirk Strosahl. As I plan to graduate in summer 2018, I look forward to seeing what the future holds for me!

Future goals:
I hope to continue to provide CBS-based clinical care to underserved populations through primary care behavioral health.

Congratulations to Joanna Kaye on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for February 2018!

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

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

Learn more about Joanna:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
My interest in ACT has strongly influenced my research, clinical work, teaching, and volunteering positions. In the realm of research, I became interested in ACT research as the graduate student research coordinator of an RCT in my lab comparing ACT and traditional CBT for social anxiety disorder. For my Master’s thesis, I developed online values clarification and goal-setting programs to determine the extent to which values clarification adds incremental benefit to goal-setting strategies in helping undergraduate freshmen adjust to college. For my doctoral dissertation, I paired my interest in ACT with my interest in exposure therapy. My study aims to reduce the impact of therapists’ discomfort on their clinical decision-making during exposure therapy by incorporating ACT techniques into their training. My hope with this project is that therapists will use ACT techniques to practice willingness to experience discomfort during exposure therapy in the service of their values related to their clinical work, and that ACT strategies will help therapists make more effective clinical decisions.

In my clinical work, I have used ACT with dozens of clients with a range of symptom presentations. I am currently an advanced peer supervisor in our graduate training clinic, where I help supervise graduate students in their delivery of ACT in our mood and anxiety clinic.

Additionally, I am teaching a Master’s-level CBT course that has included a focus on ACT. Finally, I am the Student Representative on the Pennsylvania ACBS Board, where I help to organize ACT-focused training events.

Autobiography:
I grew up in Virginia Beach, VA, and received my BA in Psychology and Spanish from Emory University in Atlanta, GA. I am currently a fourth-year graduate student at Drexel University working with James Herbert and Evan Forman. My clinical and research interests center on acceptance-based treatments and exposure therapy for anxiety disorders. I am drawn to the ACT emphasis on values in all of my clinical work, regardless of whether I am utilizing a full ACT framework. I am interested in the utility of an ACT framework to increase patients’ willingness to engage in difficult behavior change and sustain that behavior change after ending treatment, particularly in the context of exposure therapy for anxiety disorders.

My interest in ACT has also been influenced by my father. He is an anesthesiologist by profession, but has had a passion for mindfulness meditation for many years. I attended meditation meet-up groups with him in high school and college. My interest in ACT was a natural evolution from my experiences with mindfulness meditation in my adolescence. My father is now beginning a second career of sorts by training to become a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher, and we often joke about opening a center for mindfulness- and acceptance-based treatments after I finish my training. In my spare time, I love traveling, going to dog parks, trying new restaurants, doing yoga, going on long walks in cute neighborhoods, and hosting dinner parties with friends.

Future goals:
I aim to research how acceptance-based techniques can be used to improve therapists' decision-making.

Congratulations to Joshua Schultz on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for June 2019!

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

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

Learn more about Joshua:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I have been studying and practicing Acceptance and Commitment therapy for the past three years in my graduate program, and have been integrating the theory into both my research and clinical placements. I am currently working on my dissertation, which proposes a model for executive coaching using ACT to help leaders cultivate self-compassion, and increase compassion in the workplace culture. I am working with a client, a department head at my university, implementing the ACT coaching model that I am developing. I also use ACT techniques in my current internship placement as a therapist at an inpatient residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, where I conduct both individual and group therapy. Through helping my clients identify their values and develop mindfulness skills, I help them take action to accept their demons and act in valued ways. Through developing coping skills and bringing mindful awareness to the choice point, I help my clients get ready for the next phase of their treatment and lives. ACT is an invaluable tool, because it helps me help my clients to stop struggling against themselves.

Autobiography:
I am 25 years old, from Holland, Pennsylvania, and currently live in Philadelphia. I have been studying psychology for the past 8 years, the last 4 in my graduate program. When I am not studying, I am usually spending time with friends and family, and I like to create both art and music. I write poetry and short stories, I paint, and I play the drums in a band which plays shows around the greater Philadelphia area. I am also developing a spiritual practice, grounded in the mindfulness teachings of John Kabat-Zinn and others, as well as my upbringing as a Jewish person. I am growing each day as both a clinician and a human being, and I am excited for the next steps in my life and career.

Future goals:
I hope to work as both an executive coach and therapist, using ACT to help my clients become more compassionate with themselves and others.

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

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

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

Learn more about Julie Petersen:

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

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

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

Autobiography:

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

Future goals:

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

Relevant publications:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Congratulations to Kevin Davies on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for April 2018!

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

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

Learn more about Kevin:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I am currently in my second year of the master's program of counseling psychology at UW-Madison, and I was first alerted to ACT as a possible theoretical orientation for my clinical work this past summer. Since then, I have been eating up the literature on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and have been using ACT with my clients. Since there are very few colleagues in my program that use ACT, I have essentially trained myself in the approach, using books, podcasts, ACBS resources, and discussions with peers. I have also begun to teach my cohort about ACT and have given presentations on ACT-based interventions and case conceptualizations. I have found Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to be extremely useful in my approach with clients, and in my own personal growth.

Autobiography:
I am a second-year master's student in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of Madison-Wisconsin. Currently, I am working directly with individual clients and couples, and I have been working with Dr. Carmen Valdez on research surrounding family-based interventions for Latinx families. My main interests are improving access to mental health services at the community level, along with improving quality of care for typically undeserved populations. Those interests have led me on an exciting career, which has included serving adults with developmental disabilities, providing suicide-prevention crisis aid, and volunteering as a family counselor.

I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, but have lived in Wisconsin for about 4.5 years now. When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with friends and family, playing guitar, playing board games, and watching clouds. Moving forward, I have just finished my applications to doctoral programs in clinical and counseling psychology, and I’m interested in working with elderly individuals.

Future goals:
I'm looking forward to further developing my skills and knowledge surrounding CBS, and I aim to engage with the ACBS community!

Congratulations to Korena Klimczak on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for January 2024!  

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

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

Learn more about Korena Klimczak

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

I became involved with the CBS community in 2019, when I first began graduate school at Utah State University under Dr. Michael Levin’s mentorship. I have since pursued lines of research investigating ACT-based digital mental health interventions, and issues related to adherence, engagement, and implementation. This research includes the development of a novel ACT-based peer coaching intervention to improve adherence to the 10-week online ACT self-help program called ACT Guide. I tested this peer-coaching intervention through an RCT and subsequently implemented it as an available service for Utah State University student users of ACT Guide. I have additionally conducted a meta-analysis on online ACT interventions and have taken lead roles in developing online self-guided ACT-based interventions that are or will be available for public use outside of research contexts. This includes a single-session ACT program that takes 45 minutes to complete called ACT Guide Lite, and an online 6-session ACT program tailored to autistic adults.

I have also provided service to the CBS community through my role as a SIG-leader for the ACTing with Technology SIG over the past two years. In this role, I revamped the SIG website (https://actingwithtech.wordpress.com/) to make it more openly accessible as a resource for researchers and therapists seeking information about technology-supported ACT and CBS work, and have organized online talks, panels, and networking events to facilitate community growth within the SIG. I have also given workshops on ACT, training therapists on ACT more generally as well as on digital tools for enhancing clinical practice.

Autobiography:

I grew up in south Florida and completed my BA in Psychology in Virginia at Old Dominion University in 2019. I have enjoyed my time in Utah over the past five years as a student in the Combined Clinical and Counseling Psychology PhD program at USU with Dr. Michael Levin as my mentor. I have always had a fascination with technology and the internet’s role in culture, society, and the human condition. I ultimately wanted to pursue a career where I can help shape and manifest technologies that support people in living meaningful lives and pursued this through studying psychology. I want to capitalize on technology’s potential to increase the accessibility of mental health resources for all, and to offer new novel tools for helping people live better lives that would not otherwise be possible. This led me to my research interest in clinical applications of technology, with a specific focus on ACT. I care deeply about making the products of research relevant and useful to real-world contexts, and thus prioritize work that translates evidence-based findings to real-life services. I also enjoy implementing advanced statistical methods and rigorous methodology, as these tools can help shed light on making sense of data in interesting ways and make clinical psychology a better science. Outside of work, I love playing games, picking up new hobbies, and doing deep dives into interesting topics, some of these over the past few years including roller skating, mechanical keyboards, speculative evolution, and the history of tattooing!

Future goals:

I hope to use my skills as a clinical psychologist to help implement and improve real-life digital interventions available to the public.

Publications:

Davis, C. H., Klimczak, K.S., Aller, T. B., Twohig, M. P., & Levin, M.E. (In press). Reach, adoption, and maintenance of online acceptance and commitment therapy at a university: An implementation case study. Psychological Services.\

Klimczak, K.S., & Levin, M.E. (2023). Acceptance and commitment therapy. In: Friedman, H.S., Markey, C.H. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Mental Health (Third Edition), vol. 1. Elsevier, Academic Press, pp. 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91497-0.00121-1.

Klimczak, K. S., Schwartz, S. E., Donahue, M. L., Capel, L. K., Snow, J. L.*, & Levin, M. E. (2023). Disentangling trait and state psychological inflexibility: A longitudinal multilevel approach. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 29, 13-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2023.05.006

Klimczak, K. S., San Miguel, G. S., Mukasa, N. M., Twohig, M. P., & Levin, M. E. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a transdiagnostic self-help intervention. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 52(3), 269-294. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2023.2178498

Klimczak, K. S., Twohig, M. P., Peacock, G. G., & Levin, M. E. (2023). Using peer-support coaching to improve adherence to online ACT self-help for college mental health: A randomized controlled trial. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 160, 104228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104228

Krafft, J., Klimczak, K. S., & Levin, M. E. (2022). Effects of cognitive restructuring and defusion for coping with difficult thoughts in a predominantly white female college student sample. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 46, 86-94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10242-4

Congratulations to LAM Ching Yee on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for August 2023!

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

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

Learn more about Ching Yee:

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

My PhD study is about developing and examining feasibility of an ACT-based intervention program for promoting psychological wellbeing in adolescent nursing students. Personally, I experienced great challenge during role transition from nurse learner to staff nurse. Now, as a nurse educator, I hope my students would experience an easier role transition by using ACT.

Thanks to Dr Asher's family, the Behavior Therapy Associates, and the ACBS Award Committee, I recently received the Michael J. Asher Student Dissertation Award (First Prize). With the monetary award from this award, I plan to study further on promoting children and adolescents’ psychological wellbeing as well as promoting their psychological flexibility. More, I made ACT-related research presentations via poster and oral presentations at the ACBS World Conferences and other conferences. Currently, I am in the final stage of my PhD study and am preparing manuscripts based on my study findings.

Regarding volunteering efforts, I have been involved in the CBS community since 2020 when I was selected as the Student Representative of ABCS Board. After that, I continue serve the ACBS community as a Co-Chair of Student SIG till now and I join the Research Support, JEDI Team this year. Also, I am a member of Asian SIG and Hong Kong Chapter. About introducing ACT to Chinese community, I served as one of the trainers and developers in a ACT program which focused on parenting, and conducted the “Lunch and Learn - Mental Break” for employees of an international bank in Hong Kong.

Autobiography:

I am a PhD student studying at the School of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. I obtained my Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Master of Nursing (MNurs) at The University of Hong Kong, and Bachelor of Nursing (BNurs) at the La Trobe University.
My research interests are promoting psychological wellbeing in adolescents and people who might be at risk of suffering. To start with, I focus on applying ACT to promote psychological wellbeing in adolescent nursing students. Thanks to my supervisor, Dr Yim-wah Mak, she brings me to the world of CBS. Where, I find ACT very beneficial, both to myself and others, as it promotes psychological flexibility and sheds light on valued-driven behavior, and it helps people to live with dilemma of human suffering. Other thanks go to my co-supervisor, Dr Sau-fong Leung, she shows me insights from perspectives of mental nursing. This is new experience which I have not learnt during my previous studies in general nursing. Many thanks go to my family, friends and students as they provide me a lot of opportunities in understanding suffering and applying ACT in daily life.

I am passionate in identifying culturally competent approach to facilitate people of different backgrounds to live with their struggles. My next step is to further promote the use of ACT in Hong Kong/Chinese community.
More, I am also a trainer in healthcare simulation and debriefing. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, and traveling.

Future goals:

My goal is to identify and develop culturally appropriate ACT-based practices for people who are suffering. Thus, I hope to facilitate people to abandon suffering and obtain happiness, and to achieve a valued-driven life.

Relevant publications:

Zhang; X, Ma, H., Lam, C.Y., Ho, G.W.K and Mak, Y.M. Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on self-care, psychological symptoms, and quality of life in patients with cardiovascular disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. (submitted).

Lam, C.Y., Mak, Y.W. and Leung, S.F. The acceptance and commitment therapy for promoting psychological wellbeing in new graduate nurses: a study protocol. (in preparation).

Lam, C.Y., Mak, Y.W. and Leung, S.F. The feasibility and acceptability of ACT-based role transition program for new graduated nurse. (in preparation).

Wong, S. L., Baljit-Kaur, G., Chan, J. H. M., Cheung, A. P. H., Charm, C. Y. C., Fung, K. M., Lam, C. Y., Tong, M. Y. T., Lo, C. K. Y., Tsang, A. Y. K., & Nestel, D. (2021). School-based research agenda on healthcare simulation for nursing education in Hong Kong. BMJ Simulation & Technology Enhanced Learning, 7 (5).

Lam, C.Y., Lo, C.K.Y., and Charm, C.Y.C. (2019). Substitution of traditional clinical experience with simulated clinical experience in pre-licensure nursing programme: a scoping review. In Technological Innovation in Nursing Education and Practice. Hong Kong: OUHK.

Charm, C.Y.C., Lo, C.K.Y., and Lam, C.Y. (2019). Standardized patients in nursing education: challenges ahead. In Technological Innovation in Nursing Education and Practice. Hong Kong: OUHK.

Lo, C.K.Y., Charm, C.Y.C., Lee, C.N.Y., and Lam, C.Y. (2019). Performance in high-fidelity simulation training on respiratory failure management: an evaluation study. In Technological Innovation in Nursing Education and Practice. Hong Kong: OUHK.

Congratulations to Lauren B. Johnson on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for March 2019!

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

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

Learn more about Lauren:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
While completing my first clinical practicum, I had the opportunity to receive significant training and supervision in ACT while implementing the intervention with several patients. Following that experience, my interest in CBS continued to grow, which prompted my application to serve as a student representative for the Pennsylvania Board of ACBS. Being a student representative has allowed me to engage with other like-minded individuals interested in enhancing their practice of CBS interventions while also contributing to the goals of increasing student engagement in ACBS, planning training events, and creating a strong CBS community within the greater Philadelphia and surrounding areas. Recently, our chapter initiated an ACT consultation group based on the Portland Model, which has been yet another excellent chance to continue growing as an ACT practitioner through peer-to-peer consultation, skill-building, and other valuable activities. At my current practicum placement, there is a significant focus on utilizing ACT and I have been able to advance my skill-set greatly through the diverse training opportunities available. Outside of individual therapy, I receive supervision from an ACT perspective and will begin co-leading an ACT group in the upcoming month. Additionally, I serve as a therapist for two clinical research studies centered on using ACT for individuals with chronic medical conditions. The first focuses on using ACT to reduce shame, stigma, and depression among individuals living with HIV. The second, ACT with Cystic Fibrosis, focuses on reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms in individuals with CF and uses a telehealth adaptation to enhance accessibility.

My engagement in the CBS community has grown immensely through my position as a student representative for the Pennsylvania Chapter of ACBS, use of ACT in clinical practice with diverse populations, participation in ACT consultation/supervision, and role as a therapist for research studies examining the impact of ACT for individuals with HIV and Cystic Fibrosis. These activities have continued to remind me of the applicability of CBS interventions to a vast number of psychological and health-related conditions as well as enhanced my ability to effectively apply ACT to address the diverse challenges that my patients face. I plan to continue advancing my knowledge in CBS through ongoing engagement in my current activities, starting to co-lead an ACT group, and seeking to present CBS-related research at the 2019 ACBS conference.

Autobiography:
I was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA. I received my BA from Vanderbilt University where I triple-majored in Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy. Subsequently, I completed a Master of Education in Human Development and Psychology at Harvard University. Currently, I am a third-year clinical psychology PhD student at Drexel University working with Dr. Arthur Nezu and Dr. Christine Maguth Nezu. My clinical and research interests center around trauma and suicide, with a particular focus on military and veteran populations. Given my significant interest in military mental health, I decided to pursue military service and recently commissioned into the Air Force. Upon completion of my doctoral studies, I will begin my active duty service as an Air Force clinical psychologist. Over the past couple years, my research, clinical, and volunteer experiences focused on ACT have been immensely beneficial in adding a powerful intervention to my clinical toolbox. I believe my continued efforts to grow as an ACT practitioner will have significant value as I currently treat and will continue to treat military personnel. Stepping outside of my school-related responsibilities, I engage in numerous activities in support of a values-driven life. I enjoy reading (especially books that are adapted into films), doing yoga, travelling, eating seafood, and hanging out with my adorable Burmese cat, Tilly.

Future goals:
I have a clinical interest in utilizing ACT to address the mental health needs of military personnel and a burgeoning research interest in examining ACT principles and strategies to enhance the treatment of moral injury and/or PTSD within military and veteran populations.

Congratulations to Lynn Farrell on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for December 2018!

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

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

Learn more about Lynn:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I first came across CBS research through an introduction to Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) during my undergraduate degree in Maynooth University. This inspired me to research implicit relational responding, specifically how we implicitly relate gender to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. Following this research path led me to University College Dublin (UCD) where I became a member of the CBS lab there, led by Dr. Louise McHugh. Here, I have had the opportunity to collaborate on a number of other research projects including examinations of cyberbullying, citation analysis and publication trends. I received a postgraduate scholarship from the Irish Research Council to continue pursuing my research into the nature and malleability of gender-STEM bias using the IRAP. To date I have published two papers on this topic in the JCBS and have disseminated this work both nationally and internationally. Along with a diverse team of inspiring fellow RFT researchers, I’ve been involved in the development and delivery of a workshop aimed at helping others to conduct RFT research and form research collaborations. This workshop was most recently delivered at the ACBS World Conference in Seville (2017). I am also currently one of the student representatives on the board for the Women in ACBS SIG, a position that has broadened my knowledge of how a CBS-based approach can contribute to social change.

Autobiography:
I’m from Dublin, Ireland and was the first in my family to graduate from university when I achieved my BA in Psychology from Maynooth University. My introduction to RFT changed how I approached research and topics of interest to me in ways I had never imagined. While working in UCD I was fortunate enough to be invited to join the CBS lab there. In my time as a member of this wonderful lab I have been introduced to some of the incredible people behind CBS research and its many diverse strands, including an introduction to ACT. Though I may never be the first to volunteer for ACT role-play exercises (“experiential avoidance!” I hear you cry), I do try to incorporate ACT consistent techniques into my life and live in accordance with my values. I’ve made some wonderful friends and have had the support of incredible mentors within the CBS community. My recent involvement in the Women in ACBS SIG has only strengthened this sense of community. I hope to continue to develop as a researcher and contribute to research that is both meaningful and useful, particularly in the vast area of equality. I am currently trying to develop interventions that strengthen positive relations between women and STEM to counter stereotypes within this domain. I have much still to learn but am grateful for the opportunity to do so with curiosity and compassion within the ACBS community.

Future goals:
I hope to continue to research and promote issues relevant to equality and diversity and to continue to develop as a researcher within the ACBS community.

Relevant publications:
Farrell, L. & McHugh, L. (2017). Examining gender-STEM bias among STEM and non-STEM students using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.02.001 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212144717300042

Farrell, L., Cochrane, A., & McHugh, L. (2015). Exploring attitudes towards gender and science: The advantages of an IRAP approach versus the IAT. Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science, 4(2), 121-128. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2015.04.002 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212144715000204

O’Connor, M., Farrell, L., Munnelly, A., & McHugh, L. (2017). Citation analysis of relational frame theory: 2009–2016. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6(2), 152-158. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212144717300339

Munnelly, A., Farrell, L., O’Connor, M., & McHugh, L. (2017). Adolescents’ Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Cyberbullying: an Exploratory Study Using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and Self-Report Measures. The Psychological Record, 1-10. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40732-017-0261-0

Congratulations to Marianna Zacharia on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for March 2024!

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

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

Learn more about Marianna Zacharia

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

I am a member of the ACThealthy: Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine laboratory, supervised by Dr Maria Karekla since 2016. Thanks to my supervisor, I have been involved with various projects at ACThealthy laboratory, particularly in the ALGEA project for chronic pain and a smoking cessation project. I also provided individual interventions for a project on internal cues and drug dependency based on ACT. I have participated in the ACBS conferences since 2018 by presenting posters, panels, and symposia and several of these papers have been published. Thanks to the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science, I have been awarded the 2020 - 2021 ACBS Research Development Grant, which enabled me to conduct my PhD research project, an Intervention for female breast CANcer: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (I-CAN-ACT) for depression and physical pain. I am currently in the process of data analysis and write-up of my thesis.

Through my clinical placements, I have been trained in the use of ACT and other behavioral therapies (DBT) and use the CBS principles when providing psychological support to people with cancer and their families as well as individuals with disabilities, which are the populations I mostly work with.

Regarding volunteering, I was selected as the Student Representative of the ABCS Board in 2021-2022. Also, I served as the student representative of the Greece and Cyprus chapter and now as a member of the chapter. Additionally, I was a member of the organizing committee for the ACBS conference in July 2023 in Nicosia.

Autobiography:

I am a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Cyprus and a Registered Clinical Psychologist working in palliative care at the Cyprus Association of Cancer Patients and Friends providing psychological support to people with cancer and their families. I obtained a First-Class Honours BSc Degree in Psychology from the University of Southampton in 2012. Subsequently, I completed a three-year MSc degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, with a GPA of 4/4. My MSc thesis was on risk and resilience factors for post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in Cypriot police officers. I worked as a trainee clinical psychologist at the Centre for Therapy, Training and Research of the University of Nicosia (K.E.S.Y), at PASYKAF, the Hostel and Day Center “St. Catherine”, at Somateio Skapaneas (for people with disabilities), at the Adult Day Care Centre for Disabled from Communities District Morphou (for people with disabilities) and at the Psychiatric Hospital of Athalassa in Cyprus. I also provided individual psychotherapy to adults and parental counseling at the Counselling Center of the Municipality of Aglantzia, the Breast Center of Cyprus, as well as psychometric assessments to students at the Mental Health Center of the University of Cyprus.

As a researcher, I am particularly interested in the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions in women with breast cancer. Thus, my thesis focused on the development of a brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based intervention for improving the quality of life of women with breast cancer who experience depressive symptoms or sadness and physical pain.

Future goals:

I hope that my thesis, the I-CAN-ACT project, will improve the psychological treatment currently offered for women with breast cancer by targeting the processes that are more related with improved treatment effects and that it will help in developing prevention programs to facilitate better physical pain management and diminish the likelihood of developing psychopathology in this cancer population. My goal is to contribute at least to some extent in alleviating people’s suffering and aiding them in achieving a valued-driven meaningful life.

Publications:

▪ Zacharia, M., & Karekla, M. (2022). The Role of Psychologists and Psychological Approaches in Cancer Care. In A. Kassianos (Ed.), Handbook of Quality of Life in Cancer (pp. 311-337). Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham.
▪ Zacharia, M., & Karekla, M. (2021). The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Perspective: Case Conceptualization and Treatment of Depression in Cancer. In C. Charis & G. Panayiotou (Eds.), Depression conceptualization and treatment (pp. 123-147). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68932-2_9
▪ Zacharia, M., Ioannou, M., Theofanous, A., Vasiliou, V. S., & Karekla, M. (2021). Does Cognitive Fusion show up similarly across two behavioral health samples? Psychometric properties and invariance of the Greek–Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (G-CFQ). Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 21, 212-221.
▪ Gloster, A. T., Zacharia, M., & Karekla, M. (2020). Psychological aid for frontline healthcare workers. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 17(4), 253-254.
▪ Theofanous, A., Ioannou, M., Zacharia, M., Georgiou, S. N., & Karekla, M. (2020). Gender, Age, and Time Invariance of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) and Psychometric Properties in Three Greek-Speaking Youth Samples. Mindfulness, 1- 10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01350-5
▪ Karekla, M., Zacharia, M., & Koushiou, M. (2018). Accept Pain for a Vital Life: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for the Treatment of Chronic Pain. In C. Charis & G. Panayiotou (Eds.), Somatoform and Other Psychosomatic Disorders (pp. 163-191). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Congratulations to Niloofar Tavakoli on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for July 2021!

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

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

Learn more about Niloofar Tavakoli:

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

I have engaged in CBS related research and clinical work by providing ACT-based interventions in a VA setting, academic-medical institution, and research-based interventions. I am currently completing my practicum training at the Houston VA working in the General Mental Health Clinic and Pain Evaluation Center providing ACT-based interventions to Veterans who experience behavioral health concerns. As a research interventionist, I am providing an ACT-based smoking cessation intervention for Latinx individuals who also experience depression and/or anxiety. In this regard, I also assisted with the development of the participant as well as the counselor manuals. Previously, I have worked at an academic-medical setting providing ACT for substance use disorders for ethnic minority individuals. In this setting, I also provided group-based ACT intervention for individuals at risk for HIV. Scholastically, I have led or co-authored two manuscripts and four presentations relevant to CBS. Topics included psychological inflexibility in regard to anxiety-related experiences and psychometric work on the utility of the AAQ-II in an ethnically diverse sample.

Autobiography:

I am a second-year doctoral student in the Health Psychology track of the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Houston (UH). Born in Iran and raised in Houston, I completed both my B.S. in Psychology and M.Ed. in Counseling at UH. I currently hold a license to independently practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Texas. My research interests include anxiety, smoking/substance abuse, and psychological flexibility/inflexibility among ethnic minority individuals; with a special interest in creating culturally tailored psychological and health-related interventions. I am currently a graduate scholar in a partnership between UH and M.D Anderson Cancer Center to reduce cancer-related disparities among ethnic minorities, in which I am a research assistant and interventionist on an ACT-based smoking program for Latinx who experience anxiety/depression. I am completing my practicum training at the Michael E DeBakey Veteran Affairs Medical Center. This fall, I trained in the Pain Evaluation Center and provided CBT and ACT for chronic pain. Currently, I am in the General Mental Health Clinic providing CBT and Interpersonal Therapy for depression, in addition to co-facilitating two groups. In regard to service, I serve as APA Division 17- Counseling Psychology student representative at UH. In pursuit of my goals to become a more informed and prepared clinician and researcher, I have received formal training as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist as well as an Acceptance and Commitment Therapist. In my spare time, I enjoy working out, spending time with family/friends, playing with my puppy, and traveling.

Future goals:

My goal is to become a well-rounded clinician and researcher in the area of contextual behavioral science, focusing on the role of psychological flexibility/inflexibility on behavioral health related concerns among ethnic minorities.

Relevant publications:

Tavakoli, N., Broyles, A., Reid, E. K., Sandoval, J. R., & Correa-Fernández, V. (2019). Psychological inflexibility as it relates to stress, worry, generalized anxiety, and somatization in an ethnically diverse sample of college students. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 11, 1-5. ISSN 2212-1447. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212144718301698

Correa-Fernández, V., McNeel, M. M., Sandoval, J. R., Tavakoli, N., Kahambwe, J. K., & Kim, H. (2020). Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II: Measurement invariance and associations with distress tolerance among an ethnically diverse university sample. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 17, 1-9. ISSN 2212-1447. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212144719302911

Langdon, K. J., Bakhshaie, J., Lopez, A., Tavakoli, N., Garey, L., Raines, A.M., Kauffman, B. Y., Schmidt, N. B., & Zvolensky, M. J. (2018). Anxiety Sensitivity Physical and Cognitive Concerns in Relation to Smoking-Oriented Cognition: An Examination among Treatment-Seeking Adults Who Smoke. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 12(3), 212–219. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5970020/

Correa-Fernández, V., Tavakoli, N., Motsenbocker, M., & Kim, H. (2021). Hispanics/Latinos' Cigarette and E-cigarette Use: Behavioral and Self-rated Health. American Journal of Health Behavior, 45(1), 95-110. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/png/ajhb/2021/00000045/00000001/art00008

Congratulations to Raul Vaz Manzione on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for September 2018!

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

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

Learn more about Raul:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I started researching in CBS last year (2017) at the RFT Lab at Centro Paradigma, where I received a scholarship for my specialization course to work as an RFT-researcher, and I've worked with Roberta Kovac, my clinical supervisor and fellow researcher, in her Doctoral thesis which is called "Measuring effects of ACT interventions on the transformation of function in arbitrarily related stimuli". I've also translated Steven C. Hayes 1984 paper - Making Sense of Spirituality (the translation is in press) which is part of my ongoing effort to bring important CBS material to non-English speakers that are interested in CBS here in Brazil. I've translated Matthieu Villatte powerpoint presentation to Brazilian Portuguese on a workshop he ministered in São Paulo. As for my own basic CBS research project this year I am running a research, which is part of my specialization thesis, on examining the reinforcing properties of Relational Coherence under the framework of the MDML and DAARRE models. I’m an ACT Therapist working at private practice and I write to a behavior analysis blog called Portal Comporte-se: Psicologia Científica, where I make blog posts about ACT and RFT to the website’s ACT column. I’ve attended to my first ACBS World Conference in Sevilla, 2017, and been to ACT and CBS-related trainings, both in Brazil and International, with names such as Steve Hayes, Kelly Wilson, Kirk Strosahl, Matthieu Villatte, Robert Kohlenberg, Mavis Tsai and others. Currently I'm working as the Student Representative at the ACBS Brazil Chapter.

Autobiography:
My name is Raul Manzione and I'm a CBS student/researcher/practitioner coming from a strong (and somewhat conservative) behavior analytic/Skinnerian background. I first got in touch with behavior analysis and Radical Behaviorism back in 2011 and with CBS back in 2015, where I've first heard about ACT from my supervisor at the time, Cássia Thomaz. Ever since I've heard of it I started my [never-ending] journey into the universe of CBS and focusing on ACT and RFT. I've also helped organizing behavior analytic/CBS events here in Brazil. I was able to meet very important CBS-practitioners here in Brazil which helped me a lot (and still do) to my formation. I attended to my first ACBSWorldcon in Sevilla, Spain, and been to ACT/RFT trainings both there and here in Brazil. I try to be very active in the Brazilian CBS community with the goal of "spreading the word" to Brazilian Psychologists and Health Professionals. I am an ACT Therapist working at private practice and an RFT-researcher at Centro Paradigma de Ciências do Comportamento.

Future goals:
For my future goals: For next year (2019) I plan to keep studying and researching on the Relational Coherence topic; I also plan to apply to do my Masters and PhD on it and next year I plan to apply to the Peer-Reviewed ACT Trainer program so I can run ACT Trainings here in Brazil and the last, but not least, future goal of mine is to write an ACT book (or help to write one).

Relevant publications:
https://www.comportese.com/2017/12/o-valor-da-dor

https://www.comportese.com/2017/07/frutos-diferentes-de-uma-mesma-arvore-act-como-proposta-coerente-com-o-behaviorismo-radical

https://www.comportese.com/2018/02/nunca-sozinho

https://www.comportese.com/2018/07/estou-fazendo-act

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

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

Congratulations to Samuel Spencer on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for September 2022!

Learn more about Samuel Spencer:

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

I can fondly recall pivotal moments in my early graduate school years of reading behavior analysis literature and learning about the interesting historical juxtaposition of ‘acceptance vs. change’ within the ‘third wave’ movement. These early experiences ignited in me a profound interest in understanding the mechanisms of both psychopathology and well-being. During graduate school, I have had many opportunities to pursue these interests from a contextual behavioral science (CBS) framework, with a particular focus on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). My current research, working under the mentorship of Dr. Akihiko Masuda at the University of Hawaii, focuses mainly on investigating ACT within a process-based therapy framework, applied to transdiagnostic mental and behavioral health concerns centered around the generalized processes of engaged living and experiential avoidance. We are quite fortunate to have this research supported by an ACBS Research Development Grant (2021). I also conduct quantitative- and psychometric-based research on the relationships among CBS-related constructs and psychological health and vulnerability factors, and how these constructs can be most optimally assessed, especially within culturally diverse contexts. Lastly, I have enjoyed pursuing research and clinical work focused on furthering our understanding and practice of cultural competence, humility, and culturally sensitive adaptations to contextual CBTs- a pressing concern within our multiculturally diverse world. In addition to research, I have also enjoyed serving as a founding member on the board of directors of our newly formed local Hawaii ACBS chapter (est. 2019), as well as regularly organizing panel discussions and symposia at ACBS World Conferences.

Autobiography:

Born and raised in Minnesota, I received a B.S. in psychology and an M.A. in clinical psychology from Minnesota State University, Mankato. I have since traded in my winter parka for beach gear, and currently reside in Honolulu, Hawaii where I am a clinical psychology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa working under the mentorship of Dr. Akihiko Masuda. I will be completing my pre-doctoral internship during the 2022-2023 training year at Baylor College of Medicine OCD and Related Disorders Track in Houston, Texas. My research interests broadly include acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), psychotherapy process and outcome research, measurement of contextual behavioral science (CBS)-related constructs, and historical and philosophical traditions of CBT and CBS. My dissertation research focuses on examining the mechanisms of change within process-based ACT for transdiagnostic mental and behavioral health concerns and working to improve assessment and measurement of key process and outcome variables. In my clinical work, I utilize an empirically supported process-based CBT framework and empathic therapeutic connection, along with a focus on cultural humility and competency, to assist individuals in overcoming suffering and pursuing values-based living. While I appreciate the broad utility of a transdiagnostic, process based therapeutic approach, much of my clinical training experiences to date have focused on exposure techniques for anxiety disorders, as well as values-based behavioral activation for depression, along with a focus on multiculturalism. I am also actively involved in ACBS at local and international levels, regularly teach undergraduate psychology classes, and enjoy mentoring students.

Future goals:

My future goals involve pursuing an academic career that involves pursuing research that aids our understanding and alleviation of psychological struggles and training the next generation of researchers and behavioral health providers to further those ends.

Relevant publications:

Jo, D., Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2022). Mindfulness as a moderator of the relationship between engaged living and depression in emerging adulthood. Mindfulness, 13(2), 742 – 750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01831-9

Spencer, S. D., Pokhrel, P., Helm, S., Wilczek, K., Galimov, A., & Sussman, S. (2021). Emerging adulthood attributes and substance use in a sample of Asian and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander college students. Asian American Journal of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000254

Hashimoto, K., Muto, T., Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2020). Mitigating behavioral assimilation to age stereotypes: A preliminary analogue investigation of a contextual behavioral science approach. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 48 – 52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.08.006

Martin, T. J., Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2020). Mindfulness mediates the relationship between mental health self-stigma and psychological distress: A cross-sectional study. Current Psychology. DOI:10.1007/s12144-020-01050-2

Jo, D., Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2020). Mindfulness attenuates the positive association between disordered eating cognition and disordered eating behavior in a sample of college women. Current Psychology. DOI:10.1007/s12144-020-00969-w

Masuda, A., Barile, J., Spencer, S. D., Juberg, M., Martin, T. J., & Vibell, J. F. (2020). Mindful awareness moderates the association between psychological inflexibility and distress variables: A cross-sectional investigation. Journal of American College Health, 70(2), 607 – 614. DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1759607

Hill, M. L., Schaefer, L. W., Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2020). Compassion-focused acceptance and commitment therapy for women with restrictive eating and problematic body-checking: A multiple baseline across participants study. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 16, 144 – 152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.04.006

Spencer, S. D., & Masuda, A. (2020). Acceptance and commitment therapy as a transdiagnostic approach to treatment of behavioral health concerns: A concurrent multiple baseline design across participants. Clinical Case Studies, 19(3), 163 – 179. DOI: 10.1177/1534650119897412

Spencer, S. D., Buchanan, J. A., & Masuda, A. (2019). Preliminary findings from a comparison of brief acceptance- and control-based interventions for reducing experiential avoidance in socially-anxious individuals. Behavior Modification, 44(6), 841 – 864. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445519854321

Juberg, M., Spencer, S. D., Martin, T. J., Vibell, J. F., de Costa Ferro, A., Kam, B. R., & Masuda, A. (2019). A mindfulness-based intervention for college students, faculty, and staff: A preliminary investigation. Clinical Case Studies, 18(3), 185 – 199. DOI:10.1177/1534650119836166

Haynes, S. N., Spencer, S. D., Laba, T. M. (in press). Principles and practices of behavioral assessment. In M. Bagby & G. Asmundson (Eds.) Comprehensive clinical psychology, 2nd Ed. Elsevier.

Masuda, A., Morgan, L., Spencer, S.D., Oina’au, J., & Jo, D. (in press). Cultural adaptations of acceptance and commitment therapy. In Twohig, M.P., Levin, M.E., & Petersen, J.M. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Oxford University Press.

Masuda, A., & Spencer, S. D. (in press). Advantages of third wave behavior therapies. In W. T. O’Donohue & A. Masuda (Eds.) Behavior therapy: First, second, and third waves.

Congratulations to Sebastian Garcia-Zambrano on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for February 2021!

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

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

Learn more about Sebastian Garcia-Zambrano:

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

As part of his studies in the United States, Sebastian joined the SIU Center for Autism and Spectrum Disorders (CASD), where he was part of a team focused on verbal behavior, social skills, and Acceptance and Commitment Training for children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD.

He considered that the most significant achievement is to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities through the use of Acceptance and Commitment Training. His thesis was focused on the evaluation of the effects of deictic framing and defusion on the rate of verbalizations associated with self-as-context in individuals with disabilities. Results were presented at the 2018 ACBS conference and published in the JCBS in 2019. Moreover, he conducted a study with Dr. Mark Dixon, Dr. Becky Barron, and Dr. Natalia Baires to evaluate the effects of ACT-based exercises before the session on staff rigidity and positive interactions among therapists for children with ASD. Results of this study were presented at the 2019 ABAI conference.

In addition, he conducted a study under the supervision of Dr. Shane Koch to evaluate the feasibility of an RFT-based codification of relational frames. Results are under review in the JCBS. As an extension of this study, he is working on the development of a computer-based program to code spatial, temporal, and conditional frames.

Also, he helped Dr. Natalia Baires in the design and reliability measurement of a cultural adaptation of ACT for Hispanic/Latinx caregivers of children with autism. This study was a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for Dr. Natalia Baires and it was presented in the 2020 Virtual Congress of the Iberoamerican Society of Psychology.

Currently, he is developing a protocol to extend previous studies on perspective-taking under the supervision of Dr. Shane Koch. He wants to connect the latest findings on Contextual Behavioral Science with the current status of cognitive research on "Theory of Mind". Also, he is working on the development of an RFT-based protocol to evaluate deictic frames involved in visual, emotional, and cognitive perspective-taking skills.

Autobiography:

Sebastian Garcia-Zambrano is a Colombian doctoral candidate at the School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences, Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is part of the lab of Dr. Shane Koch, and his research interests are verbal behavior, self-awareness, and Relational Frame Theory. He studied his masters at Southern Illinois University under the supervision of Dr. Ruth Anne Rehfeldt and his bachelor's at Konrad Lorenz Fundación Universitaria in Bogotá, Colombia.

Sebastian has been working for more than ten years with individuals with disabilities and is currently working at a residential facility. He started his professional life by providing behavioral services to children and adolescents diagnosed with autism at an agency called Horizontes ABA in Bogotá, Colombia. Then, Sebastian moved to the United States to study under the supervision of Dr. Rehfeldt. He joined the SIU Center for Autism and Spectrum Disorders (CASD), where he was part of a team focused on verbal behavior, social skills, and Acceptance and Commitment Training for children and adolescents.

Currently, he is developing a protocol to extend previous studies on perspective-taking under the supervision of Dr. Shane Koch. He wants to connect the latest findings on Contextual Behavioral Science with the current status of cognitive research on "Theory of Mind". Currently, he is working on the development of an RFT-based protocol to evaluate deictic frames involved in visual, emotional, and cognitive perspective-taking skills.

Future goals:

My goal is to extend previous studies on perspective-taking and connect the field with traditional perspectives on perspective-taking. I am also working on a project to develop a computer-based program to identify relational frames from transcripts and discourses.

Relevant publications:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sebastian_Garcia-Zambrano

Book Chapters
Garcia, Y., Rosales, R., & Garcia-Zambrano, S., Rehfeldt, R.A. Basic Verbal Behavior (2020). In M. J. Fryling, R.A. Rehfeldt, J. Tarbox, & L. Hayes (Eds.), Applied behavior analysis of language and cognition: Core concepts and principles for practitioners. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

Peer-Reviewed Publications
García- Zambrano, S., Rehfeldt, R. A., Hertel, I. P., Boehmert, R. (2019). Effects of deictic framing and defusion on the development of self-as-context in individuals with disabilities. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 12, 55-58. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212144718302047

García, Y. A., Cristiano, L., & García, S. (2013). Development of language in children: A behavior analysis perspective. Horizontes Pedagógicos, 15(1), 8.

Works under Review
Tilden, V., Barron, B., Dixon, M.R., & García-Zambrano, S. (under review). Effects of mindfulness and ACT-based exercises on positive interactions among therapists for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal in Contextual Behavioral Science.

García-Zambrano, S., Baires, N. A., Catrone, R. G, Goyal, M. K., Hinman, J. M., Babbra, A. S., & Koch, D. S. (under review). A Preliminary Analysis on the Reliability of Coding Political Discourses According to Relational Frames. Journal in Contextual Behavioral Science.

Baires, N., García-Zambrano, S., & Koch, D. S. (under review). Missing Identities: Who is Participating in Teaching Behavior Analysis within Higher Education? Behavior Analysis in Practice.

Britwum, K., García-Zambrano, S., Baires, N. A., Koch, D. S. (under review). Policing and Values: A Behavioral Conceptualization of the Values that Influence actions of Police. Behavior Analysis in Practice.
 

Congratulations to Sérgio Andrade Carvalho on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for April 2019!

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

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

Learn more about Sérgio:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I have started studying CBS in 2010, as a Masters student at University of Coimbra, Portugal. My master thesis was supervised by José Pinto-Gouveia, and we explored the relationship between socialization of emotions, emotional schemas, cognitive fusion and psychopathological symptoms in the general population. After completing my Masters and with a newly discovered interest in ACT, I went to Edinburgh for 5-month and learnt with David Gillanders more about CBS research and ACT with chronic pain patients. I have been conducting research on the efficacy of CBS-based interventions in different health conditions (psychosis, binge eating in obesity, chronic pain), and on the relationship between psychological processes and health outcomes. I am a research member of projects that are testing ICT-delivered contextual-behavioral interventions (for binge eating and chronic pain), including an Horizon2020 European consortium (NoHoW) that is developing and testing the efficacy of an ICT-delivered multi-center intervention for weight-loss maintenance. I have been particularly interested in self-compassion, and I am a member of an international project that explores cross-cultural differences in the meaning and experience of compassion. I am currently on the 3rd year of my PhD, which has two main goals: 1) to test the adding value of two self-compassion sessions in a 6-session ACT group intervention for women with chronic pain (COMP.ACT), and 2) to better understand the relationship between self-compassion and ACT core processes, through both cross-sectional and three-wave 1-year longitudinal designs. Several papers on this have been published or are currently under review.

Autobiography:
I was born on an island (São Miguel) of a beautiful Portuguese archipelago (Azores). In 2006, I went to Coimbra, a city at the heart of Portugal mainland, to study Psychology, which was a transformative experience, both at an academic and personal level. I´m a 3rd year PhD student in Clinical Psychology, and I am currently developing my research on self-compassion and ACT in chronic pain. I have found CBS to be a useful tool that has enriched my interpersonal relationships, and shifted my understanding of what being human is all about. Since my graduation in 2011, I have been conducting research on CBS, and have recently embraced the challenge of being a partner of a private practice organization (https://gabinetepsicologiacoimbra.com) that provides different educational and clinical services, including transfer knowledge on mental health literacy to the general population. In addition to my PhD studies, I am also part of several projects, including on CBS and Gender and Sexual Minorities, which interests me both as a researcher and as an activist. In addition to studying clinical psychology, the recent global political events have made me very interested in the interface between CBS and politics, particularly on the evolutionary basis for group-thinking, and both the potential and limitations of interpersonal-level social change. I am an avid consumer of music (from Progressive Metal to Soul and Spirituals), a lover of books (from poetry to science communication), and a proud uncle of two smart, beautiful and overly-active 6-year old kids.

Future goals:
In addition to continuing doing research on clinical psychology, after completing my PhD, I am very much interested in exploring CBS as a science-based route for social change, especially the use of evidence-based knowledge as tools for social justice, and more specifically to develop research that integrates social psychology topics (e.g. social representation) and CBS as useful lenses to understand the role of identity and discrimination, and promoting social acceptance of diversity.

Relevant publications:
- https://estudogeral.sib.uc.pt/handle/10316/47269 [Petrocchi, N., Matos, M., Carvalho, S. & Baiocco, R. (2016). Compassion-Focused Therapy in the Treatment of Shame-Based Difficulties in Gender and Sexual Minorities. In Skinta, M.D. & Curtin, A. (2016), Mindfulness and Acceptance for Gender and Sexual Minorities. Oakland, CA: Context Press. 1st Edition, pp. 69-86.]

- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212144718301509 [Carvalho, S.A., Palmeira, L., Gillanders, D., Pinto-Gouveia, J., & Castilho, P. (2018). The utility of the valuing questionnaire in chronic pain. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 9, 21-29. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.06.002]

- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00223980.2018.1507990 [Carvalho, S.A., Pinto-Gouveia, J., Gillanders, D., & Castilho, P. (2018). Pain and depressive symptoms: exploring cognitive fusion and self-compassion in a moderated mediation model. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied. doi: 10.1080/00223980.2018.1507990]

- https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/an-implementation-trial-of-actbased-bibliotherapy-for-irritable-bowel-syndrome(ae011e00-1616-454e-afdb-87548294c3cd).html [Gillanders, D., Ferreira, N. B., Angioni, E., Carvalho, S. A., & Eugenicos, M. P. (2017). An Implementation Trial of ACT-Based Bibliotherapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6(2), 172-177. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.04.006].

- http://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Pinto-Gouveia2016.pdf [Pinto-Gouveia, J., Carvalho, S., Palmeira, L., Castilho, P., Duarte, C., Ferreira, C., Duarte, J., Cunha, M., Matos, M. & Costa, J. (2016). Incorporating psychoeducation, mindfulness and self-compassion in a new program for binge eating (BEfree): exploring processes of change. Journal of Health Psychology. Epub ahead of print. doi: 10.1177/1359105316676628].

- https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/94982315.pdf [Lapa, T. A., Carvalho, S., Viana, J. S., Ferreira, P. L., & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2016). Stressors in anaesthesiology: development and validation of a new questionnaire: A cross-sectional study of Portuguese anaesthesiologists. European Journal of Anaesthesiology (EJA), 33(11), 807-815. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000000518].

- https://estudogeral.sib.uc.pt/handle/10316/47036?locale=pt_PT [Baião, R., Gilbert, P., McEwan, K., & Carvalho, S. (2015). Forms of self‐criticising/attacking & self‐reassuring scale: Psychometric properties and normative study. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 88(4), 438-452. doi: 10.1111/papt.12049].

Congratulations to Wang Fenfen on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for May 2017!

The purpose of this award is to highlight students who are doing important work in the CBS community whether for research, clinical, and/or volunteer-humanitarian efforts. This will be a way to highlight their achievements, let the ACBS community know important work students are doing, and possibly provide a platform for mentoring/collaboration/professional development/conversations around highlighted areas.

Learn more about Wang:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I have been learning CBS, conducting related studies and disseminating ACT and RFT since 2015 when I started working with Dr. Zhu Zhuohong for Master’s degree.

Over the past nearly two years, I have published 32 popular science articles about ACT and RFT on the website and WeChat public platform, which is the most popular social media in China, of Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences and some newspapers. Also, I am the coordinator of translation of three books and also one of the translators, one of which was published (i.e., the Chinese version of ACT Made Simple by Dr. Russ Harris).

The main research project I finished was the pilot study that attempted to construct and evaluate the learning model of metaphorical reasoning for children with ASD in China. We utilized multiple exemplar training to teach them to establish the relational frames among subjects in a metaphor based on RFT. Participants included four children, aged 12-16, with a diagnosis of ASD. The results revealed their success in post-training phase and probe session, for accuracy data in all sessions reached above 80%. Two of them even got 100% in the fifth or sixth session. I submitted a manuscript based on this study along with another review manuscript, and both of them are still under review. What’s more, I have also helped with more than seven Master’s students’ studies on ACT and RFT in our research team and four of them almost finish it.

Autobiography:
My name is Wang Fenfen. I am a second-year Master’s student in Psychological Flexibility/Applied Psychology at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. I did my B.S. in Psychology at the Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

I’m very positive and earnest. I love children, and I believe that everyone was born with great ability and assets, sometimes it is subtle and needs to be discovered. Now, I’m working on my Master’s degree under the supervision of Dr. Zhu Zhuohong, who is the president of the China Chapter of ACBS. My works include the application of ACT and mindfulness-based practice in daily life, counseling and the study of training derived relational responding for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders based on RFT.

Also, I used to work as the editor for several websites and social media at Zhejiang University and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Therefore, I’m quite skilled in editing and typesetting. I also write popular science articles. Over the past two years, I have done many works on our group’s WeChat public platform to disseminate CBS, ACT, and RFT to professionals and the general public.

Future goals:
I hope I will succeed in the future study on the assessment and training of derived relational responding for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders based on RFT.

Relevant publications:
http://epaper.ynet.com/html/2016-01/07/content_175404.htm?div=-1&from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=1
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/6ZulGJRtIVEmNIL8-c65WQ
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4YRXjWcBq9HDcjf-5t2D-w
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/pawMPS8cdx5kynCLNn-zag
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FlxrQvsssAcMwOPtFi8c-g
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NDg4OTEwMQ==&mid=207335546&idx=1&sn=512d942ff11d1bef4aefa003ad851ea7&scene=1#rd
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5MDcxNjI4Nw==&mid=236066581&idx=3&sn=96643f318b4c970dd8cecc875ad956bc&scene=1#rd
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20160509142028.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20160329111995.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20160303111966.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20160205131953.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20151230131916.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20151208131893.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20151116141868.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20151103151845.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150922091810.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150831141735.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150817151702.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150811141688.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150723151647.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150515151542.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150420091498.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150330151475.html
http://xwxj.blog.kepu.cn/20150302161434.html

Congratulations to Wenqian ZHAO on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for September 2023!

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

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

Learn more about Wenqian ZHAO:

Hi, my name is Wenqian ZHAO, Chaney. I come from a lovely family in a beautiful city named Lanzhou, Gansu province, north of China. I am a person with a wide range of hobbies, including passionate guitar playing and singing, and quiet and subtle traditional Chinese painting. These experiences have allowed me to develop a character that is both passionate and careful.

I am now working on my PhD study with the supervision of Prof. Wai Tong Chien, and Prof. Yuen Yu CHONG, at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. I hope that through my research, we can find more effective ways to help cancer patients recover faster and better. I am now also interested in the combined application of art therapy such as music and painting in the context of behavioural science, hoping to become a professional ACT interventionist and bring my enthusiasm for life to everyone who is going through or has suffered horrible experiences.

Future goals:

I will further make efforts in research works about the combination utilization of contextual behavioural science and nursing science, especially the ACT-based interventions on cancer patients’ and their families’ health-related outcomes.

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

I have been learning ACT for five years and have participated in more than 40 hours of learning about ACT theoretical knowledge, and more than 30 hours of training and supervision on ACT skills. I have been doing research on the application of ACT in breast cancer patients, including a master's project and a doctoral project. In my master’s study, I validated the Chinese version of the cognitive fusion questionnaire (CFQ) and conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of ACT-based intervention on sleep quality and psychological well-being in breast cancer patients. In my doctoral study, I also translated the the original version of CompACT into Mandarin and validated it in the breast cancer survivors. I am now doing a PhD research project about the effectiveness of ACT-based intervention on breast cancer patients’ body image disturbance.

So far, I have published three related articles and five conference presentations, and got the 2022 ACBS Foundation Grant in the areas of behavioural context-optional and nursing science. I will continue conducting research on the combination of behavioural context science and nursing science to promote the development of clinical psychological nursing work as well as the patient's well-being.

Relevant publications:

He, X., Ng, M. S., Wang, X., Guo, P., Li, L., Zhao, W., . . . So, W. K. (2021). A dance program to manage a fatigue-sleep disturbance-depression symptom cluster among breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy: A feasibility study. Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, 8(3), 337-339. https://doi.org/10.4103/2347-5625.308677

X.He, W.K.W.So, K.C.Choi, L.Li, W.Zhao, & M.Zhang. (2019). CN83Symptom cluster of fatigue, sleep disturbance and depression and its impact on quality of life among Chinese breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy: A cross-sectional study. Annals of Oncology,
30(5), v840. https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdz276.015

Zhou, K., Wang, W., Zhao, W., Li, L., Zhang, M., Guo, P., . . . Li, X. (2020). Benefits of a WeChatbased multimodal nursing program on early rehabilitation in postoperative women with breast cancer: A clinical randomized controlled tria. International Journal of Nursing, 106, 103565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103565

赵雯倩,李璐璐,王雪,李小妹. (2021). 乳腺癌病人经验性回避与认知融合现状及关系框架分析 [Study on the status of empirical avoidance and cognitive fusion in breast cancer patients and their correlation]. Nursing research, 19(02):153-157.

赵雯倩,李小妹,王雯,李璐璐,张蒙悦. (2020). 中文版认知融合问卷在乳腺癌人群中的信效度研究 [Reliability and validity of Chinese version of cognitive fusion questionnaire in breast cancer patients]. Contemporary Nurse, 27(06):25-26.

赵雯倩,李璐璐,张蒙悦,白雪,李小妹. (2020). 术后化疗期乳腺癌患者心理痛苦及其心理僵化相关 影响因素研究 [Study on psychological distress and its influencing factors in breast cancer patients undergoing postoperative chemotherapy]. Journal of Nursing Science, 35(13):65-68.

李璐璐,李小妹,韩冬芳,李佳颖,赵雯倩,张蒙悦. (2020). 乳腺癌患者心理痛苦轨迹及影响因素的纵 向研究 [A longitudinal study of identification and predication of psychological distress trajectories among breast cancer patients]. Chinese Journal of Nursing, 55(08):1140-1146.

李璐璐,张蒙悦,赵雯倩,王雯,李小妹. (2019). 中文版 10 项目大五人格量表在乳腺癌病人中应用的 信效度分析 [Reliability and Validity Analysis of Chinese Version 10 Big Five Personality Scale in Breast Cancer Patients]. Nursing Research, 33(06): 970-973.

王雯,周凯娜,赵雯倩,李璐璐,张蒙悦,郭萍利,周灿,李敏捷,安靖华,李小妹. (2019). 网络化持续康复 护理支持对乳腺癌术后化疗病人健康相关生活质量的影响 [Effects of networked continuous rehabilitation nursing on health-related quality of life in postoperative chemotherapy patients
with breast cancer]. Nursing Research,33(11):1821-1826.

Congratulations to Cainã Gomes on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for February 2017!

The purpose of this award is to highlight students who are doing important work in the CBS community whether for research, clinical, and/or volunteer-humanitarian efforts. This will be a way to highlight their achievements, let the ACBS community know important work students are doing, and possibly provide a platform for mentoring/collaboration/professional development/conversations around highlighted areas.

Learn more about Cainã:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
Despite the few opportunites we have here in Brazil, I was fortunate enough to meet some colegues (William Perez, Roberta Kovac, Julio de Rose and Diana Bast) who introduced me to RFT and ACT. Since then, I have been studying RFT for the past three years on a weekly basis. We have a research group that has been very active and developing fast. I've completed two year course of specialization in clincal behavior therapy, which gave me basis to start a clincal practice this year. Despite that, I have little formal ACT formation so far, just a week-length workshop with Carmen Luciano last year. I've been volunteering for the past two years in the child psychiatric area of Universidade de São Paulo hospital with children who have OCD, it's a public hospital and the symptoms are frequently severe and the work is very rewarding.

Autobiography:
I had a very conservative behavior analyst formation during my undergraduate years, despite of that, I was never fully convinced that the traditional skinnerian framework of verbal and rule-governed behavior was adequate. The insatisfatcion became even greater when I started my clinical practice: the complexity of verbal relations I was seeing just couldn't be explained by tradicional behavior analytic accounts. Something was missing.

That was when I heard about RFT. At first, the vocabulary just seemed very odd and the experiments very difficult to understand. But after a while, the experimental data became so convincing that I wasn't able to go back. In addition, the ACT framework became more clear once I started applying, not only reading, specially to anxiety disorders patients. So far, the results have been much better than with tradicional behavioral therapy. I hope I can continue to learn more and bring CBS to Brazil, where there are a lot of behavior analysts, but very few willing to study RFT and ACT. There is, still, a lot of prejudice towards CBS.

In my masters I’m developing an experimental research about rule-governed behavior and transformation of stimulus functions.
In the first three months of 2017, I’ll be at Ghent University to collect all the data for my masters, under the supervision of Dermot Barnes-Holmes. By the time of the next conference, I'll have some interesting data to show.

Future Goals:
I'm committed to the development of experimental research in rule-governed behavior from an RFT perspective with collaboration of more experienced researchers.

Relevant publications:
Bast, D.F., Linares, I.M.P., Gomes, C. et al. The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a Measure of Self-Forgiveness: The Impact of a Training History in Clinical Behavior Analysis. Psychol Rec 66, 177–190 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-016-0162-7

Congratulations to Corinna Stewart on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for January 2017!

The purpose of this award is to highlight students who are doing important work in the CBS community whether for research, clinical, and/or volunteer-humanitarian efforts. This will be a way to highlight their achievements, let the ACBS community know important work students are doing, and possibly provide a platform for mentoring/collaboration/professional development/conversations around highlighted areas.

Learn more about Corinna:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I completed my Psychology degree at NUI Maynooth (NUIM), where I undertook modules in behaviourism and Relational Frame Theory (RFT). My final year research project used the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) to investigate gender and self-esteem. After graduating, I worked as a Research Assistant in NUIM investigating smoking cessation using the IRAP. I then worked on an RCT of ACT for depression in psychosis in Glasgow University, where I became interested in paranoia and how a CBS approach might inform our understanding of and help normalize these experiences. I was awarded a scholarship to undertake a PhD on this topic at NUI Galway and recently publish a paper on a CBS approach to delusions in JCBS. My research utilizes the IRAP and other RFT-based methods to explore paranoia from a CBS perspective. I have presented this work at local and international conferences and submitted two of my studies for publication. I joined the ACBS Psychosis SIG taskforce and currently manage our social media. I have pursued my interest in global mental health and CBS in my role as research leader with commit and act, an NGO that provides psychotherapeutic support in Sierra Leone. We have published an evaluation of our ACT training workshops in JCBS and a chapter in the Palgrave Handbook of Global Mental Health. I have also presented our work at ACBS World and UK Chapter conferences. Recently, we were awarded an ACBS grant for our ‘DARE to connect’ program, which supports couples affected by domestic violence.
Three sentence summary of CBS research/clinical/volunteering efforts/achievements (for social media use if you win): I am a final year PhD student at NUI Galway, studying RFT and paranoia using the IRAP. I’m also the research team leader at commit and act – an international NGO that uses ACT, PROSOCIAL, and CBS principles to promote mental health and wellbeing in Sierra Leone. I have been a member of ACBS for over 8 years - I love the warmth, support and fun that this community brings to the science of alleviating suffering and promoting prosociality and vitality.

Autobiography:
I’m from Derry in Northern Ireland. I first became interested in mental health when I studied A Level Psychology at secondary school. I went on to complete a BA in Psychology at NUI Maynooth, where I was first introduced to RFT and CBS. After my degree, I attended an ACT workshop at the ACBS World Conference in Enschede. These experiences had a profound effect on me – I found ACT to be personally transformative and empowering and CBS changed the way I see the world entirely. I am committed to studying and contributing to our understanding of how CBS principles can be used to alleviate suffering and promote wellbeing through my PhD work on paranoia and voluntary work with the ACBS Psychosis SIG and commit and act. These activities have also introduced me to some truly incredible people, who have become mentors and lifelong friends.

I also try to apply CBS to my everyday life. I often find myself saying things like “I wonder what the function of their behavior is?”, “Thank your mind for that”, and “Those transformation of stimulus functions can be pretty rough alright!” I find that having few friends gives me more time for my research and other hobbies! When I’m not "RFTing" (even though technically we are constantly RFTing or “AARRing” once we become verbal), you’ll find me baking and cooking for friends and family, in downward dog or savasana on my yoga mat, or walking along the Prom or beautiful hills of Connemara in Galway.

Future goals:
After my PhD, I plan to continue investigating paranoia from a CBS perspective working with researchers and clinicians from various backgrounds and perspectives. I will also continue working with commit and act to establish structures for research that will help us better understand local issues and improve our work.

Relevant publications:
Stewart, C., Ebert, B., & Bockarie, B. (in press). commit and act in Sierra Leone (Book chapter). In R. White, U. Read, S. Jain, & D. Orr (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Global Mental Health: Socio-cultural Perspectives. Palgrave Publishers Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-137-39510-8 http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137395092

Stewart, C., Stewart, I., & Hughes, S. (in press). A functional account of (persecutory) delusions. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2016.09.002

Stewart, C., White, R., Ebert, B., Mays, I., Nardozzi, J., & Bockarie, H. (2016). A preliminary evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy training in Sierra Leone. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2016.01.001

Gumley, A., White, R. G., Briggs, A., Ford, I., Barry, S., Stewart, C., Beedie, S., Clarke, C., MacLeod, R., Lidstone, E., Nam, J., & McLeod, H. (2015). A Parallel group Randomised Open Blinded Evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Depression After Psychosis: A Pilot Trial Protocol (ADAPT). Psychosis: Psychological, Social and Integrative Approaches. DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2015.1100669

Congratulations to Sonia Singh on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for May 2017!

The purpose of this award is to highlight students who are doing important work in the CBS community whether for research, clinical, and/or volunteer-humanitarian efforts. This will be a way to highlight their achievements, let the ACBS community know important work students are doing, and possibly provide a platform for mentoring/collaboration/professional development/conversations around highlighted areas.

Learn more about Sonia:

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I am a true believer in the scientist-practitioner model and work to be strong in both CBS research and practice. Through my masters program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake and through my doctoral study at Bowling Green State University, I have several years of direct experience utilizing CBS-based therapies to treat several different populations. For example, during my first year at BGSU, I developed and utilized a single-subject design study using Functional Analytic Psychotherapy for nursing home residents. Further, I am actively involved in a two-year randomized control trial research study funded by the Bureau of Workers Compensation assessing the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to reduce work stress, assault, injury, and abuse in nurses and nurse aides in long-term care settings compared to a wait-list control. I have also co-facilitated several ACT groups and developed the ACT protocol that is currently being used at my clinical externship site, the Toledo Veterans Affair Outpatient Clinic, as well as attended numerous multi-day national and international conferences and workshops based on various CBS therapies. I also helped co-author a chapter focused on using Functional Analytic Psychotherapy to treat shame in gender and sexual orientation minorities, and will be hosting Matthew Skinta and Aisling Curtin's upcoming webinar "Out of the Closet: Into the Context."

Autobiography:
I am a third year graduate student in clinical psychology at Bowling Green State University working with Dr. Bill O'Brien. Prior to moving to cold northwest Ohio, I was first introduced to contextual behavior therapies at the University of Houston-Clear Lake in Houston, TX, where I obtained my MA in clinical psychology. During my time there, I developed a passion for utilizing ACT and FAP, which then lead to my research interest in CBS. My thesis project was an examination of the efficacy of FAP single-subject research studies, and I hope my dissertation will be an evaluation of mindfulness and acceptance for work stress in sexual orientation minorities. I am also extremely interested CBS as it applies to anxiety disorders and OC-spectrum conditions, as a result of my work at UH-CL with Dr. Chad Wetterneck. I have been a part of the ACBS world for 5 years now, and I love attending conferences, workshops, and connecting with other like minded people.

Future goals:
I hope to land in academia and become a stronger scientist-practitioner in the world of ACBS and utilize contextual behavior therapies with underserved and stigmatized populations.

Relevant publications:
Singh, S., O’Brien, W.H. Functional Analytic Psychotherapy for Nursing Home Residents: A Single-Subject Investigation of Session-by-Session Changes. J Contemp Psychother 47, 173–180 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-016-9352-5
 

Congratulations to Victoria Ameral on being selected as the Student Spotlight Award winner for March 2017!

The purpose of this award is to highlight students who are doing important work in the CBS community whether for research, clinical, and/or volunteer-humanitarian efforts. This will be a way to highlight their achievements, let the ACBS community know important work students are doing, and possibly provide a platform for mentoring/collaboration/professional development/conversations around highlighted areas.

Learn more about Victoria: 

Background of CBS Research/Clinical/Volunteering efforts/achievements:
I began my clinical training in ACT as a second year graduate student, and now, as a fifth year, I am an advanced peer supervisor for second year students in Clark University’s ACT practicum. ACT and RFT have influenced all of my independent research endeavors as a graduate student. My master’s thesis evaluated the differential impact of negative and positive reinforcement processes on quality of life in depression. In addition to using this general measure of functioning, I also tested the model in a mixed sample to evaluate its impact across the well-being continuum. My dissertation research, for which I received a student research grant from APA Division 50, is an experimental test of values clarification in opioid use disorder. I am investigating whether a brief values clarification exercise increases motivation for abstinence, and whether it does so by improving the ability to delay gratification.

I also consider my personal outreach efforts to be a sort of CBS volunteer effort. While working as a full time research assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital, I made a number of friends who are now training in second wave CBT programs. I very much enjoy engaging in active discussions with them around the differences between ACT and CBT. I think these conversations can be a powerful tool for making ACT accessible to those who did not receive third-wave training as graduate students.

Autobiography:
I am a fifth year doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Clark University, where I work with Dr. Kathleen Palm Reed. I graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2008, where I completed my honors thesis in cognitive neuroscience. I then spent four years as a research assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital prior to starting graduate school.

As a result of my undergraduate and post-baccalaureate experiences, I am drawn to research and clinical approaches that address the limitations of our diagnostic system, and bridge the gap with related fields such as neuroscience. I became interested in substance use disorders through my clinical work, and over the past 2+ years have continued to work with this population. I am passionate about supporting individuals with substance use disorders to rebuild a valued life, a focus which inherently rejects the notion that addiction is the result of some moral failing. Addiction research has also long highlighted the role of reinforcement in substance use disorders, and I am excited by the potential links between reinforcement processes and values work.

In addition to this focus on substance use disorders, I have a broader interest in work that improves the lives of stigmatized groups, including victims of interpersonal violence and sexual and gender minority individuals. At the end of my career, I hope to be described as an affirming and respectful clinical scientist who was passionate about my work.

Future goals:
I aim to build a clinical research career bridging the gap between clinical science and practice in the treatment of substance use disorders, with a particular focus on processes related to values and motivation.

 

I'm a clinical psychologist working in Argentina. My main area of interest (and the main reason for attending to the conference), is the dissemination and training of EST in Argentina, specially low-cost interventions with a wide spectrum. In terms of therapies, this means ACT and also BATD (values-driven behavioral activation, Lejuez et al).

And, since Parma, a lot of good things had happened. First of all, we've created the SIG for Dissemination (the majority of the scholarship's recipients are on the SIG), which is a whole challenge on itself (I think there are as many languages as people on the SIG, it is a beautiful thing), and we are giving our firsts steps with it.

Specifically in Argentina, we had our first BATD and ACT workshops a couple of months ago. Particularly, the ACT workshop (with Kelly Wilson), had more than 80 attendees, which is just crazy in a country with a long standing psychoanalytic tradition (even CBT is relatively new around here). I've been giving some short lectures on several places (including the university of buenos aires, which in a sense is like teaching in Freud's backyard. Highly rewarding.), and we are having our first "native" workshop next month. In addition to that, we are starting to work on a research project using behavioral activation for depression. Im particularly interested on the act-related mediational factors for BA, so maybe in a couple of years we'll get back to you with some data about it (and btw, research funding for psychology is nearly zero, so almost everything in this is just will-supported).

If you interested in any of the things we are working on, drop me an email, join the SIG http://groups.yahoo.com/group/acbsdisseminationsig/, or buy me a beer at DC this year :-)

Peace,
Fabian Maero
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

I, Belal Mustafa, am a fresh graduate from the Jordan University of Sciences and Technology (JUST) located in Middle East country of Jordan, currently holding a master degree in applied behavior analysis.

I have participated in the ninth ACBS world conference held last year in the city of Parma- Italy as being awarded a scholarship by ACBS’s committee to attend that international event gathering. The invaluable benefits I gained through that event have significantly helped achieve my learning and performance objectives. Eventually, the exposure and presentation I had through the course of the conference was translated into an experience I am currently sharing with the rest of applied behavior research community in the region (Middle East and North Africa).

My main objectives are centered at enhancing my RFT, ACT and other contextual behavior science knowledge and experience, and serving the community specially those whom are suffering worldwide. More specifically, it is on how these conferences positively contribute to my personal and academic goals.

Through the course of these conferences I have established relations with professionals from all over the world. Preconference workshops were a great opportunity to exchange experience and knowledge about ACT that continued and extended to a network of relations that I am very proud of. The conference was a valuable opportunity to acquire up to date knowledge on latest ACT & RFT research introduced by most known professors in the track of contextual behavior science from overall the world. It is worth mentioning that, Behavior Analysis science is still a new field in my entire region that is why more effort is extremely needed in educating ACT, RFT, and other contextual science theories. In this context and since my attendance in the ninth conference till now I am working hard to hopefully implement ACT, RFT at our university’s hospital. Moreover, after attending the conference I've started preparing a research paper analyzing the “Arab spring” phenomenon and current region nations revolutions from an RFT perspective, I may considered myself a pioneer with this approach at both my university and within the entire region, where as this is the first psychological and behavioristic analysis to this phenomenon, in addition I believe that I am one of the first people in middle east region who worked on relational frame theory (RFT).

Considering RFT, ACT, and contextual behavior science becoming the most interesting fields in behavior analysis and psychology in general, , I was all the time keen to get advanced knowledge through my attendance at the ninth conference. Following my ambitious in this regard, I proposed establishing an ACBS chapter in the Middle East region and North Africa ; Since then I have made serious endeavors at initiating this promising chapter that disseminate ACBS values, serve professionals and students from one side, and patients whom indeed need to be treated deploying this prominent science from the other side.

I cannot ignore the positive impact and experience I gained by being a member of the “CBS Dissemination in Developing Nations” Special Interest Group (SIG). Finally, beside all of what I have mentioned before, I cannot emphasizes enough one of the benefits the ninth conference have served, which is getting acquainted with seasoned professors and scientist which in return gave me the chance to get consultation and guidance on many issues related to this science and others. Furthermore, I am communicating with other ACBS official chapters to enhance my presentation in future scientific conferences, looking to maximize my educational knowledge in this prominent track as well. In essence, I consider this conference a precious and priceless event I cannot bear to miss.

Many Thanks and Best Regards

Belal Mustafa
A member of Jordanian Applied Behavior Analysis Association.
Bsn,RN,Master Degree at ABA program in Jordan University of Sciences and Technology.

Irbid, Jordan
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

My name is Manuel Garayar and I’m from Peru. Since I’ve got back to my country, I've continued with my scientific blog about CBS in Spanish (http://conductistaenperu.wordpress.com/). It worked very well because, a few months later, I received an invitation to give a presentation about some topic related to Functional Contextualism. For my audience, I choosed the title: “Functional Contextualism: A contemporary monistic perspective to understand and influence on cognitive events” and my goal was to give a broad perspective about philosophical issues that underly CBS, and an introduction about their theoretical (RFT) and applied dimensions (ACT).

As I said in my poster presentation at Parma, I’ve continued doing workshops, helping others learn about ACT and Psychological Flexibility as a way of promoting personal development. I think that CBS can be promoted by demonstrating that its products are useful for the problems that common people label with their own words (low self-esteem, anger control, leadership, etc.). The interventions were planned, for example, using notions like self as context vs. self as content for deminishing the discriminative functions of the “negative” self-statements known as “low self-esteem”. I’ve shared some of this work through the ACT listserv (a power point presentations called “Lidiando con emociones no deseadas” [“Dealing with unwanted emotions”] for someone who was looking for some material in Spanish for his client).

As a therapist, I’ve been working with children, adolescents and adults (especially, parents). My experience is that the psychological flexibility model is a powerful and useful approach for the therapist in his role of helping the client to get a valuable life for him/her. A clear advance after the conference is that I’ve made an initial adaptation of the “feeding the tiger” metaphor for working with unwanted emotions in children, which I call “the story of the monster” who is presented as an analog of their emotions and thoughts and the notion that the problem comes when you always do “what the monster says”, adding to this some training in basic mindfulness repertoires.

In the same way, my Peruvian partner (Silvia Melgar) and I are preparing an experiential seminar with the goal of giving an introductory level of knowledge about CBS (ACT/FAP, RFT, FC). In April, I’ll travel to Buenos Aires (Argentina) to give a class about Functional Contextualism. Besides this class, I’m co-working on the possibility of a seminar about CBS topics too. For October, Silvia and I are organizing an ACT workshop (with Patricia Zurita) which will be the first one in my country.

In my country, it’s really important to show in both contexts, academic and professional, that there’s a powerful scientific approach, which emerging from the past behavioral and cognitive interventions, is giving new solutions from a contextual behavioristic point of view. The scholarship received from the ACBS (my new family around the world) was, of course, fundamental because I received more tools for achieving this goal. I’m sure that CBS approach can fill the void of dealing with suffering with verbal subjects in a human, pragmatic and scientific way. Our clients, the people who trust in us, will receive this benefit.
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Silvia Melgar

My Peruvian partner (Manuel Garayar) and I are preparing an experiential seminar with the goal of giving an introductory level of knowledge about CBS (ACT/FAP, RFT, FC). In October, Manuel and I are organizing an ACT workshop (with Patricia Zurita) which will be the first one in my country.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Report by Krisztina G. Szabó, PhD
Psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor in Ericksonian Pyschotherapy and Client- Centered Psychotharapy (Focusing)
Cluj, Romania

The scholarship represented a unique opportunity to participate in an intensive 14 hours pre-conference workshop and in 6 other workshops during the conference. Through this experience, I got a comprehensive understanding of the core processes of ACT and learned ways of using related concepts and techniques based on the model to develop therapeutic and supervision interventions. My previous readings about ACT have already provided me with a new understanding of processes related to therapeutic change, adding more effectiveness to my work; but it has been so important to actually see how different ACT professionals work, because for me this created a “shortcut” to the deep and living sense of what ACT means.

Another tremendous gain was to meet the ACBS community live and to experience that declared values really are the compass of acting and interacting within it. I consider this kind of experience really vital, especially when coming from a community still paying tribute to authority- and hierarchy-driven relationships.

So far, my dissemination activities have consisted in:
- using ACT in clinical practice
- introducing the ACT model trough all my teaching and training activities (seminars in clinical psychology and psychotherapy, trainings in psychotherapy/CE, as well as in supervision);
- bringing with me a colleague to the conference, who actively supported me further in all of the following activities:

• organizing a summer-camp (30 hours of training) on the topic of fostering psychological flexibility, where we presented the ACT model and specific techniques and also discussed ways of using the model in clinical practice; we also offered access to all the relevant materials (books and articles) we have. The program was credited with 30 CE credits by the Romanian College of Psychologists (August, 2011);
• developing a personal development program for adolescents based on ACT (ACT flexibly!); the program is thought to be an 8-week group activity, with the aim of fostering psychological flexibility; we organized a two-day intensive training (16 hours) for counselors and therapists interested in applying the program and also continuous assistance; we offered a brochure containing the specific topic and the objectives targeted in each session, as well as samples of recommended activities and guidelines. So far we have 20 therapists involved in the program, from different towns, and are still more interested. This program is sustained on a volunteer basis (the training and the assistance is free, as well as the participation in the group); we offered access to all the materials we have (books, articles etc.) and which are relevant to the topic;
• have submitted our proposal to translate into Romanian the best-seller Get out of your mind and into your life to a prestigious publisher;
• founding the Institute for Contextual Psychological Technologies which basically aims to promote values, views and principles grounded in functional contextualism, and to contribute to the dissemination and enrichment of knowledge and technologies based on that (the process in ongoing);
• have translated into Hungarian (in addition to the Romanian version) the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II and we are working on its validation; we have translated into Romanian and Hungarian the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (for the Hungarian versions we have collaborated with a colleague from Hungary);

It is to be mentioned that we conducted our teaching and training activities being certified trainers by the Romanian College of Psychologists; we did not presented ourselves as ACT-trainers, but shared our understanding and experience with it.
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

From Hannah Bockarie Sierra Leone West Africa.

 Subject. Report on ACBS Conference Attended 2011.

The painful and bitter experience of the war in Sierra Leone left most people with traumatic experiences and the feeling of unstable minds, the ACBS conference has help me touch many lives. It helped build my skills that I use to help people with mental health problems. With the help of these tools, major achievements have been done in the following ways:

1. After the ACBS Conference, training was organized for eight therapists in Bo Southern part of Sierra Leone at my place of work. The topic ACT for Life was presented, for which they were very much grateful. They were able to understand the basic concept, and learned some new skills for dealing with clients.

2. A supervision meeting for therapists in Freetown the capital city was organized where I facilitate on the topic ACT and the Treatment of Trauma. This helps therapists learn the usefulness of ACT in the treatment of trauma, a new tool of dealing with traumatic cases which helps them better understand the painful feelings, unstable minds, and unwanted thoughts clients goes through as a result of the traumatic experience. These tools are used by most therapists.

3. The training has help me with new skills which I use to help my clients with different cases in both individual and group counseling and the communities.

4. A workshop is organized for thirty participants which is going to be facilitated by Beate and her team from the 5th to the 7th of March 2012 to help therapists with new tools in working with clients with mental health problems. (Scroll down for pictures).

Action Plan

1 . I have written a proposal in which the objective is to open a Commit and ACT center in Bo, the second capital city of Sierra Leone. I am seeking funds to help facilitate the process.

2. To continue supporting other therapists through trainings, and to continue with individual and group sessions for both old and new clients.
 

Pictures from the March 2012 Sierra Leone ACT Workshop

^ ACBS Members, left to right: Beate Ebert, Hannah Bockarie, Ross White

^ ACT workshop participants complete the "Life Line" exercise together.

^ The group who participated in the Seirra Leone ACT Workshop March 5th-7th, 2012

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

My vision of life has changed.

As a Catholic priest, I use ACT in my sermons. Sometimes, instead of preaching, I use a mindfulness exercise related to the Word of God of the day. During some retreats, I preach about acceptance. Many people appreciate this.

Last year, on August 15th, 2011, I gathered fifty disabled people to give them food and drink, and to talk about acceptance. Many of them are frustrated, and therefore have become aggressive, smoke, or drink alcohol. Many journalists came to cover that event and presented it in radio, TV, and newspapers. Many people called to congratulate me.

Also, as chaplain of school, I coordinated with the Ministry of Education in the training of many teachers.

My project now is how to disseminate to francophone (French-speaking) countries. Because I’m a francophone working in Anglophone (English-speaking) country.

For me ACT-ACBS can be used to build Peace in the world.

Thanks to you.

Rev. Fr KICHE
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

The Parma Conference was a unique experience for me. I am a psychiatrist and CBT therapist. The ACBS community is so warm, energetic compared to our communities. At the Parma Conference I have reached what I could consider an intermediate level about ACT, metaphors and mindfulness techniques.

When I returned to Turkey I decided to study more on ACT and related topics. I have started to try to treat my patients from the ACT point of view. I see that creative hopelessness, in particular, is a very useful technique for resistant patients and it can be useful for CBT too. 

I have been working at a full time inpatient clinic for three months. With ACT techniques I’m helping my patients to accept and be mindful about their hallucinations and delusions without any response. I finished two of my client’s therapy with only ACT techniques. One is PTSD and the other one hypochondriasis. I realized that ACT provides motivation quickly for functional behavioral change.

I organized a half day workshop called “Three waves of Behaviorism” at the National psychiatry congress which was held on October 2011. It includes basic RFT principles and RFT views of psychopathology, too. At the same congress we organized a session about “new behavioral therapies” and I did a presentation called “What ACT brings to Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy?”

I am working at the biggest Psychiatry Hospital in Turkey. On December 2011, I did a presentation called “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A new behavioral model for psychopathology” at my hospital. At the same time I am teaching and reading together with my psychiatry residents about ACT at my inpatient clinic.

Nowadays I am working about meta-cognitions (rumination, avoidance, thought action fusion, etc.) and have some researches with these processes. Soon I will start to research for the reliability and validity of Turkish version of AAQ-2. I took permission from the authors. I think this will be an important experience for me. 

I am a founder member of a new association in Turkey called “Association for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies of Turkey”. I am responsible for the ACT unit of this association. I am planning to arrange workshops and trainings about ACT and RFT in midterm.

I am planning a two days workshop at a psychotherapy training center in Istanbul. The content will be about the history of behaviorism and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. With this workshop I want to constitute a basic level for further trainings.

This year there will be two psychiatry congresses in Turkey. I will suggest half or full day ACT workshops to congresses’ committees.
With my colleagues this year I am planning to start to translate one of the ACT books into Turkish.

It seems that my direction is on the ACT path at this point in my professional development...

K.Fatih Yavuz, MD
Psychiatrist
Bakirkoy Psychiatry Education and Research Hospital
Istanbul, Turkey
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Having attended WC10 has been a very fruitful experience for me because it was a great opportunity to train therapeutic skills in experiential ways. Much of my knowledge in contextual therapy has been self-taught and has a clear deficit in experiential training. Attending the conference was very useful for me in that sense. My current efforts are focused on the ability to convey this knowledge to colleagues in my country and for this purpose I have organized a study group without charge. We meet once every two weeks (for 3 hours) and we read papers, book chapters and watch videos, then we have very fruitful discussions to deepen our knowledge. It is a stable group that aspires to become a clinical team working consistently with behavior contextual sciences.

Attending to the conference has also allowed me to meet colleagues from different places around the world, with whom I keep in contact to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences.

Some of my actions committed to disseminating contextual behavioral science in my country were: paper presentations and workshops at various conferences in Argentina, such as Argentine Psychiatrists Association (APSA) in the city of Mar del Plata, Latin American Association Analysis and Behavior Modification (ALAMOC) in CABA, Buenos Aires and the American Association of Clinical and Health (APICSA) in the province of Cordoba (Argentina).

I've also been able to complete the first promotion course of Contextual Third Generation Therapies that I have organized and coordinated in Fundacion Foro (institution focused on promotion and research in mental health), where 13 professionals from various disciplines of mental health learned about theoretical and practical contents of ACT, FAP and Mindfulness. Another achieved goal for 2012 has been to organize Schoendorff Benjamin´s workshop during the month of October, also in the Fundacion Foro.

After establishing contact with colleagues in my country interested in contextual behavioral sciences I have organized a two-day workshop in the province of Cordoba, attended by 15 professionals who learned ACT and FAP principles in an experiential way with a very good response from the audience.

I am currently working with a colleague Dr. Fabian Olaz, (National University of Cordoba), in designing a research project that will begin soon. It was really valuable for me being able to attend the conference in Washington and I take this opportunity to thank again the support I have received from ACBS to make this possible.

- Juan Pablo Coletti, Argentina
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

By Chhori Laxmi Maharjan
FNC/Ankur Counseling Center

Chhori Maharjan is the senior counselor and program director for Friends of Needy Children, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing psychosocial therapy to disadvantaged children and young people of Nepal. Chhori and her team of psychologists at the Ankur Counseling Center provide counseling to adults and children in the Kathmandu area and the income generated through this counseling helps to fund free treatment for disadvantaged children, many of whom struggle with trauma, disability, and homelessness. Since 2006, Chhori’s group has provided training to over 700 mental health providers, including counselors, child care professionals, Buddhist monks, and women’s groups from all over Nepal. Here, Chorri describes what she has been up to since attending ACBS World Conference X.

I am thankful to the team of ACBS for providing me a chance to participate in the conference last year. It was my first exposure to the international expertise in contextual behavior science and ACT. Because of the scholarship from ACBS I got an additional chance to attend Sand play therapy as well as an exposure visit to Antioch group and Bradley University, where I started to share about ACT and its effectiveness. We discussed ACT with students, practicing psychologists, psychotherapists, sand play therapists, as well as some of administrative staff.

Being a beginner and an enthusiastic learner in ACT therapy, before starting orientation classes in Nepal, I referred ‘ACT made simple’, ‘Get Out of Your Mind and into Your Life for Teens’ and consultation with Dr.Louise along with my experiences. I organized orientation programs 2-3 hours long for staff members of my organization. 

Similarly, in the last six months, five orientation classes were organized for teachers, students of clinical and counseling psychology, students of Buddhism studies, private and government colleges, along with the only Mental Hospital in Nepal. Also, during world mental health day (October 10), I had a chance to share about ACT.

After my orientation session, students, teachers have been visiting Ankur counseling center seeking books on ACT, and they have provided positive feedback to Ankur. They have shown their keen interest to learn more, have trainings, and planning to apply for the upcoming world conference in Sydney. 

‘ACT Made Simple’, ‘I just want to be Me’, and ’Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life for Teens’ are commonly used books by the readers in Ankur library.

According to the need, I have been using some of the interventions effectively during counseling sessions such as diffusion, mindfulness, workability, mindfull movement, values base living, and more. 

I translated ‘Leaves on the Stream’ and am currently translating a values exercise for teens by Dr. Louise into Nepali language for easiness and for its effectiveness.

Publicly I gave two Radio Interviews and one talk program. 

Currently, I have prepared a training manual including ACT and its interventions as a major component. The training is named “Trauma counseling.” It lasts for five days, and is specially designed for volunteer peer counselors who have been rescued from servitude, and have had various traumatic past life experiences. 

In addition, I have been communicating with some of the professionals for their commitment to give training on ACT in Nepal. Dr.Louise, Tim and Sandra are planning to come this year.

Dr.Louise and Ankur team have been in Skype for clinical supervision monthly.

Lastly, I would like to state that the five days exposure to ACT is just an appetizer, so I need to learn and get trained on ACT more and more just like a full meal course. Hence, all of my colleagues and I are looking forward to get a floor of ACT with a thrust again and again.

- Chhori Laxmi Maharjan, Nepal
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Christian Vonjoe is a Senior Health Education Officer at the Health Education Division of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone. Christian’s program develops and disseminates educational initiatives and behavioral interventions that promote healthy behavior change at both the individual and community levels. Christian uses a contextual behavioral approach to develop culturally appropriate health messages that combat stigma, discrimination, and the persistence of inaccurate information about HIV, tuberculosis, reproductive health, and immunization. Christian also provides counseling to individuals with HIV and tuberculosis, emphasizing values and flexibility in their approach to managing their illness and engaging with their communities. To learn about his activities since ACBS World Conference X, read his report below.

REPORT ON ACBS ACTIVITIES IN SIERRA LEONE

INTRODUCTION
Knowledge and skills gained form the ACBS conference in Washington D.C. was disseminated through staff meeting with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and a one day orientation meeting held on the 25th September, 2012 with members from line ministries and a cross–section of university students. My presentation focused on the following concepts:

• Background information of ACBS and its objectives
• Promoting Behavior Change in Primary Health care
• Acceptance and values in Behavior Medicine
• ACT as a behavioral medicine to improve health- pain management and smoking cessation
• Promoting Healthy behavioral life choices
A one day orientation meeting was supported by the Directorate of Non communicable diseases in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone.

NEXT STEP
• A National Contextual Behavioral Science (NCBS) committee was formulated and has been identified by the ministry of health to collaborate with health partners to promote healthy behavioral lifestyle choices .
• The executive structure of the committee was developed.
• Committee meets monthly to discuss issues that required to be address through the use of CBS, RFT and ACT concepts.
• Coordination with the broad ACBS umbrella was highly suggested.
• Mobilize resource for the implementation of CBS activities.
• The committee wrote project proposal to promote healthy behavioral lifestyle choices in communities

ACHIEVEMENT
• Committee meets twice each month to identify issues required to be address and among them were: Unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco and alcohol consumption.
• The committee is now a member of the national taskforce on non-communicable diseases in the Ministry of health and sanitation.
• The Health Education Programme in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation is a member of this committee and has now incorporated some CBS principles to heighten community awareness on health issues.
• The committee has written a project proposal to solicit support form NGO partners and to create awareness on healthy behavioral lifestyle choices ( physical exercise, healthy diet and the prevention and control of tobacco and alcohol in communities).
• So far we are awaiting feedback from our donor partners.

CONCLUSION
The committee noted the importance of securing e a technical support from ACBS and additional resources to effectively implement pending CBS projects. The committee also identified the need for additional training on CBS concepts to scale up behavioral interventions in the country.

Submitted by:
Christian Vonjoe
Senior Health Education Officer
Ministry of Health and Sanitation
Sierra Leone
  

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Time has flown since the Worldcon in July and so many things have been happening. I want to first thank everyone at ACBS for creating and supporting the opportunity for me to attend the conference and the training before. I would like to especially thank Chris Wemple and Suzan Stafford who made me feel so comfortable when hosting me so far from home, and giving me greater insight into life in DC.

The pre-conference workshop I attended was presented by Paul Gilbert and Dennis Tirch on Compassion Focused Therapy. I found the workshop very inspiring, and I began to apply what I had learned to my personal process and my work with individual clients immediately. In September, I used some of these principles and exercises in a facilitator training and a leadership camp for cultural diversity intelligence, called Umthombo Wesizwe (Spring of the Nation, see www.uwfund.org) near Cape Town. The facilitators were especially moved by the compassionate approach, and there was a lot of positive feedback about how this helped them to deepen their connection with themselves, others, and within the group.

Over the past 5 months I have been involved in a process of exploring a research topic relating to the process of transformation in South Africa. I find that I have been deeply affected by the work on shame that we explored with Paul Gilbert, and I am intending to follow in this line by exploring "white shame" and its consequences in terms of transformation in South Africa.

On the ACT front I continue to apply an ACT approach with many of my clients and I continue to grow in this work. I have also done an introductory presentation on ACT to a group of mental health professionals at the military hospital in Cape Town that I based on an introductory pamphlet that I compiled for distribution to health professionals. The pamphlet has been well received and I had some requests for more from interested General Practitioners.

I had made plans for an introductory workshop on ACT in November/December to be presented by an international ACT trainer, though due to time and communication constraints this did not happen.
I have subsequently come into contact with others that are also working with ACT, and have been asked to do another ACT presentation in a neighboring town in the near future.

Overall the opportunity to participate in the conference was a great inspiration to my work in various areas. I have had numerous conversations with people since that time discussing my experience and sharing the knowledge gained in D.C., and I continue to contemplate Worldcon X in Cape Town.

Thank you again to all of those that have supported this wonderful opportunity.

Regards,

Yoav Van der Heyden
Cape Town, South Africa
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Dear Association of Contextual Science,

Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to come to Australia and attend the 13th World Conference of ACBS. There is a number of good news to be reported here for ACT promotion and training in China.

In September 2013, we had held a small Salon inviting around 15 professionals (professors and psychologists), and we presented on both ACT and RFT for introduction. The attendees were excited in training, researching, and developing culturally adaptable techniques for ACT.

A larger forum for “Chinese culture and post-modern applied psychology” was held by the Key Laboratory of Mental Health and the Mental Health Promotion Center of our institute during early December 2013. This forum was for the promotion and development of post-modern psychological practices in China based on Chinese cultural backgrounds. In this event, Dr. Kenneth Fung from Canada joined us, and we provided a brief session on the core techniques and practices of ACT and its relationships to the wisdoms of Zen. Around 200 attendees come together from 20 universities and centers from America, Canada, Germany, Taiwan, and across China. The ACT session was well-received, and ACT practices may be applied in the vast public servant population in China.

Soon after, a three day elementary training program for the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy was provided from 27th to 29th of December by Dr. Yan Li and I. Yan had prior trainings in ACT and is based at the Counseling and Psychological Services center at Duke University. More than 50 people including lecturers, research staffs, clinical psychologists, and graduate students attended the event. The training was based on theories and activities to introduce the hexflex model. After the theoretical session, Yan lead the games of “the passengers”, “tug-of-war with difficulties”, “self-labeling”, several role play sessions and others. These games provided learners with deeper understandings and applications of each of the core processes in the ACT model.

We had also discussed with Professor Hayes for introducing the Boot Camp to China. Now, we have started the elementary package offered by Chinese ACT trainers, and a third training event will be held soon. These preparations as discussed were to create public awareness for the ACT therapy. Following from such local events, we would welcome International trainers to come to China for an intermediate package, and finally an advanced package by arranging Chinese audiences to come the US Boot Camp. We hope that this would progress well in the years to come.

Besides training, we never cease to introduce ACT to the wider Chinese audiences. For instance, we have continued to use microblogs and blogs to spread news on ACT. More importantly, the translation of the 2nd Edition of the ACT text is near completion. We make sure more professional guides on ACT will be appeared in the Chinese market in addition to the best sellers on the same topic. We express our gratitude for the hospitality of the ACBS team in giving us the opportunity to come to the 13th world conference and the careful arrangements during the conference. During the time of Chinese New Year, we wish you a happy Year of the Horse.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Zhuohong Zhu
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Dear Association of Contextual Behavioral Science,

Being the recipient of the developing world scholarship of the 2013 Sydney world conference for contextual behavioral science, I hereby express my gratitude for this wonderful opportunity to learn, discuss, and share insights in the theory and practice of this burgeoning field. In the following, I will be happily present what we have accomplished in terms of the empirical researches of psychological flexibility carried out by myself and our team after the conference.

 In Chinese, we submitted two papers on the validations of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire 2nd Edition as well as the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire, both validation papers (entitled “Reliability and validity in a Chinese version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire – 2nd Edition (AAQ-II) in college students” and “Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire”) have been accepted by the Chinese Mental Health Journal, and will be appeared in the upcoming printed journal soon. Together with the two earlier review papers on ACT and RFT, these papers would lay down the conceptual foundation for further theoretical and interventional researches in China.

Following the validation papers, we have further analyzed the associations between psychological flexibility measures (PS) and generalized psychological well-being scales. This included the relationships of PS with differential psychological symptoms (SCL-90-R) among college students, together with post traumatic stress (PCL-C) and post traumatic growth (PTGI) among college student earlier influenced by the Wenchuan Earthquake. Our results showed that PS is a good predictor for psychological well-being, and these two papers have both submitted for review (entitled “Psychological flexibility model in predicting post-traumatic stresses and growth” and “Psychological flexibility as a predictor for levels of psychological distress and gender differences in its predictability among college students”).

I personally have completed a paper on the reliability, construct and incremental validity of the AAQ-II questionnaire in English. The paper after slight amendments will be submitted to the Journal of Behavioral Therapy, following Dr. Frank Bond’s original paper on the development of the AAQ-II questionnaire. The paper has been read by Professor Steven Hayes, and he considered the incremental validity studies were important conceptually, and encouraged us to take part in longitudinal studies for the predictive roles of psychological flexibility in future.

Moreover, we have completed a study among 40 college students on the associations between psychological flexibility and cognitive flexibility based on a computerized modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, our preliminary results suggested that cognitive flexibility are not as context specific, thus were more associated with the concept of present moment awareness. This study will be prepared into a manuscript in the near future.

Unfortunately, our paper on a microblogged suicide case “Zou-Fan” was not accepted into the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science due to its qualitative nature. We consider the paper not as a rigorous empirical research but a mixed policy article. Although the paper may not be readily accepted as agreed by most of our team, we believe that this endeavor in assessing a real life case would shed many insights to the new field of data mining and computer aided assistance, which is going to be more and more based on a pragmatic contextual philosophy.

These are the little “milestones” we have accomplished after last year’s world conference on contextual behavioral science. I hoped that we can produce more empirical researches of contextual behavioral science. Again, thank you for providing me the precious opportunity to come to UNSW in Sydney, and we wish the ACBS to have an ever more fruitful year in 2014.

Yours sincerely,
Yang Ji
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

On the next weeks after coming back to Peru, I made a call to begin with meetings around discussing and providing some guidance to a formal study and practice at different levels of CBS, all for free. The middle-term goal linked to this was the one of stablishing a regional chapter, which would be the Peruvian Chapter of the ACBS. I was not alone on this, since Silvia Melgar, another CBS folk, has been working with me. This meant the born of the CBS Peruvian Community and since the first session we had discussed scientific articles around functional contextualism, RFT and more applied issues related to ACT. Our community also has worked through a virtual space where the members share CBS literature and where I share specific readings that could help in this first stage of the CBS dissemination in a more formal way (as long as we are following a route that beging on the philosophical level of analysis and its connection with more applied issues that constitutes the technological level). Some time of other sessions were dedicated to questions and answers. But what I think is the most exciting part of it is that our CBS Peruvian community has born with a strong orientation not only on dissemination activities (as it could be the case of a study group) but on practicing all that CBS can provide as a way of contributing to the history of human evolution, to say, for example, sharing certain values that create the context for the occurrence and manteinance of flexible repertoires across its members, in terms of how we relate each other (kindly, with good sense of humor, etc.) and with our society (i.e. curiosity about the needs of our regional context, so we can plan some intervention according to them). So our community is not just a mere academic group but I hope it could achieve the goal of being useful for our context and, in certain way, to contribute to evolution of humanity using CBS. This is the soul of this community, or at least, I'll work with Silvia to make it work in that way. I truly believe that we can do this by giving just little steps momment to momment. Besides this CBS community, another important activity that took place in the last months was the ACT workshop that I leaded on November about ACT since an RFT perspective where a group of participants could get a closer contact with the power of using behavior analysis since a functional contextual point of view in the direction of alleviating human suffering. Finally some of the sessions of the community have also been dedicated to discuss about the benefits and requirements to become a formal ACBS chapter. Until now we got and sent all the signatures required, which meant at least 10 new members from Peru in the ACBS. A good number that calls for happiness and good expectations, considering that we are, as I usually say, so far from the places where things happen. Now I'm just preparing the by-laws to send it to the ACBS so our community could become formally a chapter, which I think is a more practical way to get involved, interested and committed with the whole community around the world. My second attendance to the Conference was determinant on giving these steps which I hope can be the beginning of a more active role of the Peruvian folks in the world community.

- Manuel Garayar, Peru

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

I would like to thank all those who made it possible for me to have the opportunity to attend Worldcon in Minneapolis. Although I have managed to attend before and have been practising ACT for sometime, my relocation to South Africa and the accompanying financial constraints would have made attendance at this particular Worldcon impossible; yet I felt that precisely because of my relocation it was imperative to attend to focus on what can be done in South Africa to disseminate ACT.
During the buildup to Worldcon I had the privilege of meeting Bertus Swanepoel in an introduction to ACT workshop that I facilitated over a few days in my hometown. He lives in Gauteng and specifically in the most densely populated area in South Africa, where he can have the greatest influence in the mental health professional community. I will leave it to him to tell you of the great work he has been doing there.

I live in a very small town which also happens to have the most diverse population group – from the very rich, multiple home-owner holiday-makers and retirees to the very poorest unemployed and homeless. I have chosen to focus on the latter, although in my private practice I have had the opportunity to promote ACT within the local medical community: for example with report back especially with chronic pain patients.

In my work within the poor community, I am developing a protocol that I hope to be able to provide a simple model for dissemination amongst the disadvantaged and sometimes illiterate communities. Some years ago I studied the success rates of ‘foreign’ models that are brought into Africa by both religious and secular groups and discovered a high rate of failure. This was mainly due to a lack of consideration of the structures already in place, mainly leadership structures and ‘natural’ sources of healing. These are often older members of the society who, in contrast to some other societies, gain respect and reverential treatment as they age; also some influential younger persons who are considered to have ‘special’ powers who may, or may not agree to consider what is being offered.

As a result of my previous studies I decided to become a ‘participant observer’ and to this end have been part of a group of about 30-40 people in a church in the poorest area, and have been attending their meetings for three years now. I am accepted by most now, and sometimes (increasingly) asked to speak. I have identified the natural leaders and done two one-day workshops with them this year, and another two with any members of the community who care to attend. These were well attended, and the idea of willingness has been very well received. The cycle of poverty requires a great deal of stoic endurance for some, and especially for most of this group who are economic refugees (and some political). Families and support systems are often far away, and it has been a privilege to watch the transformation from stoicism to willingness as values have been brought into the picture.
The wonderful work in Sierra Leone has inspired me to prepare the ground here should we ever have to tackle that epidemic. The practice of handling, kissing and being present with the dead during lengthy repatriation is similar to Sierra Leone. It is, however, topical as we already have an epidemic of note, namely HIV. As this is mainly a church group, although others are attracted to come and listen by the great drumming and singing (!), it has been a welcome relief, I believe, to be introduced to a view that is based on compassion and yet moving towards health, as opposed to rules and judgement. The discussion of sex or anything approaching such a discussion is taboo in this community and a very delicate issue as I am a ‘foreigner’ but we get around this also with careful wording around values.

We had some wonderful discussions at Worldcon around different possibilities for dissemination and we are trying them out. We came home to the advent of spring, summer, holidays and end of year exams and deadlines and so it has been a different dynamic from what would be experienced in the northern hemisphere. I am confident that early 2015 will provide more opportunities for professional workshops and other opportunities as people will be more focussed on work and less distracted by immediate necessities.
Thank you to Jenn Gregg for her continued help in getting my training videos ‘up to speed’ so that I can finally hand in my portfolio to apply for peer recognition as a trainer. This will go a long way toward establishing my credibility in the professional arena in South Africa – and also toward providing videos that can be used in our sprawling and transport challenged count.

Ingrid Ord, South Africa
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Report on Dissemination Activities in South-Africa

I would firstly like to thank ACBS for their kind gesture to provide me with complimentary conference and pre-conference registration. It made it possible to attend as our currency isn't very strong against the dollar. I also appreciated the the lunch/dinner escorts with whom we could converse and learn from.

It was a privilege to meet people and attend sessions where theory and what I have read in books became alive in practical illustrations and discussions.
It was surely the beginning of a long term relationship with the ACBS.

Since being at the conference my Private Practice has been booming. I think it is a combination of being more mindful in sessions as well as having a better functional contextual understanding of behaviour. My best month was in September 2014 where I had 80 sessions for the month.

I have had the privilege to share the Matrix with two grade groups (15 and 16 year olds) and the staff at a High School in my community with great feedback. The school management and I are currently integrating the values of the school into behavioural outcomes and it seems to make the values more real to the children and the staff.

I also had several meetings with a representative of the Sereti Institue who does community projects like Violence and crime prevention as well as Football for youth.
We were at a stage where the involvement of PROSOCIAL was considered with possible meetings with a University to come on board, but unfortunately the person from the Sereti Institute had to deal with personal issues and the discussions were halted up until now.
He has contacted me a few weeks ago and told me that we must meet in the new year. Hopefully I can convince him to engage with PROSOCIAL but will ask for some guidance from PROSOCIAL if it comes to that.

I must admit that I was very excited about the above-mentioned possibilities and disappointed at the same time that nothing has happened yet, but I am learning to be patient.

I also networked with a few CPD (continuous professional development) forums and I have been given the opportunity to introduce ACT in January 2015 at two different forums. I also want to use these opportunities to invite interested persons to an ACT workshop which Ingrid Ord and I are planning to have in the Johannesburg area in March 2015.

Ingrid and I keep in contact on a regular basis and and although she is 1000 km away, it is nice to have someone knowledgeable in South-Africa to brainstorm with.

Hopefully we can bring new faces with us to Berlin next year.

Kind Regards

Bertus Swanepoel

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Greetings from Malaysia!

I can still feel the excitement while writing this dissemination report seven months after attending the ACBS World Conference 13 in Berlin. It was my first international conference, and this was made possible because of ACBS Developing Nation Scholarship. I am very grateful for the learning opportunity and am committed to share my learning back in my home country. This dissemination report will briefly describe my initial dissemination activities thus far and the future plans.

In contrast to learning from written materials, the six days conference has provided me with great conceptual and experiential learning on ACT, adding valuable amount of my repertoire on the application of the psychological flexibility processes. With the effective training method, the two days preconference workshops on ACT skill building by Steven Hayes has especially given me a good balanced of theoretical and practical input on ACT. During the conference, I attended workshops in accordance to my interest in young people and chronic pain, trying to gain as much as I can within the six days.

After returning to Malaysia, I started utilizing ACT modality with greater confidence in my private practice with individuals with mental disorders. For group work, I have also started to facilitate the participants' psychological flexibility to increase their work functioning while conducting a Return to Work program. In my work at pain clinic Hospital Kuala Lumpur, I have started to incorporate ACT approach to guild patients to manage chronic pain.

In addition to some informal sharing with my colleagues in Malaysia, I have organized a workshop on managing exam anxiety with ACT for students in Methodist College Kuala Lumpur in October 2015. In February 2016, I will be facilitating another ACT workshop on increasing psychological flexibility for special needs children in the Special Education Network in Asia Conference (SENIA).

For prospective plans, after securing a good funding, I will start my doctorate study on the area of ACT for young people with pain condition under Dr Lance McCracken. I am also looking for opportunities to observe ACT chronic pain group program, as I wish to implement one in the pain clinic that I am working in. Besides that, I plan to equip myself on the use of ACT on young children by attending workshops by Louise Hayes. Lastly, my longterm goal is to become a peer review trainer and share this wonderful approach and community to my fellow colleagues in Malaysia.

Thank you, ACBS!

With gratefulness,
Lee Sook Huey
Clinical Psychologist, Malaysia

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Report to ACBS on using ACT to train Lay Counselors in Afghanistan

Reported by Norman Gustavson, Phd

Feb. 17, 2016

First, thank you for your support and the ongoing work of ACBS

"Lay counseling" is a very new concept in Afghan communities attempting to deal with a vulnerable population dealing with many physical/structural demands and psychosocial issues.  In this project, in spite of the expected challenges, the volunteers who were trained were very determined in their community outreach and very enthusiastic about the tools that they acquired in the PARSA trainings.  This project demonstrated that the foundational work done this year has created the possibility of a healthy and effective community response to mental health issues. Methodology adapted from cognitive behavior therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) by Dr. Gustavson and Dr. Sabour proved effective in reaching clients in vulnerable communities.

During this period, three workshops on awareness of psychosocial problems and three trainings on “Introduction to Counseling Skills” were designed, developed and implemented in Kabul, Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces.

In the workshops on “Introduction to Counseling Skills” 53 people were certified as “Village Psychosocial Counselors” (VPSC) to provide counseling to clients in internal refugee camps in these three provinces on a volunteer basis.

These 53 VPSCs reached 793 people utilizing their "lay counseling" skills.

The first awareness workshop was held in Kabul in February 2015 for five days for 16 staff from WarChild-Canada (WCC). 

The second MH awarness training for staff of the WCC contract provider, “Organnization for Human Welfare” (OHW) in February for 17 participants, male and female staff of OHW.

The third staff development-awareness of MH issues workshop was conducted in Kandahar in April for staff of (OHW) with 17 staff participants.

The first trainings for Village Psychosocial Counselors (VSPC)was conducted in in April in Kabul’s Charahe Qambar “Internally Displace Persons” (IDP) refugee camp.

The second and third trainings for VPSCs were conducted in June in Kandahar and Jalalabad.  The training method included several hours of practical exercise from actual case studies as well as simplified case vignettes from the trainer’s clinics and International Assistance Mission (IAM) mental health clinic materials.

Methods:

Observing, listening without judging is a basic counseling skill that crosses many counseling methodologies as does “active listening” and form a basis for PARSA’s work.  What we have added are principles form Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), an evidence based program of training and therapy.  ACT does not focus on diagnosis but on the concerns of the client and helping the client to discover unworkable avoidance patterns that tend keep the client “stuck” in a “vicious cycle” that attempts to avoid painful, distressing feelings but that actually tend to keep the client focused on the painful emotions.  The focus of ACT is to foster acceptance of distress as it is while building on the clients stated (and elaborated values, i.e., who and what are truly important to the client.  The client is assisted to formulating behaviors they can take on that support these values.  Acceptance plus increases in valued behavior aid the client in improved functioning, i.e., living a more productive and valued life.  In this way an overview of psychosocial problems was developed for trainees without needing to go into great detail about psychopathology and diagnosis.  The orientation of counseling is pragmatic.

The model used to help trainees understand how clients get stuck in problematic patterns of behavior or “suffering” with negative emotions was drawn from the ACT approach known as “The Matrix” (“the ACT Matrix”, Edited by Kevin Polk, PhD and Benjamin Schoenhorff, MA, 2014, New Harbinger Publications, Inc.).

The Matrix was used to develop both a way of conceptualizing a clients issues; a focus on recognizing things that trigger problem behavioral reactions or emotions and a path for finding more productive behaviors while learning to accept negative feelings as they come up without getting fixated on them.  The basic approach has counselors help clients list what and who is really valuable to the client and then use these values to develop positive actions toward personal goals instead of getting caught in behaviors or feelings they have learned in an attempt to avoid unwanted feelings and reactions.  For example actions to engage in social activity that is valued, like doing things with friends and family instead of trying to avoid negative feelings by self-isolating, drug use or other escape behaviors.

Outcomes:

The success of this program is quantifiable and exceeded our expectations. Using 53 volunteers at a low level of education trained to be Village Psychosocial Counselors (VPSC's), PARSA has documented an outreach to 793 beneficiaries in IDP camps in Kabul, Kandahar, and Nangarhar by the completion of the first year program.

In Kabul the training started in two separate locations for male and female groups and was conducted for 10 women and 12 men.

The VPSC workshop in Kandahar was conducted May 30th through June 5th for 11 females, and in a concurrent but separate workshop during the same dates for 14 males.

In Jalalabad the VPSC workshop was conducted from June 13th through the 17th in concurrent groups for 16 females and 17 males.  The trainees were a group of men and women from districts where IDPs were living (Daman District).

In addition to traditional training components for lay counselors like “active listening” and taking a nonjudgmental stance in relation to the client with whom the counselor is working, the ACT Matrix was used to help the VPSCs to listen for and share with clients the experiential avoidance patters that clients revealed as their issues or “struggles”.  A (I believe) new exercise was also developed (shown in our Poster) called “this is not a tree”.  Here participants were asked to recall an early image of “tree” as they learned to associate the word with objects in their environment and then to draw their personal image of “tree”.  The next step was for them to add to the drawing an early experience associated with their “tree” (to other things and actions in the larger “frame” of their tree.  After sharing their tree and related story/frame the ‘take away’ from the exercise was for the trainees to see that no ones “tree” and framework is any better than anyone else’s.  no ones tree is more or less valid than any other person’s.  All points of view are valid.  This work supported other exercises to build a nonjudgmental stance in relation to their clients.  The exercise also helped to reinforce the idea of observing and giving feedback to clients on patterns of avoidance and behaviors that move toward who and what is important without advise giving, i.e., helping clients discover and sort out unworkable patterns of behavior from moves toward their stated values.

The matrix exercise was done with individuals creating their own matrix using pictures to past into the four quadrants of the matrix.  This was a very success process based on presentations each participant made to describe their own matrix of values, internal (mental) thoughts and feelings, actions to avoid these feelings (stuck places) and new behaviors to move toward values to enrich their lives.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

My name is Mario Maricic, and I have been awarded a scholarship for Developing Nations ACBS World Conference in Berlin 2015. It`s been a long time since I was in Berlin and enthusiasm I felt there is somewhat present here. Beautiful people and World Class teachers. For me, it was as I have been to the Moon.

I would like to reflect on activities that my colleagues and I have done after WC13. Over the past ten months, a lot of things was going on. For the first time, I was part of the ACT training in Serbia, as a workshop co-facilitator with my mentor and teacher Igor Krnetic, Ph.D.

Since Berlin, ACT is what I'm practicing and learning with the clients and colleagues I see daily, although I was practicing ACT for and with myself for years.
In December of 2014, my professor and I had created and started an Association for promoting and developing psychotherapeutic practice and science "Center for Mindfulness". Under that roof, we have begun with Student counseling services in October 2015. Students from the University of Banjaluka (Bosnia&Herzegowina) now can get counseling and can get into psychological treatment based on 3rd wave behavioral therapies free of charge. We have started continuous peer support and supervision in Center for Mindfulness, for therapists who work with the students.
(see our Facebook page)

Also, we had started group activities with the goal to promote, create and practice living meaningful lives. We had started a pilot project named "Practicing, developing and building meaningful lives". This group offers support for psychotherapists and non-psychologists in the area. We all learn and practice to respond to others needs with authentic courage and love and spread and share those experiences with our families, friends, clients, etc. We had used an online app to organize these activities (see link http://www.meetup.com/Banja-Luka-Mindfulnes-Meetup/)

In the March 2016., we had organized an event for promoting mental health in the local community "Days of mental health in local community - Banja Luka". We had five days of different events with the focus on creating peer support groups in the local community, and with a particular interest in persons with psychotic experience, and hearing voices.

I would like to thank all of you who made it possible for me to attend ACBS world conference in Berlin. Thank you all who made some effort and support people like me, and countries like mine. I would like to say thanks personally to a big-hearted Kristin Marjalla from Norway who financially supports me even these days, months after the World Conference 13 and who is investing in my personal and professional future. I want to say thanks to Dr. Igor Krnetic, my mentor, who is supportive beyond limits, warm and kind person who puts his efforts and made it possible for me and my colleagues to contribute to our local community and make a change. They both are investing in the future of my family, my friends, clients that I live and work with, investing into my colleagues trough me. Thank you! I could never say or do anything to match gratefulness I experience. Thank you all!

With kindness and love, Mario Maricic.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

ACCEPTANCE & COMMITMENT THERAPY IN UGANDA: 12 MONTHS ON
Time has flown since the Worldcon in July last year and so many things have been happening. I want to first thank everyone at ACBS for creating and supporting the opportunity for me to attend the conference in Berlin. I would like to especially thank Ross White, Jennifer Gregg, and everyone else who made me feel so comfortable when hosting me while so far from home, and giving me greater insight into life in Berlin. I have to say that I felt so welcome and supported all throughout my stay in Berlin. Thanks too, to Courtney and the rest of the organizers.

The pre-conference workshop I attended was presented by Steve Hayes on Advanced ACT. I personally found the workshop to be very enriching and inspiring, and I began to apply what I had learned to my personal process and my work with individual clients immediately. The workshop offered me an opportunity to experience ACT as an individual which gave me confidence to use it further. It’s now my first choice in my private practice. I have got to say that most clients here in Uganda also respond well to ACT.

I personally receive supervision from Ingrid who is based in Cape Town, South Africa. This has offered me an invaluable opportunity to have someone guide me through my case whenever I get stuck but also, just to have another person guiding me while I take on ACT. She has been extremely supportive and understanding because some times power or internet do not enable us to start on time but she is always willing to attend to me whenever I need her. She has been so supportive that it made my work seem so worth it. I had an opportunity to take on Matthew’s online course which runs for a year but the internet and the very busy schedule couldn’t allow me to complete. I still feel awful about not completing it but, I guess sometimes things like that happen.

In November last year we had a visitor from Bosnia (Igor) who visited Uganda for two weeks and offered ACT training workshops to over 40 students of psychology. These students were from three different programs including the Masters of Arts in Counseling (12 students), Masters of Science in Clinical Psychology (25), and Post-Graduate Diploma in Counseling Psychology (3). Some of these students had already benefitted from an Introductory course from Ross White who had visited Uganda the previous year. The coming of Igor boosted the students’ motivation and passion for ACT. In fact, most of them are continuing to use ACT as their major approach during psychotherapy. In December last year we had a visitor from UK (Taslim) who also conducted a half day workshop on ACT to over 60 students of psychology. This was a very interesting group of students (partly because more than 15 students were from the organizational psychology department).

I have also done an introductory presentation on ACT to a group of mental health professionals including a Clinical Psychologist who works with African Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV), and another School Psychologist who works with two International Secondary Schools here in Uganda. These mental health workers continue to use ACT in their day to day work are part of the team forming the Uganda Chapter.

Makerere University has now officially embraced ACT and I am receiving support to continue offering short courses and supervision to students on all post-graduate psychology programs. I continue to look for volunteers who are willing to come and offer support. In fact, as I speak with have someone from Denmark (Anne Anderson) who is going to be with the students for a month just to part of an ACT workshop series that will be running at Makerere University from the 19th of July until the 19th of August. This is very encouraging.
We are also expecting Joe Oliver to come over to Uganda some times in December. This will surely benefit the first years who are coming in this August. I hope that Joe Oliver will be keen on meeting a group of mental health workers who also are thirsty for more trainings. These attended Dr, Ross White’s introductory course but have since then not got so much attention. I also continue to coordinate the nurse’s stress reduction program using ACT. Cerdic Hall is supporting that program and both of us continue to work together.
There’s a very good opportunity for ACT to continue growing but sometimes both time and money remain a constraint.

Thank you again to all of those that have supported this wonderful opportunity.

Regards,
Rosco Kasujja
Kampala, Uganda.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Time has gone and it only seems like yesterday when the ACBS World Conference in Seville, Spain happened. I work at the School of Psychology, Makerere University and I am engaged in therapy as well as a Counseling Psychologist.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members that tirelessly engaged in supporting me to participate in the World Conference in June 2017. I would like to specifically appreciate Courtney and Laura for the great communication links that I managed to reach safely in a new land and continent. I would like to thank Dr. Ross White, Dr. Joe Oliver, Dr. Rosco Kasujja for the contact, believing in me and initiation process. Grateful to Louis Hayes, Tom Szabo, Jennifer, and Beate and the whole Commit and Act family for support during the conference.

I attended the two-day Pre-conference workshop that is Process-based ACT by Steven Hayes. The Intermediate sessions were helpful in grounding different processes of the ACT model especially the use of different exercises, case formulation and suggesting alternative exercises in session. The workshop had an experiential approach and different participants had an opportunity to share experiences with different clients and the role plays were helpful. I have been able to incorporate the learning from this workshop in my work with clients and in training other therapists.

Over the past six months, I have been engaged in individual and group therapy as well as ACT trainings.

• I was involved in organizing an ACT Introductory training for University students from 4th-5th July 2017. A number of them were hearing about ACT for the first time but picked interest and are engaged in further learning of the ACT model.
• In September 2017, I engaged in further learning by doing an on-line course called ACT for Anxiety and Depression with Dr. Russ Harris. It was insightful in how to work with anxious and depressed clients on their journey to coping and recovery.
• On 19th Nov 2017, I organized members of the Uganda Council of Psychologists for a session with Prof. Sath Cooper from South Africa. I had the privilege of introducing the other psychologists in attendance to the ACT model as well as inviting them to ACT trainings.
• I also engaged in the Uganda Counselling Association Conference and invited members to learn how to use ACT with clients by attending the training workshops.
• From October to November 2017, I planned community service sessions with 2nd and 3rd year university students to focus on the substance use challenges in Bukesa parish and Kikoni village (these are slums around the University). They had sessions in the schools and communities and used the ACT model to have sessions with different members and groups.
• From 21st-22nd December 2017, I facilitated a Prosocial training in Butabika hospital for Service Users organized under Peer Nation based at the Recovery College. I did this training with Dr. Rosco Kasujja and Mr. Wamala Kizito.
• I am continually engaged with Strong minds and Virtuous Women teams; training them how to engage with the ACT model in their personal experiences as well as for their clients.
• In December 2017, I participated in a Camp of over 600 youths and used the ACT model while I engaged in the session about Relationships in Adolescence.
• In February 2018, we organized an ACT Introductory Training for 2nd and 3rd years as well as Masters students. It had an attendance of 72 participants and the response to the use of the model was positive. We plan to follow them up to do an intermediary training and grow though supervision.
• I am currently engaged with Research processes to use the ACT model for my PhD studies.
• I have continually used the ACT model for sessions with my clients both in individual and group sessions.

More to that, the ACBS Developing Nations Committee is engaging many stakeholders like students, NGOS, banks, practitioners, Academia so that we offer them Introductory ACT workshops. We also are on the look out to partner with other members in the ACBS community to come and give advanced courses. The undergraduate and master’s classes are being introduced to the ACT model and ACBS work.

Generally, getting engaged with the ACBS community is a joy indescribable and I am growing as a professional through all the available resources. Conference attendance was a great privilege and inspiration in various areas of my work. I am also engaging members of the ACT community on how to take the ACT work further in Uganda especially with the ACBS Developing Nations Committee. We are growing the ACT community and supporting each other in the work we are involved with.

Lastly, thank you again for generously supporting me to have this grand opportunity to attend the ACBS World Conference.
Best Regards,
Racheal D. Nuwagaba-K

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Fresia Hernandez, Mexico

Thanks to the support of the Developing Nations Chapter-Committee Scholarship, for which I was one of the winners of the scholarship to attend the ACBS World Conference Montreal 2018, I had the opportunity to attend and could not explain how fortunate I felt during all the days of the conference.

First, I want to thank Courtney Zirkle, Abbie Lanning, Emily N. Rodrigues and all ACBS staff who supported me before the day of the conference, as well as Roscoe Kasujja and the Developing Nations Chapter committee, for selecting me as winner of the scholarship.

At the pre-conference I attended, I was able to learn about ACT assessment with Kelly G. Wilson, it was a great experience, and I was able to learn many things that have contributed to the improvement of my private practice and as a psychology teacher.

On the second day of pre-conference, I presented a poster with research results in ACT that I made with the help of students, in my country. It was also a great experience to be able to share my work with other colleagues from all over the world.

I also had the opportunity to meet during the conference with Steven C. Hayes, Kelly G. Wilson, Robyn D. Walser and Emily Sandoz, all of them incredible people who shared their valuable time with me and I hope later they can visit my country and share with us their knowledge. It really was a dream come true!

When I returned to my country, Mexico, I was able to apply immediately the knowledge acquired with a group of undergraduate students in clinical and health psychology, to whom I gave an introduction in ACT, so that they would know this approach and fall in love with this wonderful processes-based therapy. I have to mention that my students have been very interested in continuing to learn about ACT. With this group I also shared the videos with messages that kindly allowed me to record Steven C. Hayes and Kelly G. Wilson, so they would know how great and friendly they are and be able to bring them closer to the third-generation therapies, from the invitation of these two great leaders.

In the month of September, I gave a workshop to 150 students, in groups of 25 on the management of stress using ACT, this as part of the comprehensive training of students of all careers in an activity called "Health Challenge". In the month of October, I gave a workshop on psychological flexibility and anxiety in the week of mental health organized at my university. In the month of November, I gave the stress management workshop through ACT for high school students interested in studying psychology.

In December, I shared an ACT induction with my students in the chronic and terminal patient psychology course on how to apply this therapy in people with chronic diseases.

In addition, as a clinical supervisor I began to guide my students and provide them with tools for the implementation of ACT in the attention to clients of the Academic Center of Attention in Integral Wellbeing, in which psychological counseling is provided to people from a low-income community.

I am currently in talks with my superiors to offer ACT training to our teachers and students with national and international speakers, and to be able to host ACT training in our region.

Undoubtedly, my country needs a lot of diffusion and training in third-generation psychological therapies, and I extend my commitment and interest in continuing to train and dissemination.

I'm really grateful for this opportunity to get closer to the ACBS community, they really are a very friendly association committed to scientific psychology for the relief of human suffering. I fell in love!

Thank you very much for your support to attend the 16 ACBS World Conference Montreal, 2018, I’m see you at Dublin 2019.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Kizito Wamala, Uganda

At the conference

I was a scholarship winner; I was fully facilitated by ACBS to participate in the WC16. I arrived at the conference venue, the Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth, on 23rd July 2018. I participated in very educative and skills-building pre-conference workshops that were conducted for two full days – 24th and 25th July. I participated also in the conference symposia and trainings on 26th to 29th during which I also presented a poster on my work in Uganda – a copy was submitted to the organizing contact. At the conference, I benefitted beyond my expectation. I learnt so many new things from experiences of great ACBS experts for example meeting with Steven Hayes, Kelley Wilson, Robyn D Walser; research findings; experiences in practice and research of many presenters and facilitators; met new people for professional and personal friends; and received a Certificate of Participation in the Continuing Education Activity of ACBS World Conference 16.

Post-Conference

On return to Uganda, I engaged myself in four main activities:
1. Promotion of ACT theory and therapy among practicing counselors. I started with compiling materials, especially for training counselors and psychologists in the North of Uganda. I was able to convince my line manager to include 8 hours of training on Introduction to ACT in my organisational clinical capacity building training program. That program was and still is a 300-hours training in counseling theoretical approaches and skills plus 45-hours of clinical supervision spread over a period of 11 months per year. Participants in the program are counselors and psychologists working with different organisations and institutions where their main job is offering counseling to organisational clients. On 2nd October 2018, I was able to conduct the first 8-hour training on Introduction to ACT with thirteen (17) trainees plus my line manager and a psychotherapist/ trainer of The center for Victims of Torture (CVT). Thereafter, the psychotherapist/trainer recommended that the staff of my organisation – CVT – also receive the same training. On 15th October 2018, I conducted the same 8-hour training with seven (7) CVT staff. The feedback given by participants of both trainings was very positive. All the participants acknowledged that ACT was a new concept, process and approach of counseling for them and that they needed more hours of theoretical input, practice and supervision in order ground their skills in using ACT for themselves and for their clients. I have already scheduled to conduct the same ACT training in October 2019 with 19 trainees who have enrolled for our clinical capacity building.
2. Consistent use of ACT in my work with my clients. CVT as an organisation doesn’t subscribe to ACT as the organisational therapeutic approach but neither does it prevent its staff from using ACT as a personally preferred approach in individual counseling. I therefore decided to use ACT consistently in my individual sessions and I am witness to the positive feedback that I frequently receive from my clients relating to their experiences in ACT. I feel very satisfied with that feedback and I am committed to continuing with ACT as my first line therapeutic approach.
3. I consistently facilitate mindfulness exercises with my organisational clinical team at both individual and group supervision sessions that I conduct every week. This has been our practice since September 2018. I feel happy and proud to report that my team enjoys the exercises because, they say, those exercises bring each one to the present moment enabling them to experience life as it is. All my six team members (my supervisees) have reported back to me that since we started the practices in mindfulness, their lives have greatly changed. They struggle less with both past and future bothers and life is more livable than before in terms of both personal private lives and life at work.
4. And at the moment, I am personally writing my PhD project aiming at carrying out a randomised controlled clinical trial using ACT for treatment of Trauma in Uganda. Having used ACT consistently for the last six or so months, I find its efficacy promising for my context in Uganda. I therefore think that engaging myself in validating it with evidence will be a great contribution to ACBS and the evidence-base of therapeutic approaches in developing nations, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. This points to a great hope for ACBS’ future here in the developing world.

Challenges

1. Working in the north of Uganda, far away from Kampala, has disabled me from participating in peer supervision sessions with my colleagues of the ACT special-interest group that was initiated by Dr. Kasujja Rosco. I am very grateful however that whenever I meet clinical challenges related to my use of ACT, Dr. Kasujja Rosco makes efforts to avail himself to me. He is very supportive and very generous with time, reading and visual materials.
2. My new contract with my organisation has barred me from lecturing for universities. I have therefore lost the opportunity of introducing ACT at Bugema University.
3. This report has no pictures because my organisation protects its clients and stakeholders’ confidentiality very strictly and I believe that it’s okay. Therefore, you cannot see any pictorials which sometimes say more about the report narratives of activities.

Conclusion

The scholarship I received from the ACBS was a great honor and opportunity for me to participate in such a high caliber professional world conference in Montréal in 2018. The benefits of my participation are and will remain innumerable for me personally and for my country and beyond. I commend ACBS for their decision and effort to facilitate some interested professionals, to such conferences, who cannot afford on their own. It is one of the many ways ACBS is supporting the promotion of quality evidence-based mental health practices in the developing world and the world-over. Thank you so much ACBS.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Dario Lipovac - Bosnia/Herzegovina

Hi, I am Dario Lipovac, Psychologist M.A., Cognitive – Behavioral Therapist (CBT) and ACT Therapist (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a small beautiful country located on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe.

Being a young Psychologist working with deprived, vulnerable and marginalized children and families, back in the 2011, I made a decision to attend an ACT experiential workshop and explore what is it all about, as I wanted to upgrade my skills and find some philosophy of life close to my values. The workshop was organized by Igor Krnetić, PhD, a mentor and colleague, who inspired a small group of psychologists to go deeper into ACT. That is how my ACT journey began, and how my shift towards values-based life started! Thank you Igor!

Speeding up to 2019, after some years of dynamic changes in the journey we’re calling life, I have found myself (now humanitarian worker, and CBT and ACT therapist) applying for the Developing Nations Fund Scholarship to attend WC17 in Dublin for the first time in my life. It seemed impossible to get this award, but I was thinking: Why not give it a try? The moment I have received a feedback I was selected as one of the Developing Nations Scholars for WC17 was one of those moments of joy and a feeling that something close to your heart is unfolding!

Of course, before my journey to Dublin I booked all workshops in the WC17 program that I could! I booked the pre-conference workshop “ACT Made Simple: A Quick Start Guide to ACT Basics and Beyond” facilitated by one and only Russ Harris. I enjoyed these 2 days with full attention to learn, experience and share as much as I could! I wanted to learn how to make ACT simple and easy to digest by my clients, colleagues and by myself, and I wanted to network with as many people as possible. Russ Harris and this workshop exceeded my expectations completely! Thanks Russ for showing me how to deliver ACT in a simple but very powerful manner, and for your openness to share knowledge and support.

WC17 continued with the program, where I booked workshops, workshops, workshops! ready to experience this amazing opportunity. I attended nine workshops over the Conference, focusing mainly on how to facilitate peer-to-peer supervision groups, exploring values, learning the power of metaphors, being more compassionate towards myself and others, and expanding the limits of my self-exploration. I met beautiful, supportive, smart and funny people, created many networks and enjoyed mindfully every moment of energy this Conference offered. I had a poster presentation named: “Encouraging young therapists to explore - Finding your own blueprint (REBT – ACT – CFT – integration)”, where I shared my experiences with other attendants of the Conference, and I was amazed how many people were interested to hear, ask and share with me, saying this poster was very inspiring and interesting. What a feeling! The conference was amazing and ACBS staff and volunteers were great. Support I got from ACBS through this award was really professional and I’m very grateful for everything! I had a lot of ideas for bringing back everything I experienced, and share with my clients and colleagues.

But as life often takes unexpected turns, just before the Conference, I got an amazing opportunity to work in the global humanitarian context, getting a chance to make this world better for all children and their families. This has not left me the time I was planning to have for CBS/ACT dissemination after the Conference. However, with a lot of self-compassion, I re-consolidated myself and decided to share my experiences with clients and my colleagues in the next months following the Conference, making a solid ground for strengthening CBS/ACT in my community, in Bosnia and Herzegovina for future.

I noticed my work with clients now is more open, flexible and enjoyable than ever before. Based on my client’s feedback, they noticed I’m doing therapy with more clarity and mindfulness, making it more useful for them.
As ACT is part of my life, I continued to practice it and living it in my life, and being in Dublin brought my personal growth on a whole new level.

I shared some of the experiences with my colleagues in a peer-to-peer supervision group I initiated before the Conference, where we are having online and face-to-face discussions and sharing our learnings together (our online Facebook group - ACTion in Sarajevo).

I shared my knowledge and experiences with the young therapists attending CBT training in Sarajevo, introducing them to ACT and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). Bringing the “third wave” to the trainees of CBT training I found very interesting and helpful, as I got the feedback they now better understand that CBT can be done with more emotions, not just protocols.

I have plans to strengthen our ACT community in the following years in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina more, to expand our peer-to-peer supervision group and present ACT to the wider community, throughout lectures, presentations, sharing events, and make it more popular. Moreover, as the humanitarian worker providing technical assistance in the field of global Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) programs across the world, I want to bring ACT on the radar, and support piloting programs for supporting most marginalized and vulnerable children and their families using ACT as a base.

For me, a psychologist from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a still developing country in Europe, getting the chance to attend the WC17 was an amazing opportunity for my personal and professional growth! Thank you ACBS for giving me this opportunity, and for making Bosnia and Herzegovina and whole Western Balkans region more resourceful for expanding CBS! In the post-conflict societies like ours, having the strong ACT community is needed more than ever. Thank you and see you next time!
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Meryem Hajji Laamouri - Morocco

About three years ago, I received my training to become an ACT practitioner in parallel with my Master in Life and Business Coaching program. The ACT training transformed completely my life and opened my mind, my heart and vision on meaningful and mindful ways of working and living. Since then, my passion for the use of ACT in particular and the Cognitive and Behavior Science in general has been growing. I have become keen about enhancing my learning and know-how in ACT and Mindfulness therapies.

As a matter of fact, I was really happy to receive an email with the good news that I was selected as a an ACBS Scholarship recipient to participate at the ACBS World Conference that took place in Dublin, Ireland (June 25th - 30th, 2019). This great opportunity allowed me to enhance my competencies in ACT and acquire new skills, such as CFT and other ACT-related techniques that I am using in my work with my clients, during individual and group sessions, and workshops. The following report will therefore present my experience during at the conference and after the conference.

At the Conference:

I arrived on June 23rd, 2019 afternoon at the Dublin City University. I was nicely welcomed by both the DCU boarding and conference staff and provided with all the information and guidance for the conference.

I was so impressed by the program. It was filled with a huge amount of information, amazing workshops, amazing speakers, presenters, facilitators, big names in the world of psychotherapy, neuroscience, CBS, ACT…I was lost and not knowing what to chose as every inch of the program was important. I wanted to be in all the workshops and the conferences.

My pre-conference workshop was about “Mastering Compassion Focused Therapy: Taking CFT Beyond the Basics” by Ph.D Dennis Tirch, PsyD Laura Silberstein-Tirch, and Clin. Psy. Mary Welford. The reason why I chose this workshop and not another one was because I wanted to learn how to integrate effectively compassion therapy in my work with act. I felt blessed to be part of this 2-Day Intensive Workshop. Not only I learned the true meaning of compassion but I experienced its process. It was a profound and amazing emotional experience for me: I have acquired compassion focus therapeutic skills and techniques to help myself and my clients feel and act compassionately, to learn new ways of interactions with unpleasant emotions, and of clarifying values.

During the workshop, I was inspired by the notion of the Compassionate flexibility in comparison with ACT’s Psychological flexibility and how to help clients develop it in order to work on the feelings of not being worthy, shame and how to deal with self-criticism. These therapeutic skills allowed me to enhance my competencies during my work with my female clients. Most of the problems they have are linked the feelings of shame and self-criticism. By helping them develop a mindful compassionate mind, I become able to solve several challenges and help them engage effectively towards their values and what gives meaning to their lives.

In addition, I had the opportunity to enhance my knowledge and acquire further skills during the conference part as well. Although the choice was challenging for me, I was able to attend different conferences and presentations, namely the workshop about how to Deliver ACT effectively with high performing, busy people which I enjoyed a lot; Russ Harris conference on the self as a context-made simple; Robyn Walser Conference on ACT from a Therapeutic Stance. I attended Steven Hays and Kelly Wilson conferences…I attended the Women SIG meeting to connect with the women and learn more about them.

Moreover, the fun part was when I presented my poster at the cathedral. The title of my poster was about “Combining ACT and Creative Expression Therapy for Women’s Empowerment and Transformation.” I was happy to see that so many people were interested in the subject and research presented by my poster (copy attached). The poster highlights the efficiency of ACT when combined with a creative expression therapy: It can be done through music, painting, creative writing or any other creative activity.

Overall, both the pre-conference and the conference allowed me to acquire competencies that I used in my work with my clients and my workshops during right after I returned home. It also allowed to connect and exchange with so many inspiring people.

Post-Conference:

Upon my return, and during the past 6 months, I have taken the following actions:

‣ I have integrated the Compassion Focused Therapeutic techniques in my coaching-therapy work with my female clients. I am very satisfied because CFT really enhanced the results of the ACT therapy.

‣ I am receiving more and more positive feedback from my clients about how ACT changed their lives both at work and at their personal lives. ACT-CFT are my favored working therapies that I use and adapt according to the needs of all my clients. In fact, the conference helped me become more self-confident about accompanying my clients to achieve their desired results, transform their lives, and go for a meaningful life.

‣ I have facilitated a series of mindfulness workshops with a group of women teaching them the power to be in the present moment through Mindfulness exercises and also how to deal with their self-criticism through self-compassion.

‣ I have also participated in a 3 day study about the Human Enterprise during which I shared the magic of ACT as a Mindfulness- based cognitive and behavior therapy.

‣ I have facilitated a 2 day workshop with over 70 future leaders and entrepreneurs, 80% of whom were female participants. During this workshop, I guided the participants through mindfulness practice and how to integrate it in their daily life, especially during the execution of their action plans.

‣ I am currently preparing for other workshops that I will be facilitating at multinational organizations in order to help employees find their life-work balance and lead a meaningful life through ACT.

‣ Also, I am launching the ACT therapy for women empowerment starting from March.

‣ I have been volunteering to review ACBS fellows scholarship and I am an active member of the Creating a Culture of Empowerment and Productivity Team.

Overall, my participation at the conference helped me acquire an important knowledge and competencies that have really supported my work as a Life Empowerment Strategist (Coach-Therapist, Strategic Consultant, and a Trainer). I am very grateful for this great opportunity and for all the wonderful ACBS people who made it possible for me. Thank you! 

 You can read the complete report below!

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Gabriel S. N. Lizada, Philippines

I was fortunate to be given the Developing Nations scholarship and attend the ACBS World Conference 17 in Dublin, Ireland. From the time I received the acceptance letter up to the last moments of the event, I felt very welcomed by the ACBS community. This was my first time to attend this conference, and I can honestly say that I felt the warmth of the community.

Pre-conference Workshops

There were many pre-conference workshops that caught my attention. But, as a practitioner who is just starting his journey in the field, I decided to attend the workshop by Russ Harris, focusing on ACT for beginners. Russ's workshop did not disappoint as I gained new information, re-learned previous knowledge, and learned new techniques from seasoned professionals. I was also able to deepen my knowledge of the basics of ACT in this two-day workshop.

Aside from the workshop proper, I also got the opportunity to meet new practitioners in the field. I felt that our zest for learning made our workshop experience more meaningful and insightful. It helped me lessen the feeling of imposter syndrome within me. My conversations with my fellow practitioners, who like me, are also just starting their journey provide me a blanket of security.

The two-day pre-conference was already filled with learning and positive outcomes and made me so excited to experience the actual conference in the coming days.

ACBS World Conference

The ACBS World Conference 17 was one of the best conferences (if not the best) I had attended in my entire life. There were about 1000 delegates, but I never felt that everyone was distant to first-time attendees like myself. During the conference, I was able to attend workshops, hear lectures, experience live demonstrations, and establish connections from practitioners all over the world. The conference gave enough sessions for attendees to listen to prominent ACBS figures. I attended sessions led by Steven Hayes, Robyn Walser, DJ Moran, Jason Luoma, and Jenna LeJeune. I was able to listen and get information from other practitioners who were producing equally important researches.

The conference also introduced the Ambassador and Ambassade (A&A) program sponsored by the ‘The Women in ACBS SIG’ and ACBS Membership Committee. This program helped first-time attendees in pairing them with a member of the ACBS community in helping them feel more welcomed during the conference. The program was beneficial to me, and I know it was for all those who enrolled as well.

Then, there was also a bookshop where you could shop all day and have them signed by the authors attending the conference.

ACBS Community

The ACBS community is a very warm and welcoming community where you don't feel that you are lost. People in the ACBS community are open, approachable, friendly, and helpful. They even host the 'Follies,' the community's version of a gathering. The Follies is a unique and fun night that should not be missed by attendees.

Upon Return

After returning from the conference, I had so much to share with everyone who wanted to listen and benefit from it. Here are the activities that I did:

(1) I enhanced my ACT skills and applied them to my clients. The new learnings I had were very helpful to them because both they were able to move forward with their life and live a value-based life. They expressed that when I came back, the sessions were more helpful to them. As a result of this feedback, I decided to be more consistent with my ACT therapy and follow the protocols for specific concerns more rigidly to improve my practice.

(2) I also was able to share the knowledge with my graduate students who did not know the ACT exists or have just heard it once. Some students were so amazed by what ACT is and asked for books to read so they can enhance their knowledge more about ACT.

(3) Currently, I am trying to talk to local organizations to bring ACT prominent figures to the Philippines. From the conversations I had with ACT practitioners in Dublin, they were willing to travel to this side of the world to help spread ACT. The local counterparts are open to this idea, and negotiations are currently on-going.

(4) In the university that I am teaching in, there is currently a plan to improve mental health practices to students, faculty, and staff of the university. I have suggested to teach some aspects of this program and incorporate ACT and mindfulness practices to help participants build their psychological flexibility.

Conclusion

The experience I gained from joining the ACBS World Conference is something that I cannot put into words. I can honestly say that I am a better practitioner, teacher, person, and human being because of my learnings. I would like to thank the ACBS Community and the Developing Nations Committee for giving me this opportunity. I hope that I will be able to attend another ACBS World Conference in the future.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Khamisi Musanje - Uganda

Attending the 2019 ACBS world conference in Dublin, still gives me chills to date. It’s a couple of months ago but memories seem fresh. Special thanks to the ACBS community for the generosity that saw some of us attend such an event which would otherwise not been possible without your support. As an award winner, I am grateful to the developing nations committee and the entire leadership at ACBS. Special thanks to Emily N Rodriguez, and Roscoe Kasujja.

At the conference

Warmth, kindness and love is what welcomed me to Dublin. As a first timer, everything seemed new, exciting and confusing at the same time. I allowed myself to feel the experience mindfully, noticing every detail while maximizing every opportunity. Thanks to the ACBS staff that supported me all the time. For the pre-conference workshop, I purposely attended pro-social facilitated by David Sloan Wilson, Paul Atkins, Silva and Wiser, although occasionally, I would sneak into Russ Harris’s sessions. The pro-social team was very amusing, brilliant and educative. I passionately loved the pro-social matrix because it seemed so obvious while at the same time new.

Beyond the pre-con, all presentations were interesting. I suffered the madness of running from one session to another to be able to deal with the temptation. The session chaired by Frank Bond that had presentations on ACT in the workplace was a perfect match. I got lots of insights on how to apply ACT in the workplace as an organizational Psychologist. I also made a poster presentation at St. Patrick cathedral (where religion met science).

Beyond content covered, networking was part of my greatest benefits. I built myself a rich network that is supportive to date and my life has never been the same again. Not forgetting the follies.

Post conference

Upon returning home, I embarked on a journey to popularize ACT in Uganda. I began with completing work I had presented on the poster “ACT for nurses in Uganda”. Partnering with Nic Hooper, Roscoe Kasujja and Taslim Tharani, we expanded the concept and shall be offering the first intervention to a group of 150 nurses in a private hospital in Kampala in January 2020. In September, I offered ACT and prosocial to a group of master card scholars at Makerere University and also advocated for inclusion of ACT in the Master’s curriculum. I am currently supervising 4 students researching psychological flexibility in organizations. In October, together with Roscoe, we entered into an understanding with Paul Flaxman and Ross McIntosh to adopt the ACT training for trainer’s manual in Uganda. We are currently leveling the ground but implementation will start in June 2020. I also have a plan to offer ACT to teachers, workers in a call center and to University students before end of next year. I am currently a member of the ACT for LAMIC group chaired by Claudette that aims at promoting ACT in developing contexts.
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Developing Nations Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring attendees and presenters from developing nations to the ACBS world conference.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Developing Nations Fund committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit.

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Emina Osmanovic Basic, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hi, I am Emina, and I come from a small beautiful country Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am a psychologist and CBT therapist. And now I could say also ACT therapist.

A few years ago, while I was still practicing CBT under supervision I was introduced to ACT and CFT thanks to Igor Krnetic. I attended ACT and CFT workshops led by Igor and was amazed. Honestly, I was skeptical at first, but at the end of the workshop, I completely changed my mind. It was a really special experience for me and it left its mark on my private and professional life. This helped me take a different approach to personal problems. I started reading more about ACT and CFT and it gave me the confidence to try the ACT approach in therapy sessions. Right after the workshops, I noticed that my work with clients started to get better, to give more and more positive results and positive responses from clients. I was naive to wonder where the change came from because I thought I was doing everything the same way as before. Then I realized I had become more present, more mindful, more compassionate, and more self-compassionate in contact with clients. ACT has helped me to become more aware of the whole therapy process and be more complete as a professional.

A few years later, thanks to my dear colleague Dario Lipovac, I heard about ACBS World Conference and was encouraged to apply for the Developing Nations Scholarship to attend World Conference 18 in New Orleans. I couldn't believe it, but I got it. I was very happy about it and started planning my trip. Unfortunately, at that time a pandemic hit us and it was not yet known whether the conference would be held online or as planned in New Orleans. Therefore, the friendly ACBS staff offered me to extend my scholarship for the conference next year - through 2021. Many thanks to them for this flexibility and opportunity. So I participated in World Conference 19 in 2021. As no one expected the situation with COVID-19 to last this long, the Conference in 2021 had to be held online as well instead of in Poland. I was really happy to have had the opportunity to be a part of such a big and significant event in the field of psychotherapy even in these difficult times caused by the pandemic.

From the first contact with the ACBS staff, I felt welcome. From the moment I received a scholarship until the end of the Conference, all staff members showed a warm and friendly approach, were open to all questions, and were ready to help in any way.

The hardest part was choosing the topics I planned to attend among all the big names, amazing workshops, presenters, facilitators. I decided to book the pre-conference workshop "Be A Brief and Powerful Clinician: Use Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) to Help Many" led by Kirk Stroshal, Ph.D., and Patricia Robinson, Ph.D. I was really surprised that at the end of this two-day workshop we were given a whole set of tools on how to approach clients in primary care behavioral health to help people with physical, mental, social, and general health. I found so many useful things that I can use in working with clients.

During the 4-day Conference, I tried to take this opportunity to attend lectures and presentations as much as possible. I learned a lot about using ACT and CFT in working with different types of problems like social anxiety, addressing discrimination in working with transgender people, youth and the transition to adulthood, CFT for anxiety, learning more about the therapy process and our role as a therapist through cultivating sacred moments in psychotherapy and recognizing our own avoidance repertoires, about nonattachment in order to let go and become free. Attending lectures by big names like Stroshal, Robinson, Tirch, Fleming, Kocovski...was an invaluable experience. Although it was an online event, we had a lot of experiential exercises, time and space for discussion with presenters and other participants. Discussion rooms, chat opportunities, and a lot of networking activities allowed me to meet wonderful people from all over the world and share with them ideas, work, my own insecurities and connect on a deeper level.

The whole experience during the Conference has given me so many ideas that I can incorporate into my work with clients and my life. Immediately after the Conference, I started buying books to learn more about the use of ACT in therapy. I felt more confident using ACT metaphors and techniques in sessions with clients. It was more natural for me to include some experiential exercises or use ACT explanations for different types of client difficulties. And I felt I was explaining them better.

Motivated and inspired by the Conference, I enrolled in Mindfulness training and started practicing mindfulness daily. It helped me a lot to learn more about the way my mind works and to have the freedom to take a different stance at a given time and situation.

Thanks to World Conference 19, I was encouraged to expand my own practice and share my knowledge of ACT and CFT with my colleagues through various educations and training.

My goal for 2022 is to launch an ACT workshop for parents of children with disabilities to share with them all the benefits of the ACT approach to life. I also see this as my personal goal or to call it an obligation, because a few years ago as a professional I found myself having so little to give in working with parent groups. Now with ACT, I feel like I have in my hands tools of inestimable usefulness that I can share with parents.

For me this Conference was not just an educational session to learn about ACT and CFT, it was the whole ACT and CFT experience. Many thanks to all ACBS members.
 

While awarded in 2020, Emina attend the virtual conference in 2021.

Tran Thi Ngoc Lan, Vietnam

Hi, I am Lan from Vietnam. I am a counselor in training at HELP University, Malaysia. As a meditator for over ten years, when I began my journey into psychology study, a friend presented me a book named “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Second Edition: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change by Steven Hayes, Kirk Strosahl, and Kelly Wilson”. The initial exposure to ACT was captivating. Through ACT, I saw the mindfulness processes clearer and I was able to help others understand mindfulness easier. Importantly, I found the behavioral processes which was the missing piece to my practice. ACT fit perfectly into who I am as a person and my value as a counselor. I began to study ACT through books and online courses. In 2018, I contacted Dr. Steven C. Hayes who was very kind to guide me to ACBS community.

I was jumping off the roof when I found out I was given the ACBS 2020 Developing Nations Scholar Award to participate in the ACBS World Conference that took place in New Orleans, USA (July 14th - 19th, 2020). However, due to the break of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had postponed my attendance to ACBS Virtual World Conference (June, 24th – 27th, 2021). Initially, I did not have much exposure with the ACBS community, however I did not once felt alone because ACBS staff was patiently guiding me along the whole journey.

Pre-conference Workshop
I began the conference with the guidance of Dr. Nguyen Thanh Tam who regularly checked on me before, during and after the conference to support my learning process in the best way possible. I entered my first workshop with no expectation and great curiosity. What I found was beyond my imagination and left me out of words to describe Dr. Robyn Walser as a person, as an ACT trainer and ACT therapist who was conducting the workshop. She showed so much depth in simplicity, practicality and humanity. The way I understand ACT forever changed.

Unexpectedly, I also found so much comfort in the transparency and empathy of the participant’s sharing. I shared at the workshop that “I came to this conference to find a way to be a better counselor, but what I found is that we are all in this together and I do not feel alone anymore”. I could see encouragement, empowerment and love in the eyes of the participants clearly despite the distance and the screen.

At the ACBS World Conference
I had attended as many talks as I could during the conference. It would not be fair for me to mention only certain specific individuals who had impacted me in the conference, because each person whom I had a chance to connect with impacted my development in their ways.

But if I was to quote an experience, I can pick the time when I was listening to Dr. Kelly Wilson’s talk, my tears drop like the sky cries through the rain. My mind did not understand yet, but something in me felt deeply seen. I re-watched the talk many times, each time I continued to cry.

The award helped me, a young girl who felt far and invisible from an underdeveloped nation to finally realize many beautiful humans in the world who do not discount another human base on continent, race, status, or any labels. Being in the ACBS World Conference connected me with the spirit of the people who were there to care, support and grow together. It was one of the best conferences I had ever attended. I felt nurtured and belonged. I can still remember the joy and liberations that kept me awake every night after the conference because I felt so charged and alive.

ACBS Community
Even though the conference only took place in four days, yet I have continued to access the support from ACBS community until today. I became friends with Rachel Chan, a counselor from Hong Kong who included me in her ACT Peer Consulting Group and supported me in my ACT study journey. She carries the ACBS spirit and lit the fire in me every time we talk.

I was connected with the president of ACBS Malaysia Chapter, Mr. Eugene Koh Boon Yau who guided me with the supports available in Malaysia. He also connected me with Dr. Wendy and Dr. Nicholas Pang Tze Ping to support my ACT development journey in my internship at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

I met Paulo Cesar Bozza Junior in the ACBS LAMIC group, who has become my Functional Contextualism, Relational Frame Theory and ACT supervisor. I cannot imagine a human being as beautiful and generous as Paulo.

Post-Conference
1. I decided to further my education as I continued to take online courses such as FACT by Dr. Russ Harris, ACT Immersion by Dr. Steven C. Hayes, Value in ACT by Dr. Kelly Wilson. It crystalizes my confidence moving forward with ACT as ACT proves to be deeply congruent with my direction in life, and career.
2. As I enhanced my ACT skills, I applied them to my clients in my practicum and internship cases. I decided to be more consistent with ACT therapy as the foundational approach to my practice.
3. I completed and presented a second research paper on “Zen Practitioners’ Lived Experiences in Marriages” based on theoretical framework of Relational Frame Theory.
4. I offered free training and discussion to my university peers at HELP University, Malaysia.
5. I presented ACT to the wider community, throughout webinars, presentations, sharing events at universities such as Multimedia University Malaysia, bank and corporate organizations such as CIMB Bank Malaysia, and ACT group process which popularize ACT to thousands of Vietnamese within three months through the program Ban oi Khoe Khong, a Vietnam project to support mental health during the pandemic to popularize ACT in both English and Vietnamese.

Conclusion
For me, there are no words precise enough to describe my experiences and gratitude for the chance to attend the ACBS World Conference. The best way I can sum up is “Thank you ACBS for giving me this opportunity.”

While awarded in 2020, Lan attend the virtual conference in 2021.
  

Huiyuan Li, Melody, China

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
Hi, I am Huiyuan LI, Melody, and I come from China. I am a year three PhD candidate in nursing, an ACT learner and practitioner. I would like to express my sincere thanks to ACBS committee for selecting me as a scholarship recipient and having the opportunity to learn more about theories, practices and sharing my insights on ACT.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I first knew about ACT after listening to a scholar's sharing at an academic conference, and after that I became very interested in ACT and firstly attended an ACT workshop organized by ACBS China Chapter and ACBS World Conference 18 online, starting a continuous learning on CBS and ACT, and making it my PhD research topic.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I am interested in helping patients with advanced cancer accept their cancer experience and promoting life meaning. I am also interested in cultivating my personal ACT competency, being open and mindful to the participants’ thoughts and experience, rather than getting trapped into complex stories and not believe in self abilities. Participating in the ACBS conference is the best opportunity to learn about all ACT-related research, technical training and guidance, and related theoretical frontiers. This is of great help to my research in terms of theory and technical practice. In the following, I would like to present the experience during at the conference and after the conference.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
My pre-conference workshop was about ‘Life from the Feet Up: Supporting Client Change through ACT Process and Therapeutic Relationship’ by Dr Robyn Walser. She is so passionate and warm that I was inspired by the two-day workshop, especially on how intrapersonal and interpersonal behavioral patterns inform a functional approach, how ACT metaphors and experiential exercises can be tailored to fit the client’s experience and language practices including the social and cultural contexts, how to work through barriers to fluid implementation of ACT in an ACT consistent fashion, and the role of personal values in guiding the work done in ACT therapy. This helped cultivate my competences well when communicating with patients with advanced cancer, which has made me think about my relationship with my clients all the time that the therapist maintains a stance that instigates and reinforces psychological flexibility.

During the conference, I actively participated in various forms of lectures and presentations. A Plenary allowed me to hear from Prof Hayes their latest insights on process-based therapy. Banjamin's impressive workshop allowed me to quickly and accurately master the six steps to improve psychological flexibility with the matrix. Dr Fung’s presentation gave me a deep impression on the differences on the development and implementation of ACT based on different cultural contexts. The symposiums allowed me to learn about the research progress of scholars in different fields according to my own interests. The SIG meeting is an interesting part where I can share any insights about ACT practices with ACTors in different parts of the world. During this conference, I also gave oral presentations on ‘Patients’ experience of experiential avoidance on the trajectory of being diagnosed with advanced lung cancer: a qualitative study’ and ‘Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for improving fatigue interference and health-related quality of life in patients with advanced lung cancer: Protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial’, and I was honored to share my research findings on ACT to different scholars.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
Through this conference, I was also fortunate to meet my mentor, Dr Anastasia Keller-Collins, who provided great support for my effective learning during the conference and the communication after the conference. Overall, the conference this year and my mentor helped answer many of my questions about the ACT practice, improved my awareness of many practices issues and enhanced my confidence in implementing exercises.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Inspired by the Conference, I was encouraged to buy more ACT practice and theory books to broaden my knowledge, and share ACT-related knowledge to clinical nurses. I was also encouraged to actively participate in the ACT advanced theory study and group supervision training organized by ACBS China Chapter. After mastering certain skills, I consummated the ACT intervention manual for patients with advanced lung cancer in China and conducted an ACT intervention among 160 patients with advanced lung cancers in China to examine its effectiveness, which is a process of constantly clarifying personal values and applying ACT skills more skillfully. I hope I can share ACT as much as possible with every patient with advanced cancer in China and make them know about it and truly benefit themselves.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
Although ACT began to prevail in China, ACT implementation directly by clinical nurses is still very rare. My goal after completing the PhD project is to continue to share ACT knowledge towards clinical nurses and inspire them to realize the importance of ACT and the feasibility and practicality of ACT, no matter for the quality of life of patients or their own career development, and there will be potential practical value for clinical nurses as an alternative deliverer of ACT in the future.

I would like to spread more useful information about ACT to Chinese cancer patients, so that more patients can be familiar with it, and make it an important choice to enhance their meaning of cancer life. I will also continue to accumulate my own ACT toolbox to enrich my experience and apply ACT to guide my own life.

Many thanks to the conference committee and all members. Hope to see you next time!

Mohamed Abdelalem Aziz Ahmed, Egypt

Hi, I am Mohamed Abdelalem Aziz, Psychiatrist, Cognitive behavioral therapist (CBT), Dialectical Behavior therapist (DBT), and ACT therapist (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) from Egypt. A country located in the north of mother AFRICA. 

When I started my career as a psychiatry resident in 2015, I did not believe in the efficacy of psychotherapy, may be due to the lack of training of psychotherapy in Egypt. After some time I started noticing that some of my clients do not need medications but they have problems and also prescribing medications does not change thoughts nor the feelings. I got confused and my thoughts take me to change my specialty but something inside me was curious about psychotherapy. I registered for my first CBT course here in Egypt, it was quite expensive but I was very curious if there is something will help the clients to deal with things that medications can not deal with such as thoughts, feelings, traumatic memories and Grief.

After finishing my first CBT course, I was fascinated with theoretical background of this model and started reading more and more about it. I started working with my clients using it, it was good but I have always had the feeling that there is something missing and that I am pushing the patient towards the positive attitude. I used CBT on myself and I got the same feelings and my mind started questioning me – where do these negative thoughts and feelings come from? And why do they keep coming? - I became obsessed searching for every negative thought and challenging it and sometimes the thoughts came without feelings and sometimes feelings came without thoughts.

One of my clients who was struggling with anxiety related problems told me that he sometimes woke up in the morning and had a bad mood and I kept asking him – what did you have in mind when you woke up? And he kept answering me that he had nothing in his mind (his mind was blank). I noticed something after this client session, I am facing the same problem - sometimes I wake up with a bad mood and I did not know why. Another thing, the CBT was not effective at all with borderline personality disorder clients. All these situations left me with many questions about CBT, its theory, and effectiveness. 

One day, after a very difficult session with one of my clients who was struggling with chronic depression, I came back home disappointed and started revising the great CBT course of Beck Institute. I noticed a word called (ACT) was mentioned by one of the instructors of the course about the new waves of cognitive behavior therapy models and how this model is gaining evidence. I started searching about ACT books where I found Dr. Russ Harris great book (ACT made simple, 1st edition). I just finished the first chapter which explains the (caveman mind theory) and I started dancing- yes, yes, I was literally dancing shouting that’s amazing, amazing. I started reading about ACT with a great motivation and watching Russ Harris and Prof. Steven C. Hayes videos.

Acceptance and Commitment therapy not only changed my way of practicing psychotherapy but also, changed my whole life. Two concepts make me realize how ACT is so amazing. The first one was (the misery of human kind) - I was shocked that the main feelings for humans were the feeling which we were calling negative feelings such as fear, anxiety, panic, etc. not happiness and they are all normal feelings. I read Prof. Steven books and realized that he was searching for the source of humankind suffering even in religions. And since I am a Muslim, I did the same thing looking in my religion if there is something telling me and giving me evidence about human suffering. Guess what, I found many things in the holy book of Islam telling the same things Prof. Hayes told us. The second concept was Psychological Flexibility which gave me ways how to deal with all these difficult situations, thoughts, and feelings.

I finished all Dr. Harris and Prof. Hayes courses also read almost every book they wrote and many other authors. 2018, I started to introduce ACT to my clients and I was fascinated by the effectiveness and flexibility of this model. I started integrating other modalities to ACT especially Compassion Focused therapy and Self-Compassion exercises develop by Dr. Kristen Kneff.

I joined ACBS community which opened a huge door with its marvelous members, professionals, and resources. Unfortunately, I did not get the opportunity to travel to any world ACBS conference but I attended two virtual conferences. They were amazing, with many professionals introducing the most recent research studies and with plenty of wonderful workshops which helped me to advance in my ACT practice. 

Now and after more than four years of practicing ACT myself and with different problems facing clients, I am writing my first ACT book which is in ARABIC language and also making my final touches in a series of ACT courses for Egyptians and Arabic therapists, all in Arabic language. My most important goal is to develop an ACBS community (Egypt branch).

Finally, from all my heart, thank you ACBS community for all the support and guidance you are giving to therapists in every country around the world especially developing countries. And I am looking forward to meeting you again in the next world ACBS conference. Thanks. 

Maria Jose Vuckovich, Paraguay

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
Hi, my name is Maria Jose Vuckovich but mostly go by Josie. I am a 35 year old Clinical Psychologist from Asunción, Paraguay a small country located in South America. I work in a private practice, where I see teens, adults and couples.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I was first trained in psychoanalysis as it was (and probably still is) is the main psychological orientation in Paraguay. When I was in university I never heard of Contextual Sciences or any of the CBS based therapies. As I said, I started with psychoanalysis but I did not feel content with the results of my work, nor could I explain why sometimes it seemed to work and sometimes it seemed to not work. I got to CBS by getting to know Mindfulness first. I found that through the practice of mindfulness I got to change behaviors in myself and my clients that I hadn't been able to get to through psychoanalysis (and in a much shorter time). Mindfulness led me to DBT training which later led me to ACT and I have been passionately studying about CBS ever since.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I am interested in understanding the roots of behavior change. Learning ACT from its roots. I have been specially interested lately in furthering my understanding of RFT and have been taking particular interest in issues
relating the SELF and body related issues. 

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
I was very excited to participate in WorldCon this year. Last year was my first and this was my second year attending. I found very interesting talks and was very glad that we had some time later to catch up on the talks we
weren't able to attend. I was especially interested in the talks about interbehaviorsim, the talk about psychodynamic defense mechanisms from a behavioral lense, RFT related sessions and Body Image sessions.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
What has always stood out to me from the CBS community is the sense that there is a genuine interest in understanding and furthering the science and sticking to the roots. At the same time it was a very welcoming community, very humble and helpful with people like me who where just starting, and very human.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
New people I got to know and who are exploring subjects that I am interested in. I met my current mentor through the ACBS world conference last year and contacted her after hearing a few of her talks. I definitely feel I am a much better clinician because of her and I feel that ACBS world con gives me that. A context to get to know people who are working in this field, who I can later contact to train with them or to get resources. It gets me excited and motivated to keep moving towards my values as a clinician and it gives me a sense of belonging to a bigger community.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I would love to bring CBS to Paraguay. Get psychologist to at least know about CBS and that it exists and that it is a real option. To get my colleagues here to know that there is more than just psychoanalysis or CBT and to help new clinicians train in this model by translating to spanish what I can. 

Lara Dobrkovic, Serbia

As graduate medical doctor and attendee of third year of CBT/ REBT training, I am mainly focused on broader CBT interventions and working with clients primarily with anxious and depressive symptoms. My main area of psychotherapeutic work is in individual sessions and clients, as well as training groups on selected topics, and experience share within peer groups and professional conferences and gatherings.

Herewith I would like to give my warm thanks and appreciation for being part of ACBS virtual conference of 2021. Topics that were covered in the conference were very relevant and useful for broader CBT therapists. In my county I attend CBT and REBT psychotherapy trainings and I am part of broader CBT community. My main activities after that conference were focused on sharing knowledge, perspectives, and insights with my peers from the same training program I am attending to. Also, during national psychotherapy congress, that was held in late 2021, I was able to discuss in small groups topics of interested from third wave of CBT and direct co-participants into the area of further investigation about ACBS areas of work and staying tuned for future possibilities and attendance of ACBS conferences. Areas that was broadly shared and discussed within our professional circles were Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) therapy in practice, and it’s supreme position in defining and leveraging on client values. I had facilitated experience group with peers where we discussed values from REBT, broader CBT perspective and ACT perspective.

In addition to sharing verbally impressions and knowledge obtained from the conference with my peers, and facilitating experience sharing sessions, I also have embedded ACT and values into training material that I use for group workshops open for non-professional attendance. Clients are responding to values concept taken from ACT quite well and applying my modest knowledge from ACT and third wave has proven to be very useful and likable by my clients. This experience of attending ACBS virtual conference of 2021 has broaden my CBT perspective as well, and intend to attend further third wave conferences and also look up for some formal training in ACT in future.

Topics that were focus for my further practice and sharing my lessons learnt with my peers were Mindfulness based interventions and Compassionate focus therapy interventions. Both were present to my peers in context of primarily anxious and depressed clients, but were also considered in wider spectrum as well. Mindfulness is growing in popularity in my country, within both professional and non-professional circles. And Compassionate focus therapy and its interventions are very useful for clients who had some childhood trauma and have suffered from poor self-image. Through my attendance of the conference I really felt the power of compassion and I was enabled to carry this knowledge, but even more importantly, this emotional and motivational insight forward. My experiencing it first hand myself, I was better equipped to take it further, share with my peers, attendance of the training and my clients.

ACBS conference was great experience for me and I am very thankful for the opportunity to attend it.
 

Nevern Subermoney, South Africa

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Nevern and I am a clinical psychologist from Johannesburg, South Africa. 

How did you become interested in CBS?
I have always had an interest in mindfulness meditation, which led me looking into third wave therapies, which led to ACT. The second pathway was my interest in looking at psychotherapy integration, for which I found the PBT model incredibly helpful. 

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I use process-based therapy and ACT in my clinical practice. I plan to do a PhD with Joe Ciarrochi as a co-supervisor on a PBT topic.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
My experience was lovely. There were so many top quality talks and opportunities for engagement. It was overwhelming in a good way.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
I love that the CBS community is so pragmatically values driven. I also love the focus on the alleviation of suffering and promotion of flourishing. And so far, the CBS members I interact with really embody that. 

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
I took back some very helpful information on the integration of CFT with ACT, as well as some newer digital possibilities for therapy.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I would like to thank the ACBS for giving me the opportunity to attend the conference, which I think played a role in me being promoted to a chapter leader in SA!  

Wenqian Zhao, China

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
Hi, I am Wenqian ZHAO, Chaney, a year three PhD candidate in nursing from China. I am doing research on the utilization of contextual behavioral science in oncology care. I appreciate the ACBS committee for selecting me as a scholarship recipient so I can learn more about theories and practices and share my insights on ACT-related research.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I first learned about ACT from published papers about using ACT-based intervention to address cancer patients’ depression when doing my master's research. I learned basic knowledge about ACT in the training courses of Prof. Zhu Zhuohong, professor of the Chinese Academy of Psychological Sciences. I first learned about ACBS when I was going to start my PhD study from my co-supervisor Prof. Chong, who is also a professional member of ACBS. Prof Chong recommended I register as an ACBS student member to get more information about contextual behavioral science as I am interested in using ACT in my PhD study. Then, I attended ACT workshops organized by ACBS World Conference from 2020 to now, further learning about CBS and ACT to support my PhD research.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I am interested in using ACT to promote the rehabilitation of breast cancer patients. In my previous studies, I focused on the sleep disturbance of those patients, and now on their body image disturbance. But there is a big challenge for me to deliver ACT as I do not have so much experience in using ACT in clinical sites. I always lack confidence in my ACT competency, getting trapped into anxieties about the research results, instead of focusing on the study process. ACBS conference provides me the best opportunity to learn more about experiences of using ACT in research and clinical treatment, which help me a lot in design and problem solving during my research.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
This year, I attended the pre-conference workshop on “Enhancing the effectiveness of Applied Behavior Analysis through Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT)” presented by Dr. Luisa Cañon. In this workshop, Dr. Cañon introduced a behavior analytic framework for doing ACT. The basic philosophical assumptions and principles of behavior analysis underlying ACT could provide ongoing assessment and intervention of verbal behavior within the scope of practice of behavior analysts. The roleplay and experiential exercises throughout the workshop gave me an entire repertoire to use ACT, so I was better equipped to deal with the challenges in my research sessions. During this conference, I also submitted a poster presentation on “Effectiveness of cognitive-based interventions for improving body image and psychological distress of breast cancer patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis”, and I was honored to share my research findings on the ACT with scholars from all over the world.

The workshop I participated in this year gave me a lot of inspiration, including how to understand some repressed and neglected inner activities when patients describe and narrate their personal experiences. At the same time, my supervisor, Professor Chong, also commented on my ability to guide patients to practice and put forward suggestions for improvement.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Inspired by the Conference, I actively participated in more clinical ACT practice activities, such as SIG of Body Image organized by friends I met in ACBS, and clinical supervision training organized by the ACBS China Chapter. I also conducted my PhD study, an ACT-based intervention program among breast cancer patients in China. During my research, I shared my experience with the patients, their families, doctors and nurses who worked in the surgery department at the research sites. The patients and their families showed a great interest in ACT and its unique attitudes toward the negative experience. The doctors and nurses in the department also showed interest in related research topics, such as ACT, CBT, and Mindfulness. I will continue to expand my research areas and make my efforts to promote the utilization of ACT in clinical nursing care.  

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
Thanks again for this opportunity to attend this great conference. Looking forward to seeing you next year!

Enver Denizhan Ramakan, Türkiye

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
Hi, I’m Denizhan Ramakan from Türkiye. I’m working as a resident in psychiatry department of a rooted mental health hospital and I am a member of ACBS Türkiye. 

How did you become interested in CBS?
I first met with CBS when I started my residency education, thanks to Fatih YAVUZ and after him Sevinç ULUSOY who are two of the founders of ACBS Türkiye. After that I’ve got into CBS work day by day. I took ACT course from ACBS Türkiye. I’ve been a member of the chapter and got part in the CBS family. I’ve been welcomed with warmth and inclusiveness and I saw the same warmth and inclusiveness from the CBS society around the world. I’d been choosen for the secretaria duty of ACBS Türkiye. I took part in congress arrangement within ACBS Türkiye. As ACBS Türkiye we made three congresses.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I usually use ACT in my practice with or without pharmacotherapy. I find lots of chance to practice with both inpatients and outpatients with varieties of troubles in their lives. I have chance to see and manage patients with severe mental disorders like schizophrenia and I experience that ACT interventions really help people with psychotic symptoms. Our hospital also has an alcohol and substance dependence center and we’re currently doing a research with people who suffers from alcohol and substance use disorders. We're planning to arrange intervention for these patients. We have an affective disorders center. We've initiated a study which is an ACT group therapy for people with bipolar disorder. We’ve experienced two groups so far and we’re going to experience more in the coming days. World Con helped me develop my therapeutic skills and so contributed this process. This development is not just by new therapeutic interventions that I learned, also by enhancing my therapeutic relationship and understanding clients. 

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
I am in contact with psychiatry specialists, residents, clinical psychologists, social workers and psychiatry nurses. When I met them, I see that they didn’t know what CBS, RFT and ACT are or they knew very few of ACT. Introducing them CBS and seeing them thinking about it is priceless. After World Con, I had found chance to transfer my take outs to them and introduce them our world wide community. I take part of the education of other residents and medical students. We're doing research in the context of CBS with some of them. We're doing reading groups about CBS papers. I’m more into RFT. We’ve initiated a working group named Language and Behaviour Research Working Group within ACBS Türkiye. In this group, we’re deepening our knowledge about RFT and planning to do some research in this field. RFT sessions in the conference updated me and encouraged to initiate researches. We have some ideas that we are preparing to bring to life.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
ACBS made communication easier to us and helped me to see the openness to share. Thanks to our community for this opportunity that helped me to connect people who makes great valued works, to update myself and develop my therapeutic skills and my therapist stance; encouraged me to transform my effort to scientific work. I think that’s important to contribute and develop together. 

Veysel GÜLEÇ Türkiye

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am 29 years old, I am studying as a psychiatrist in a training hospital in Istanbul and I am actively examining patients. I am about to complete my 5th year in the profession. I am currently a member of the acbs turkey chapter.

How did you become interested in CBS?
In Turkey, ACT is known among psychiatrists and used clinically by some psychiatrists. In the trainings given in Turkeye, behavioral sciences are explained in areas such as functional contextualism. Since I was also interested in the theoretical side of CBS, I continued additional reading groups and trainings after I received the training. During this time, I participated in groups where books such as “the ABCs of human behavior” and “Learning RFT” were read, and I worked as a coordinator in a group. I was joined a group that started years before I trained. We've been meeting weekly for years. Even though the content changes, we do readings and practices every week under the heading of CBS. I am also an active member of the turkey chapter. I took part in the organizing team of the ACT congresses, which will be held for the 4th time next year and attended by different professional groups working in the field of mental health. 

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
Apart from psychiatric clinical diagnoses, I am interested in couple relationships, we have a working group that we conduct on the basis of contextual behavioral sciences. In this group, we are planning projects related to more application areas. I made my thesis to investigate the factors that predict dyadic adjustment in bipolar patients. I examined variables such as stigma and psychological rigidity within this framework. 

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
The ACBS world conference I attended this year was the first for me. I think it's been effective. After a workshop I attended at the precongress, I made a presentation in my own unit at the hospital. The workshop about “single case design” was interesting for me. After the congress, I made additional readings on the subject. In addition, I had the chance to talk about the sessions and share experiences with my friends who attended the congress in my close circle. In general, I was also pleased that both the presenters and the participants were extremely helpful and friendly at the congress.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
Everyone I knew was diligent, helpful, and kind. I can say that I have seen again what it means to be value-oriented.  

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
If I evaluate not only this world congress but also my acquaintance with CBS, I can say the following. I have been following patients with ACT for about 4 years, I have had patients that I have followed with therapy, as well as with medication and therapy. Although we evaluate patients through a diagnosis-oriented and deterministic approach during examinations in the hospital, I use the CBS approach during patient examination, while formulating patients' complaints. I think the contribution of CBS to understanding my patients is great. In an environment where the mechanistic perspective is dominant, it is an advantage to consider clinical situations as a functional contextualist. Functional contextualist formulation is useful when diagnosing and determining treatment.  

Bryan Guerrero Trujillo, Lima – Perú

¿Podrías contarnos un poco sobre ti y tus antecedentes?
Hola soy Bryan, psicólogo y psicoterapeuta individual y de pareja. No se si catalogarme como psicoterapeuta ACT, pero lo vengo estudiando y entrenándome desde hace 6 años, la terapia de aceptación y compromiso (ACT) y la terapia integral conductual de pareja (IBCT) son las que más he estudiado, me he formado y he dictado cursos.

¿Cómo te interesaste en CBS?
Mi forma de entrar al mundo de la ciencia conductual contextual puedes ser resumida como un amor a primer oído. Estudié psicología en la Universidad Autónoma del Perú en mis inicios estaba muy entusiasmado por ver lo que iba a aprender y recuerdo que en el curso de Análisis experimental del comportamiento cuando me hablaron del conductismo, Skinner, los principios de aprendizaje, experimentos con ratas me pareció algo increíble y desde ese momento entre al mundo del conductismo desde entonces empecé a leer y conocer más. La Facultad de Psicología de mi universidad todos los años hace un Congreso Internacional donde reúne a diferentes psicólogos donde se realiza ponencias de diferentes temáticas, recuerdo que entre a un simposio de psicología clínica y psicoterapias contemporáneas, es allí donde escuche por primera vez sobre ACT, cuando escuche de lo que se trataba la terapia se me hizo muy conductual y a la vez muy cálida y amable con el consultante así mismo me llamo la atención que era una terapia basada en evidencia. Cuando acabo el simposio recuerdo que le pedí a los ponentes que me briden sus correos para que me pasen libros y donde podría formarme en eso. Desde ese momento me entusiasme en ACT y RFT, leía libros, veía videos sobre eso también recuerdo que realice un curso en ACT, siendo estudiante de sexto ciclo de la carrera, solo éramos 5 alumnos que estábamos haciendo ese curso en un centro de formación aquí en lima. Luego de ello tuve la oportunidad de pertenecer a un grupo de estudio sobre terapias basadas en evidencia y conocí más de ACT, luego con un grupo de compañeros creamos un grupo de estudio en nuestra propia universidad con el objetivo de que nuestros compañeros conozcan sobre las terapias contextuales. Realice mis practicas pre profesionales en el mismo centro en el cual escuche por primera vez ACT, termine la universidad con una tesis basada en ACT, me dieron trabajo en el mismo centro donde conocí ACT por primera vez luego por motivos externos tuve que retirarme y es allí donde abrí mi propio Centro de Formación en Terapias Contextuales, desde hace 6 años me he formado en ACT, RFT, IBCT, FAP, BA en diferentes países, he participado como ponente en charlas y talleres sobre ACT, hace 2 años me invitaron a la universidad donde estudie para hablar sobre ACT y fue en el congreso donde hace 6 años yo había estado como asistente y oyente, pero ahora mis valores me habían guiado ha estar al frente de unos alumnos intentado trasmitir lo que años antes alguien me había trasmitido y era esta chispa por conocer ACT y temas que no nos enseñaban en las universidad.

¿Podría contarnos sobre sus intereses de investigación y aplicaciones?
Mis intereses actualmente están muy relacionados a aplicar ACT en grupos, difundir ACT y RFT también la IBCT, mi población es adultos y parejas.

¿Podría contarnos su experiencia en la Conferencia Mundial de este año?
Mi experiencia en el congreso mundial fue increíble aprendí mucho a pesar de solo entender lengua castellana, ver a los máximos exponentes de ACT fue maravilloso aún así allá sido virtual. El próximo año lo harán en argentina así que estoy muy muy entusiasmado por eso también porque al fin podré verlos en persona.

¿Tienes algo más que te gustaría compartir con la comunidad?
Agradezco infinitamente a la ACBS por brindar esas becas que son de mucha ayuda para las personas que no podemos costear el ingreso por nuestra situación económica, están ayudando y apoyando a que la comunidad crezca y que cada uno nos acerquemos a nuestros valores como profesionales y terapeutas.

       Dina Masoud Abdelhafez Abdraboh, Egypt

Seyed Ali Kolahdouzan, Iran

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I was born and raised in Iran. When I was nineteen years old, I immigrated to the United States to live and continue my education. There, I have received my bachelor's degrees in "Biological Sciences" and "English Literature" from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and then I've got my master degree in "Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities" from Towson University. When I returned back home, I continued my study in psychology and I've got my Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Isfahan, Iran. Currently, I am a faculty member in the psychology of health department at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

How did you become interested in CBS?
During my Ph.D., I became familiar with ACT and I fall in love with it. I wanted to learn ACT first handed, so as a sabbatical leave, I went to University of Nevada for one semester to be trained and work under the supervision of Dr. Steven C. Hayes. There, I attended many Ph.D. classes and I got a chance to learn about other forms of therapies in CBS. As I returned back home, I became a member of the ACBS Persian chapter and five years later, I became the president of the chapter. So, for the last eight years, ACT and CBS were part of my main focuses in my academic fields.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My Ph.D. thesis was "Designing two therapeutic packages based on ACT and Abrahamic Religions to evaluate the effect of death anxiety on psychological health and quality of life of cancer patients." My main research and clinical interest is on palliative care and end-of-life care psychotherapy. I am also interested in spiritual care & health, logotherapy, existential psychotherapy and psychology of death. Currently, I am the head of the behavioral research center at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
If I want to say it in a simple sentence, I shall say, "it was an absolute pleasure and an amazing gift for me." I had this opportunity to get in touch with many great CBS scholars, scientists, researchers and psychotherapists, and relearned and evolved my ACT and other CBS knowledge. I attended a two-day workshops on "Trauma" by Robyn Walser. It was a pure pleasure and amazingly informative. Then, I spent a couple of days swimming in an ocean of amazing subjects and topics related to CBS. Especially, I found many interesting topics on "palliative care," "end-of-life" and "death and dying." It was really good. Moreover, finding new connections and networks during the World Conference was another thing that made me so grateful.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
Participating in the conference was very beneficiary for me. I got updated from various new research topics and innovations in the field of psychology and learned new methods and concepts of different psychotherapies in CBS. The great attitude and welcoming culture of the CBS community was truly beautiful. I am so glad to be part of such an outstanding warm culture.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Even though none of prominent CBS and ACT founders have ever been in Iran, Iran has one of the highest number of publication of ACT articles in the world. There are so many people in Iran who want to learn about ACT and CBS from the main sources, but they simply do not have the opportunity to act upon. When I got a chance to participate in the World Conference, I tried to pass on my experiences and knowledge to the Iranian academics who were so eager to be updated from ACT and CBS. I can proudly say that in the World Conference, I was the representative of at least several thousand Iranian people who passionately love to learn about ACT and CBS. I tried to pass my experiences in the workshops, classes, webinars and seminars that I participated all over the countries. All of my students really appreciated the rich contents that they have been introduced to.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community? 
I know I am asking too much, but if each year, at least one Iranian can have this opportunity to participate in the world conference, I think that would elevate the knowledge and understanding of so many Iranians who missed to be part of this amazing culture and community. In the Persian chapter, we would like to expand the CBS into the public forum and show general public how they can benefit from ACT and CBS in their daily lives. So, we need to learn new methods and protocols of teaching and therapy, so we can pass these knowledge as best as possible. We hope the CBS community helps us to reach this goal. 

   Dinara Tussupkaliyeva, Kazakhstan

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am Dianara Tussupkaliyeva, a native of Kazakhstan, currently pursuing a master's degree in the psychology of intercultural relations. My research focuses on the attitudinal and cultural aspects of gender-based violence.

As a consulting psychologist, I specialize in assisting adults with relationship issues, identity crises, acculturation stress, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), while also incorporating an intersectional approach to my work. Additionally, I focus on systemic discrimination within various contexts, examining its impact on individuals and communities.

How did you become interested in CBS?
Following my introduction to the ACT method, self-study of its manuals, and completion of an online course led by Steven Hayes,I began applying ACT in my daily work with clients and for personal development. Shortly after, I joined ACBS and participated in an online conference.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My research focuses on understanding the socio-cultural factors that affect people's tolerance of gender-based violence, along with systemic discrimination in different settings. I aim to create evidence-based interventions to reduce systemic gender-based discrimination, particularly when it's justified by cultural or societal norms. I'm particularly keen on utilizing the CBS approach, particularly values work, for its potential in effectively addressing these issues.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
Attending the conference in Cyprus was a highlight of my year! I found myself among like-minded individuals who shared my enthusiasm for learning - nerdy, compassionate, and humorous individuals dedicated to alleviating human suffering. Meeting and talking with colleagues from around the globe was particularly enjoyable. In Kazakhstan, the community of practitioners working in CBS is still relatively small, and it can be quite lonely. So, hearing firsthand experiences from those who have gone through similar journeys was especially gratifying. Despite geographical, linguistic, and cultural differences, we all share something much deeper. Experiencing this unity at the conference was personally reassuring and a reminder that the path to developing the CBS community in my country may be long, but the important thing is to keep moving forward. I found the lectures and practical seminars on existential topics and sessions by guest speakers to be particularly enjoyable. Witnessing the development of CBS in addressing societal and ecological issues has deepened my admiration for the community. Additionally, I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to the conference organizers for creating an atmosphere that was both welcoming and inclusive. It truly enhanced my overall enjoyment and made me feel valued as a participant.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
The inclusivity and warmth of the CBS community truly stood out to me. I genuinely appreciated the welcoming atmosphere and the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals from diverse backgrounds. It was a wonderful experience, and I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to participate in the conference.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Apart from feeling a sense of belonging to the broader community of CBS practitioners, I gained practical tools to enhance my work with clients. The feedback received during my poster session affirmed the relevance and potential for further advancement of my research. Additionally, forming new friendships with whom I anticipate reconnecting at future ACT trainings was enriching. Lastly, these experiences collectively inspired fresh ideas for implementing the CBS approach with different populations.

 Lydiah Maingi, Kenya

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am a counselling Psychologist and Lecturer at the department of Psychology in Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. There is limited mention, use and training of CBS concepts/principles in Kenya. and hence I had never interacted with it in my training or therapy work. 

How did you become interested in CBS?
I learnt about ACT in the process of reviewing literature on appropriate interventions for cancer survivors. I contacted Prof. Steve Hayes who connected me with Joanna Arch, a mentor I have to date. I participated in ACT training via ACT immersion and continue to further my knowledge and skills through the ACBS resources. I also learnt about ACBS community and joined the organisation in 2020 and continue to benefit from the resources available via the website.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My research interests are in Mental health, specifically on Compassion Fatigue among health care providers, Depression and Anxiety and on Psychosocial support for Cancer survivors. I desire to support cancer patients to accept and improve their quality of life despite their cancer experiences in a country where treatment accessibility is low. I successfully applied for the ACBS Development Research Award in 2021 courtesy and together with Joanna Arch to conduct a study on "Gaps in Supportive Care for Cancer Patients in Kenya: Recommendations for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention". Later in the year (2022) I applied and was granted the ACBS Developing Nations Award to attend the ACBS 2023 conference where I would present the preliminary findings of the ACBS funded project. Currently, I am developing an ACT intervention to address the gaps faced by cancer survivors in Kenya.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
The experience at the ACBS world conference at Nicosia, Cyprus is very memorable. The workshops came in handy for me and helped to grasp the ACT metaphors and to experience the exercises personally and practically. I particularly learnt how to utilise ACT from where I am through the Pre-conference workshop by David Gillanders "Starting where you are at: How to integrate ACT and other Contextual Behavioural Principles into your work". The fact that I could follow more conference sessions later after the conference made it easier for me to select the sessions that were more practical during the physical conference at Nicosia. This gave me the opportunity to maximise more conference presentations than would have been possible in a few days of physical presence. I commend the conference organisers for this.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
The CBS community comprises of very friendly and down to earth members who made my first time experience at the ACBS conference easy and memorable. The enthusiasm, love and utilisation of the CBS concepts in research and client work as illustrated in most presentations demonstrated not only a belief in but also the usability and effectiveness of CBS and ACT specifically. This was very inspiring for me.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you? 
I have been able to integrate ACT in my client work and also in my teaching. The books that I bought at the conference and other resources as well as the exposure I got has continued to motivate me to utilise the CBS principles. I have developed a proposal for an ACT intervention with Cancer Survivors and hope to get funding to roll it out. I look forward to having more of my colleagues engage in ACBS. I also hope to soon publish my recent findings in a journal which will enhance dissemination of ACT in Kenya, a Low and Middle Income Country (LMIC).

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
There is need to disseminate the CBS principles and the existence of ACBS in Kenya. While I hope to make that happen, any other efforts towards that will be highly appreciated.

I am very grateful for the Developing Nations Award that made it possible for me to attend the conference that I would have otherwise not been able to. To the committee and the conference organisers, thank you all for a well planned event. 

Lea Stephany, France
Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?:
My name is Lea Stephany, I am a first-year Master student in Psychology at the University Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès. Since the beginning of high school, I have been interested in behavioural science and wished to pursue my studies in a subject related to that field.  Later on as I chose psychology, the lack of information and lessons about other behavioural sciences in the undergraduate years pushed me to read a lot on my own, and to start an independent learning on subjects such as linguistics, cognitive and behavioural therapies for instance. As I went through my Erasmus exchange in Turkey, I had become a fervent defender of CBT. But throughout this exchange, I met many people from diverse backgrounds, and I went through a period of questioning and rethinking. I became aware of certain flaws in the traditional CB approach, and became interested in mindfulness, metaphors, and acceptance. I started once again an independent learning on these subjects, and as I came back to France to carry on with my first year of Master, I had the opportunity to work on the study of a Mindfulness Acceptance and Commitment Based Group Therapy.  Throughout my curriculum I had the opportunity to study in 3 different universities. I spent my first undergraduate year at the university of Strasbourg (France) and then moved to Toulouse (France) where I was selected in third year to go on an exchange program to Izmir (Turkey). Being able to study in different universities was of great benefit for my personal experience, as the professors often approached common psychology subjects from a different perspective. Some of the courses that I attended at Yasar University in Izmir even came in profound contradiction with my own assumptions. Facing divergence in basic opinions pushes me to question myself, and these divergences are often the motor of my reflexion.

How did you become interested in CBS?:
I think I always was interested in CBS! Since my early teenage years, I was interested in language and its effect on people as well as brain processes, behaviours and so on. Many questions that I asked myself about the impact of bilingualism, voice hearing processes, the use of metaphors through literature, music in our heads etc…, motivated me to make researches on my own, and the more I learned, the more I wanted to know! Many of these questions, that stayed with me along the years, were partly answered by the study of the Relational Frame Theory.  I now believe that RFT is a major psychological theory that allows us to explain numerous human behaviours, and that its contribution to a better understanding of human functioning is only starting.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?:
Throughout the past year, I worked on a research project which aimed to compare two groups of patients struggling with anxiety syndromes. We compared the evolution of the symptoms as well as the changes in the psychological flexibility at post-therapy and at long term. The results were very interesting, as we discovered that patients who took part in the therapy up to 4 years before, and who continued practicing the exercises and the techniques taught in the therapy, saw their psychological flexibility increase even after the therapy. Even though the group was small, it was great to come up with positive results allowing us to take into account the importance of follow up sessions and of the weekly practise of the exercises.  As for my application interest, I wish to be accepted in the University of Grenoble, which hosts a Master’s degree specialised in third waves psychotherapies. And after the acquisition of my M.A., I aim to carry out abroad internship’s to perfect my practical experiences.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?:
Going to Seville in June was a completely unique experience. After working on ACT and RFT for only a year, being suddenly propelled in this bright environment was more than I could ever hope. I was able to assist to workshops wonderfully presented, to meet open minded, diverse and kind people, to express myself freely, question, and be answered, and most of all, I felt fully welcomed in the ACBS community, even though I had begun only shortly.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?:
Yes. The main thing that stood up for me was the total rupture with the conventional hierarchical system. As a student, only recently discovering the professional world, it seems to me that French society has profound roots in the respect and courtesy due to higher ups, and depending on your social and economic status, a set of implicit rules are meant to be followed.  If my first experience with the ACBS community was so unforgettable, it may be thanks to the open and horizontal relations that took place in the World Conference. Being able to step up to anyone, say hello and introduce myself, no matter one’s reputation, amazed me and enabled me to gain confidence in myself.

What will you be taking back from your experience that might be helpful to you?:
Besides the great deal of unvaluable knowledge acquired by attending the conferences and workshops, I came back to Toulouse with the deep motivation of pursuing my studies on ACT and RFT. The encounter with professionals coming from all over the world, who shared with me their practises and experiences, reinforced my will to learn more, practise and exchange on ACT.  I also came back with a huge list of books and articles to read, websites to explore, and podcasts to listen! I am now as motivated as ever to continue on this path, and proof at hand: I will be going to an ACT workshop in Lyon in mid-October !

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?:
I am more than thankful to have been given this opportunity, and hope that many other students will benefit from the diversity scholarship. I can only thank the whole ACBS community for providing me with these unforgettable memories, and hope the amazing community spirit stays on trend!

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Claire Turner, New Zealand
Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?:
I grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. Aspects of my childhood were very difficult, and led to psychological difficulties. These impacted my relationships, my studies, and my quality of life. I am slowly making my way through an undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Auckland, while focusing on my recovery. I aim to become a clinical psychologist in the future.

How did you become interested in CBS?:
I was first introduced to contextual behavioural science through participating in individual and group Acceptance Commitment Therapy. I found adopting a curious, open and compassionate stance to my difficult experiences to be transformative. I was drawn to ACT’s non-pathologizing and pragmatic approach, and its emphasis on values based living.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?:
Currently I am interested in RFT as a clinical intervention. I am also interested in applying a phenomenological approach to mental distress, and in the peer movement and peer co-development of research projects.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?:
This was my first world conference. It was interesting, engaging and valuable. I met with and talked to others pursuing values-based lives, and felt reassured and encouraged. One highlight was presenting about my lived experience in an ACT for groups and ACT for acute experiences symposium. Another was witnessing challenging and honest roleplays. There was a great mix of intellectual and emotive material, and didactic and partner work. In bringing memories of the World Con to mind, I feel very grateful for my experiences, and encouraged in both my personal and professional journey.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?:
On a social outing, I witnessed a community member cry at the beauty of the Seville Cathedral. His bravery in sitting with and expressing his emotion was very inspiring, and encapsulates, I believe, the essence of the ACBS community. I talked to people who were not just talking the talk, but were walking the walk. Their humanness and pursuit of values directed living, particularly honesty and authenticity, bring a lightness to my heart.

When I think of the CBS community, I am reminded of the quote, “who are you when nobody is watching?” To act in a values consist way honours not only others, but myself, and as I learn the importance of this, I keep in mind the thousands of others throughout the world sharing not only my interests but the values underlying the pursuit of these interests.

What will you be taking back from your experience that might be helpful to you?:
In attending the World Conference, I clarified what I most valued and found important to me. I was able to put my current difficulties around completing my university degree into a wider perspective, and investigate how, in small ways, I can live out my values in my daily life.

Since the conference I have been learning to slow down, to use patience, and to trust in my journey and that I will return to university to finish my degree when I am well enough.

The opportunity to view presentations and also to present to others has encouraged me to spread the word about ACT in my local community. Since arriving home I have presented a workshop on ACT to a group of peer support workers. I have represented the health consumer perspective on a digital health strategy in New Zealand, and on the issues of housing and employment for mental health service users. I have submitted an application to consult on issues for consumers within inpatient wards.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?:
Thank you, most sincerely, for the opportunity to learn at the World Conference. Thank you to those who donated to the diversity scholarship fund, and thank you to those that I talked with. Seville 2017 was and is very important to me.
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Sara Runga, New Zealand
Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?:
Kia ora! My name is Sara, I am of indigenous Māori decent, and I come from New Zealand! I am currently undertaking my thesis for the degree of Master of Applied Psychology in Behaviour Analysis (MAppPsy-BA) at The University of Waikato.  My decision to journey into postgraduate studies stemmed from my personal experience battling a mental health illness. I understand that times such as these can be extremely tough for individuals and their loved ones, and I want to be able to provide these people with the tools they need to lead healthy and rewarding lives.

How did you become interested in CBS?:
I was introduced to CBS during the first year of my masters program in 2016. ACT seemed like a natural extension to the behaviour analytic work I had started becoming passionate about! I was excited to come across an approach that felt like something I could, and have been, applying to my own life! One of the many things I love about ACT, is that it incorporates a holistic approach to achieving health and wellbeing, thus aligning with indigenous Māori frameworks of health.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?:
I am interested in the application of ACT to health-related issues such as obesity, particularly for indigenous populations. In New Zealand, we have extremely high rates of obesity amongst our indigenous Māori and Pasifika communities, and I am interested in adapting ACT principles to weight loss methods.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?:
My experience at the World Conference this year was beyond amazing! The environment facilitated my learning in ways that I hadn’t expected! I particularly enjoyed the practical workshops that incorporated role play exercises as they provided ideas for integrating the ACT matrix into practice.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?:
One thing that I find really inspiring about the CBS community is that we share the same values. It’s as though we all have a common purpose, and it goes beyond our work into our everyday lives. Everyone I met was genuinely supportive and caring of one another, and I just love that!

What will you be taking back from your experience that might be helpful to you?:
Attending this conference has been such a rewarding experience and it is really difficult to pinpoint one exact moment that has been helpful because the truth is, the whole experience was totally invaluable! Receiving this scholarship gave me the opportunity to connect with fellow students, researchers, and practitioners from across the world, whom of which I would never had met had I not been in attendance! Listening to the presentations of the many world renowned researchers at the conference was awe-inspiring, and allowed me to attain skills and knowledge that I can take forward into my research pursuits, employment, community volunteering, and my own life!

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?:
Thank you to the diversity committee for choosing me as a recipient of this scholarship! I am incredibly grateful for the experiences I had, and the people I met as a result of attending the conference! Also, a big thank you to those who contributed to the diversity fund, without your support, I would not have made it here and attending the world conference has truly made a difference to my work, my education, and my life!

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Paola Ricardo, New Jersey

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Paola and I am currently a third-year doctoral student pursuing a combined degree in Clinical and School Psychology at Kean University. I am Colombian born and migrated to the U.S. in my teens. While this transition was not easy at the time, I can now say that I am grateful that my parents made the difficult decision to uproot our family, so we could pursue new opportunities. My experience as an immigrant who has been able to navigate two different cultural experiences has informed my desire to pursue a higher degree and to support the work with underserved populations, as in my experience psychological treatment is not as widely available as it should be. I also happen to be a student who returned to graduate school after having worked six years in the mental health field and though I wish I would have started graduate school sooner, this experience has truly enriched my graduate school experience.

How did you become interested in CBS?
Prior to pursuing a graduate degree, I had become a yoga teacher and a meditator. The value that I found in acceptance and contemplative practices through my own experience colored the lens through which I saw the human experience. When searching for graduate programs, I realized how important it was for me to find a training program where I could incorporate these interests and where this kind of work would be supported. In addition, having worked with teenage girls experiencing behavioral difficulties prior to graduate school, shaped the way I conceptualized mental health challenges and it peaked my interest in learning about behavioral science. In finding Kean University, I found mentors that could support my work and interests and who introduced me to contextual behavioral science and ACT.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My research interests are found in the intersection where mental health and the development or maintenance of chronic health difficulties meet. At this time, I am especially interested in how our relationship with food can influence chronic health difficulties that occur as a result of poor lifestyle choices. I am especially interested in the use of acceptance-based practices, yoga, and meditation as a means of cultivating behavioral changes that can lead to changes in lifestyle.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
2018 was my first year at ACBS World Conference as I culminated my second year of graduate school. I had the opportunity to meet a number of wonderful people who were truly open to share knowledge, useful information, and who wanted to ensure I ventured to meet others within a community that prides itself in its generosity and willingness to share. In signing up as an ambasadee through the ambassador and ambasadee program, I met Grant Dewar, a health psychologist who introduced me to a number of people and who encouraged me to talk to participants of diverse interests while sharing with me what is like to be a health psychologist. I especially remember meeting for lunch with the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee, the committee that facilitated and made possible my participation at ACBS world conference. Its members were as generous, open, and easy going as I thought they would be based on my virtual interactions with them and what my experience at ACBS world con had shown me so far. Given my experience with them and my shared interests with the committee’s mission, I asked whether it would be possible to join as a student member. Luckily for me it was.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
Yes, I think their desire to share and cultivate a community that pursues shared values. In my interactions with those who have been part of this community for some time, I noticed that there was a desire to make me feel like part of this community. There did not seem to be a hierarchy which is something I truly appreciated as a student.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Besides learning from the valuable workshops and presentations, I was able to learn more about the community and its values. Attending the conference also increased my confidence as an ACT practitioner, leading me to take on the opportunity to co-lead a workshop with one of my mentors while presenting to experienced practicing licensed psychologists.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
Yes, I want to express my gratitude to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and its members for the valuable work they perform. Because of them I was able to engage in the enriching experience of presenting at ACBS World Conference and today I get the opportunity to learn from a diverse group of professionals through my participation as a student member in the committee. I also want to extend my gratitude to those who make this scholarship possible through their donations and for giving developing professionals the opportunity to bring their work to this valuable space.
  

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Gilliam Grannum, Pennsylvania

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Gillian Grannum and I am a clinical psychologist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. I am newly licensed in Pennsylvania and am pursuing my license in California. I completed my masters and doctoral degrees at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology in Pasadena, CA. Currently, I am living in a small town in east-central Pennsylvania and am providing individual and group therapy within a large behavioral health organization.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I was introduced to contextual behavioral science by way of instruction in acceptance and commitment therapy in my graduate program. I was drawn to ACT because it honors the person’s experience by recognizing the universality of these human experiences but remaining focused on how a particular individual can navigate the inevitable emotional pain of life. As one who has studied theology and is interested in spirituality, I also really appreciated how ACT draws from wisdom and spiritual traditions in incorporating forgiveness, acceptance, peace, openness, equality, and mindfulness. I was able to incorporate ACT in my clinical work during my internship and postdoctoral residency, and was fortunate to have a postdoctoral supervisor whose primary treatment approach was acceptance and commitment therapy. However, aside from ACT, I had relatively little exposure to contextual behavioral science more broadly until the ACBS World Conference.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
Contextual behavioral science principles have been central tenets in my clinical work. One area of growing specialty is with clients from racial/ethnic, gender, and sexual minority backgrounds, and I am increasingly concerned about the current political climate within the U.S. and the vulnerability of those from disempowered communities. I do believe that ACT’s principles of respect of one’s experience, concern about one’s values, and acknowledgement of the reality of pain and suffering – all of which are often minimized, challenged, and denied by the larger society in the lives of marginalized peoples – are crucial to allow me to provide care that truly honors my clients and their experiences. With regard to research interests, my doctoral graduating class included seven African American women and we have remained personally and professionally connected via an informal network. The principles of acceptance and commitment have been key components of the foundation that has contributed to our continued growth and development, and I am excited about opportunities to share our experiences with broader research and clinical communities. We will be leading a symposium at the American Psychological Association convention this year on how our “Sister Circle” approach to social networks has contributed to our own professional development and selfcare, and much of my contribution to our presentation has been influenced by values-based work within the context of community, which I experienced firsthand this year at the ACBS conference. I am also exploring opportunities for community education and dissemination of research in the context of spirituality and mental health; to that end, I will be presenting on issues of emotional health to people of faith in the Los Angeles area this spring.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
I found the World Conference to be intellectually stimulating, personally refreshing, and incredibly rewarding. The broad range of topics and rich content was initially overwhelming and vastly exceeded my expectations. One of my goals in attending the conference was to find “my tribe,” clinically speaking, and, by the end of the first day, I definitely felt that I was surrounded by like-minded people. It was extremely helpful to participate in experiential workshops where the instructors were not only teaching skills to use with clients, but were modeling generosity, vulnerability, courage, and acceptance with every exercise and role play. I felt very welcome by the Diversity Committee and its co-chairs, and am happy to now be working with the committee in promoting issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion for ACBS.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
Although I attended the conference alone and did not know anyone when I first arrived, I was immediately struck with the sense of community that infused the World Conference. The feeling of openness and welcome was a pleasant surprise, and it was easy to meet people and form connections. It is a cliché to say that learning should be fun, but unfortunately, in far too many settings, there seems to be an assumption that having fun is frivolous and unbecoming and that there is little room for individuality, creativity, subjectivity, or expressiveness in professional contexts. The CBS community certainly challenges that notion by making space for laughter, tears, vulnerability, challenge, and growth within a context of mutual respect and acceptance.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
The biggest challenge I faced throughout the conference was constantly weighing my desire to obtain information that could be helpful for my colleagues, peers, and trainees at my job against my hunger to engage with presentations and workshops that resonated with me and addressed my own professional and personal needs. Ultimately, I came to understand that much of what was personally appealing to me would also benefit others, because it tended to center around living into and out of one’s values. Although at times I wish I could have cloned myself to be able to attend several workshops at once in order to be exposed to cutting-edge research, learn new clinical techniques, and be guided by the wisdom of masters in the field, I was continually reminded that the effectiveness of the work that I hope to do is not predicated on my knowing as much as I can, but on my accepting my capabilities and my limitations as I open myself to a life of authenticity and wholeness.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I’m very grateful to the entire ACBS community and Diversity Committee for providing this opportunity and hope to continue my involvement with ACBS for years to come.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Emily Munoz, Texas

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Emily Munoz and I am from Corpus Christi, TX! I’ve recently completed a M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. I currently work for a non-profit organization that provides services to victims of intimate partner violence and I continue to be involved in research at TAMUCC. I hope to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in the near future.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I became interested in CBS after being exposed to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in a class. I found ACT really interesting, and a natural extension of my developing interest in behavioral approaches to psychological difficulties. I eventually joined a research lab that focused on social intimacy, as well as Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, which gave me the opportunity to learn more about CBS.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I am interested in the application of CBS to the area of interpersonal violence, particularly sexual violence and dating/domestic violence.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
I had a great experience at the World Conference! This was my first time attending and presenting at an international conference and I left feeling very inspired by the community, and the work that I was exposed to there.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
One thing that stood out to me about the CBS community was how supportive and friendly everyone was. I also really enjoyed the panel discussions on the #metoo movement and Women in CBS. I thought it was really great that the conference provided a space to discuss social issues and how these issues impact the work that we do.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Something that I have taken with me from my experience at ACBS actually came from Dr. Lisa Coyne’s plenary talk. She encouraged the audience to accept the fear and uncertainty we often face as clinicians and scientists. I believe she said, “what if we stepped into the magnitude of the problem - into the uncertainty - into the vulnerability to see what is possible.” This was particularly impactful for me both personally and professionally, and it’s something that I think about often as I move forward in my career.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
Thank you to the Diversity Committee for selecting me for this scholarship!
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Laís Nicolodi, Brazil

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Laís Nicolodi, I’m Brazilian and I live in the city of São Paulo. I’m currently a Master’s Degree student at University of São Paulo in the field of Behavioral Science and Feminism Issues, and my main object of study are the effects of how a patriarchal culture can influence in society as well, such as the power imbalance between men and women in general. I’m also a clinical psychologist in São Paulo, working especially with women issues and LGBT community.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I’ve started to learn more about the CBS when I was an undergraduate student of psychology. Since I’ve started to become more involved with the Brazilian community of ACBS, I had the opportunity to discuss with great people how could we add efforts to think of a way to promote welfare of political minorities in our environment, especially as clinical psychologists professionals. I’ve had clinical supervisors that were experts in FAP, and it was amazing to find out that there were already studies in the field of behavioral therapies that sought to consider gender and racial variables inside the relation between the patient and therapist.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
As a clinical psychologist committed with the values of Human Rights, especially considering the background where I’m inserted in (the Latin-American community of women) I believe that Behavioral Contextual Science, mainly Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, can contribute to develop therapeutic processes that contemplates the reality of vulnerable women who have suffered gender violence, in a sensitive and generous way, and that considers the social background of a structural racism and sexist social system.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
The year of 2019 was the year of my first ACBS World Conference, and it was also my first International Conference of my entire life. I’m so grateful and honored to have had the opportunity to meet incredible people from all over the world. The conference had not just contributed to me in a professional way as a better psychologist, but also contributed to me in my personal development as a human being. Meeting Steven Hayes in person and having the opportunity to learn with him more about ACT was very inspiring and stimulating.

The ambassador and ambasadee program also made me feel very welcomed because I’ve met great women who were very friendly and welcoming with me, such as Holly Yates, Miranda and Temple Morris, and Mary Hughes. Everybody from the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee were amazing too, people like Lucia Loureiro helped me a lot to make me feel more included in the ACBS Conference. Also, the Women’s SIG and the Diversity Equity and Inclusion SIG provided me great opportunities for meeting people from different countries from all over the world, such as Poland and Hong Kong, and share our experiences in common as students with different backgrounds and who lived very far from there. It was very warming to find out the members of Latin America that were present there too, because it made me feel even more connected with the ACBS community. And finally, it was wonderful to meet all the Brazilian community who were present in the ACBS Conference, I would never been able to meet them inside Brazil if it wasn't for the Conference of this year.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?                                                                      I would like to highlight one of the best moments I’ve had in the ACBS Conference. The Janet Helms Plenary about Power Dynamics of White Racial Identity in Social Interactions was very potent and inspiring because of everything I believe in. I was positively surprised by CBS community for choosing such a great and inspiring professional such as Janet Helms for the plenary. It was great to feel that everybody in the audience were so open-minded to discuss about white privilege and power relations among society. It made me feel honored to be a part of a community that includes racial debates inside the context of psychology and contextual behavioral sciences.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you? 
I could say that 100% of my entire experience in the Conference was very helpful to me. Considering my main values as a psychologist committed with political values that fights against violence against women and structural racism, I would say that the lessons I’ve learn in Janet Helms’s plenary I will carry with me in my practice as a psychologist for all time. The Steven Hayes’s lectures that I’ve participated in, as well, have also helped me a lot to improve my professional skills as an ACT therapist. Those were the 2 most helpful events for me during the conference because both of them were very aligned with everything I believe in, especially in my clinical application as a contextual behavioral therapist.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I would never been able to live all these great experiences if it wasn’t for the scholarship program developed by the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee. Thank you once more for everything you provided. And congratulations for the initiative, I hope even more students from all over the world from different background, especially political minorities, may have the same opportunities very soon.
 

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Jan Topczewski, Poland

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Jan Topczewski. I am a 1st year student of PhD programme in psychology at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw, Poland. I’m also engaged in LGBTQ mental health activism - I work as acounsellor and training consultant in LGBTQ crisis hotline hosted by Lambda Warsaw Association. We are one of the very few organisations providing free mental health services (individual and group therapy, workshops, email counselling, crisis hotline) for gender and sexually diverse folks, and currently the only one doing it on a country-wide scale. We serve individuals who experienced extreme violence and abuse based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, “conversion therapy” survivors, LGBTQ minors or people coming from low socioeconomic background who cannot afford counselling with properly trained and culturally-sensitive clinicians.

How did you become interested in CBS?
In 2014, during my 1st year of BA in psychology, I attended Joe Oliver’s brief workshop on using ACT with people with unusual (psychotic) experiences. It was my first contact with Relational Frame Theory and concept of experiential avoidance. I found it really compelling, but I had not fully appreciated it until I started reading about CBS approach in general. For me pragmatic roots, depathologizing stance towards human suffering and sensitivity to social justice were especially important aspects. It turned out that combining scientific “precision, scope and depth” with deep social engagement is possible and people are already doing it. I knew I had to get on board.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My PhD research project is focused on functional-contextual account of self/perspective taking difficulties in people coming from violent, invalidating environments (and commonly labeled as having “borderline personality disorder”). My hope is that recent developments in RFT will prove to be useful in understanding self(ing)-related challenges faced by people with such experiences.

As a practitioner, I’m very much interested in applying mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches to empower the LGBTQ community. Moreover, the intersection between critical psychology and contextual behavioral science is very relevant for my work. Every day I see how providing psychological support for individuals without addressing cultural practices contributing to "problems in living" is not enough. Hence, my interest is also in PROSOCIAL approach, the work of Bernard Guerin and in experimental communities inspired by B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
It was a period of intensive experiential learning. I was doing mainly RFT track and every day I had some "aha" moments. Entering new community without knowing almost anyone was very challenging, but it gave me the opportunity to talk and share with many people. There was a lot of "small things" that made a huge difference - smiles, meaningful conversations, acts of encouragement, tears, hugs. After six months, the memories are still vivid and heartwarming.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
Egalitarianism. People were approachable and warm regardless of their degree and profession. I felt the spirit of openness and cooperation instead of competition. Scientific culture shaped in such manner is absolutely unique.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
I refined my understanding of empirical and conceptual advances in RFT, which really helps me with my doctoral research. I also had the opportunity to take first steps towards collaboration with other CBS labs.

At the same time it was an important week for clinical skills building. Attending workshops such as “Process-based CBT, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Diversity” facilitated by Aisling Curtin, Matthew Skinta and lore dickey reoriented my development as a counsellor. During deeply moving real-play with Aisling, I remember thinking: “This is really how I want to work...”

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I'd like to express my gratitude to DEI Committee and numerous donators. This experience wouldn't be possible without your hard work and support. Thank you!

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Desmond Bull, Lanham, Maryland (USA)

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am Desmond Bull. I am originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa. I currently work as an ABA Therapist in Washington DC and Maryland. Being in the field for the last two years has been an eye-opener for understanding behavior and means to shape them. I like to spend my time researching ways to build my skills and learn new intervention techniques.

How did you become interested in CBS?
My interest in contextual behavior science stems from being in the field of behavior analysis and intervention.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I am interested in researching more about ACT and how mindfulness can be therapeutic in certain situations. The concept has always intrigued me. I currently research and implement breathing and other mindfulness techniques in ABA, but ACT would be an interesting new path to research.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
The conference in 2020 was like none other. It was initially scheduled to take place in New Orleans, but because of the covid 19 pandemic, it went virtual! Virtual, though somewhat limiting, provided opportunities for new learning and a different form of coming together. At the beginning, I had some issues with stable internet access. Once my internet struggles were over, I was able to participate in the conference fully. I listened to a variety of speakers as they went over several behavior shaping techniques. My personal favorite was the small breakout rooms. While it was an opportunity for more personal learning, it also provided us the chance to network and get to know other participants.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
The CBS community is particularly dedicated to impacting knowledge of contextual behavioral science in different forms. From the conference, the community projects a deep willingness to help interested individuals understand this concept. The community is full of professionals working in the field and they are willing to share their experience in a moment's notice. This is indeed the most noticeable part of the community - a community of professionals who understand the need to impact knowledge through their own experiences in the field.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you? 
There have been a couple of meaningful takeaways I got from the conference. Unfortunately, from the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic, our work has been limited to online and limited in-person contact. The various sessions that taught us techniques to adjust certain behaviors and identifying triggers for them were particularly helpful. Being in the field and seeing some of the behaviors displayed on regular basis helped me put the speakers' words in better applicable contexts. Some of the strategies I learnt have been helpful in everything from de-escalating problematic behaviors to teaching alternative soothing behaviors to individuals. I look forward to having the opportunity to implement some of these techniques in a consistent manner when normalcy returns.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Sandi James, Malaysia

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Sandi James. I am a registered Psychologist from Australia, currently living and working in Malaysia as a Senior Lecturer and Psycholgist in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Univeristi Malaysia Sabah. I arrived in Sabah in 2014, and was recently able to return to accept a new contract for that position after living and working in the addiction field in Thailand for 2 years and spending most of 2020 stuck in the UK after the borders closed due to COVID-19 in March. I worked in public and private mental health services in Australia prior to coming to Sabah and am currently a PhD candidate with La Trobe Univeristy researching alcohol use in the Kadazan culture here in Sabah. I am also completing my certification for registration with the International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP).

How did you become interested in CBS?
I first came across ACT via Russ Harris and his book TheHappiness Trap. In my work I focus quite a lot of the words we use and the connections between words, feelings and actions. RFT fit nicely into this exploration and after looking into this further I was directed to the ACBS. Since that time I have joined, and been active in, a few SIGS and interest groups with a particular interest in LMIC and practice with diverse communities.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
Initially I planned to present research we have been doing looking at Ultra Brief Psychological Interventions, a protocol a colleaugue and I produced in 2017 to assist health service staff in Malaysia provide brief psychological interventions to patients they are seeing. Time restraints and workload has previously not enabled medical professionals and other health service staff to provide any interventions other than pharmacotherapy treatment.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
I attended a number of sessions during the world conference and was most inspired by the range and diversity of the other particpants and presenters. My own personal circumstances throughout 2020 meant that I was unable to commit to the live sessions a lot of the time but when I did I found the speakers and presentations to be interesting and hopeful. I will attend again in 2021 in hopefully better circumstances for us all.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
The warmth, compassion and understanding of the CBS community is something that always stands out for me, and this was again evident throughout the conference.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you? 
The thing that impacted me most was the level of passion and engagement within CBS community. This is the stand out feature for me and something that increased further during the conference.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Nguyen Tran, Seattle, Washington (USA)

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Nguyen Tran. I am currently a Clinical Research Coordinator at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Professionally, I am helping a team of psychologists developing virtual behavioral parent training for children with ADHD. On the side, I am working on developing questionnaires to measure homophobia using ACT framework. I am a first-generation Vietnamese immigrant, person-of-color, and LGBTQ-identified ACT enthusiast. I am an aspired researcher and psychologist. My research interest is in equity and LGBTQ issues.

How did you become interested in CBS?
In 2015, I got my first job as a clinical case manager at a local non-profit, where I fell in love with clinical work and ACT. Since then, I’ve learned more about CBS. In 2017, I often attended the Washington Chapter meeting and it was then that I was introduced to Dr. Jonathan Kanter, who is mentoring me throughout my research journey/adventure. Dr. Kanter also gave me a book on FAP, which piqued my interest in CBS as a whole.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
As mentioned above, equity is an important value of mine. At the moment, Dr. Kanter and I are developing a new way to measure homophobia. In the future, I would like to contribute some more in using ACT in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as increasing access to care and decreasing stigma.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
ACBS was the first World AND virtual conference that I attended. The experience was immensely positive. I was in awe listening to incredibly knowledgeable and passionate folks presenting their findings and experience. Two talks stood out to me the most, which was “Looking Back to Stay Ahead: Recasting ACT as Behavior Analysis” by Dr. Emily Sandoz and “Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) and the Soul of the Clinician: Cultivating the Sacred in Therapy and Beyond” by Dr. Mavis Tsai and Dr. Robert Kohlenberg. Dr. Sandoz’s talk stood out to me because she explained ACT in a way that was understandable to someone like me, who doesn’t have a clue about behavior analysis. Dr. Tsai and Kholenberg’s presentation solidifies and demonstrates what I know about FAP for the very first time.

I attended multiple SIG meetings, getting to know people from all around the world, and am now part of the leadership team of the Sexual Gender Minority SIG. These opportunities will never come across without the help of the DEI Scholarship.

Overall, the conference is an experiential exercise. I learned, laughed, and bonded with people who are staying up past midnight to attend a talk that interests them. I was assigned to a breakout room with folks from New Zealand, half a world away.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
It is not an understatement to say the CBS community is extraordinarily welcoming. I was also struck by how willing to help everyone was to me. As a proclaimed outsider, who is not a clinician or researcher, I entered the conference timid and unsure of what I have to say. But I was constantly supported and my voice was always uplifted when I speak.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you? 
Everything I experienced had been helpful for me, both professionally and personally. I was able to connect with Dr. Skinta, who helped me with my LGBTQ project with Dr. Kanter. I was able to know and work with amazingly brilliant folks in the SGM SIG. I learned different research methods and ways to look at data differently, which now informs my research.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I am incredibly grateful that the community welcomes everyone with open arms, especially me. Without a doubt, I commit to pay this opportunity forward and I hope the organization will continue supporting new students and other non-traditional learners/CBS-enthusiasts in the future.

Are you wondering how you can help to disseminate CBS in the developing world through scholarship opportunities like this? Please consider donating to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund via Paypal by using the button below. Your donation will help us continue to bring increased diversity to our annual conferences by providing funds for individuals who come from diverse backgrounds and who would not be able to attend an ACBS conference without this added financial support.

Every dollar/euro/yen goes to helping those in need -- not a nickel goes to administration. Money collected for this fund is distributed by an ACBS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Scholarships are awarded based on need and merit. 

Please note that this contribution does not qualify as a tax-deductible charitable contribution, according to USA tax law ... but it's a nice thing to do.

Melody Sylvain, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am a BCBA and have 11 years of experience in the field. My clinical interests include strengthening psychological flexibility and working with children & adolescents on the autism spectrum.

How did you become interested in CBS?
ACT and RFT have been wonderful in terms of the contribution to my skills and knowledge as a professional. I believe that it is very important for behavior analysts to be more and more concerned with the application of ACT within our work.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
Adolescents and young adults with autism, conducting ACT functional analyses, supporting parents of individuals with autism, and using ACT in supervisory and mentoring relationships.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
It was phenomenal. I learned a great deal and truly enjoyed presentations from Emily Sandoz, Tom Szabo, and Evelyn Gould. 

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
I enjoy the fact that the majority of the CBS community is open, vulnerable and exemplifies what it looks like to apply behavioral science to their own lives. I would like to see more diversity and representation among the
speakers and more people of color at the next conference. 

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Clinical applications particularly from the interbehaviorism perspective. 

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
No. Thank you very much for the opportunity to attend. I have truly enjoyed it.

Deirdre James, Houston, TX, USA

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
Hello my name is Deirdre James and I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I am originally from Philadelphia but I am currently practicing in Texas. I work full time in an academic setting and also provide therapy to clients in my private practice. I have spent some time working as a behavior therapist with children in multiple environments. I also enjoy working with people coping with trauma, grief, women's issues, couples, and individuals with anxiety and depression. I hope to continue to enhance my therapeutic skills to help as many people as possible manage the challenges of life. 

How did you become interested in CBS?
I originally became interested in Contextual Behavioral Science through a professional therapist social media group. They introduced me to my first official Acceptance and Commitment Therapy training. In that group I joined a cohort and was able to learn more about the application of ACT with clients. The mentor group lead me to the ACBS website and suggested I attend the conference. 

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I hope to write and publish a book about feelings for elementary students using ACT and RFT as a basis for the book. I would like to highlight release activities for children to see ways they can physically express their emotions appropriately. I am also interested in researching how ACT can be helpful with Perinatal mental health and grief.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
I really enjoyed the conference. One of my favorite parts was the small interest group meetings that gave me the chance to talk to some leaders in the ACBS community. One of my favorite quotes was "Just because you said it once doesn’t mean you shouldn’t say it again. You don’t always need something new. Educate your clients to see. Keep repeating. Keep singing the same songs until the client sings along. Repetition is the mother of learning." I believe that has helped me grow as a therapist and know that sometimes you do have to encourage clients with the same information. Before I felt the need to always give them something new to try in fear of sounding like a broken record. It just gives me comfort in knowing that repetition is important. The meditation/yoga sessions were also a great addition to a virtual conference. It allowed me to get movement and stay engaged in the learning and community.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
The thing that stood out to me the most was how welcoming everyone was during the conference. People were willing to share resources to help further my knowledge of contextual behavioral science. There is an abundance of information in the CBS community. I look forward to continuing learning from the people I met and the resources they shared.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
I honestly learned more about Relational Frame Theory and contextualism. But one of the most helpful things I learned from the conference is to incorporate writing time into my sessions. I now prompt my clients to write letters of compassion to themselves when they find it difficult to be compassionate. I have facilitated multiple experiential exercises for clients to notice what they are feeling and to separate themselves from the feeling.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I really appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow from the conference and look forward to being a part of the community. I would love to volunteer in some capacity if there are opportunities available to do so.

William Hwang, Milwaukie, OR, USA

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am a clinical psychologist practicing in the Portland Metro Area in Oregon. I received my Psy.D. degree in Clinical Psychology from the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. Before my graduate school training, I worked at a behavioral health facility for at-risk children and adolescents in Leesburg, Virginia and spent some summers working as a camp counselor at a summer camp for children who needed extra help with emotional and behavioral challenges.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I was exposed to ACT, really for the first time, during my graduate school training at the University of Denver and was immediately drawn to it. In 2014, I attended the ACT bootcamp in Reno, Nevada (perhaps you were at the Eldorado too!) which furthered my interest in all things CBS. Afterwards, I continued to further my understanding of concepts like RFT and helped other students grasp these ideas as a graduate assistant for our program's ACT course. I have continued to utilize CBS throughout my work, primarily with individual clients in an outpatient setting.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My interests lie predominantly in the application side of things as opposed to research - you would understand why if you viewed my grades in my past statistics courses. I am interested in helping people let go of limiting beliefs and living freer, fuller lives. CBS has been a wonderful organizing framework by which change has been possible both for the clients I work with as well as myself in being able to relate to ourselves with more kindness, courage, and confidence. I believe there is still a lot of work that can be done to help us humans, especially with nondominant identities, discover and defuse from the subconscious messages we have internalized about what society says we can and cannot be in this world. Values work in ACT has been extremely helpful in giving my clients the motivation to overcome stigma and self-doubt.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
It was amazing to attend the World Conference this year and engage in workshops led by ACBS practitioners around the globe. The virtual nature of the conference allowed for access in a way that may have been prohibitive in another year due to travel limitations. I appreciated being able to get a more intimate glimpse into what life might be like for fellow ACBS members and presenters by seeing people in their personal milieu during the video conference meetings.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
I loved to see the CBS community's great sense of humor be showcased throughout this year's World Conference. It touched my heart and made me quite proud when multiple presenters paid homage to the native and indigenous peoples who have been displaced from the land on which the presenters' very institutions are situated. This spoke to how deeply embodied and enacted the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are in the culture of ACBS. Lastly, it inspired me to see a multitude of mental health practitioners of different races, ethnicities, and other diverse backgrounds serving not only as attendees but as presenters. This sort of role modeling and representation is what has given me the confidence to become a psychologist myself and I imagine it means the world to other burgeoning therapists and researchers as well.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
These annual conferences help remind me of the reasons I chose this calling in the first place and help me connect to a shared cause bigger than myself or another one ACBS member. I learned so much this year from how we can experience guilt and do it anyway to the way to conceptualize attachment as a form of psychological inflexibility to how to gamify therapy. These ideas have been poignant ones that I have been able to incorporate into my subsequent work with clients.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
Keep on changing and inspiring the world! Hope to see you next year!

Bianca R. Augustine, Norfolk, VA, USA

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I identify as a Black, French-Creole female, originally from a small town in the Acadian area of Louisiana, USA. Throughout my upbringing, I was often one of few, if not the only, person of color in many spaces that I occupied. This continued throughout college, my master’s program, my doctoral program, and now in my professional spheres. Additionally, I am a first-generation college student and recently completed my Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at a large university in Virginia, USA. Now that I have completed my studies, I work as a Resident in Counseling in Virginia, specializing in trauma and sex/sexuality concerns. ACT is my primary modality for treatment and has been beneficial in serving my clients, most of whom belong to minoritized populations. Additionally, I teach master's counseling courses for two universities in the USA as an adjunct professor. Sadly, many of the students I have taught were not familiar with ACT, nor other CBS modalities of counseling. It brings me so much joy to introduce ACT, CFT, and other CBS.

How did you become interested in CBS?
During my master's and Ph.D. programs, none of the faculty in my departments studied, researched, taught, or utilized ACT, leaving me to learn about this modality independently with limited mentorship. Fortunately, two of my peers in my master's program independently attended an ACT workshop, and shared their newfound knowledge with me. This ignited my interest and passion for ACT, fostering my exploration of ACT modalities, books, research, and trainings and later CFT!

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My clinical and research interests revolve around two broad areas- trauma and sex/sexuality concerns. More specifically, within the field of trauma counseling, I am especially interested in and specialize in traumas unique to individuals identifying within historically oppressed and minoritized populations, especially those identifying within the Black diaspora. I am also very passionate about and specialize in counseling sexology, or counseling issues related to sex, sexuality, and gender. I have found ACT very useful in helping my clients engage in valued living as a means to healing from and/or coping with trauma, including race-based traumas, while further developing their resilience. Similarly, ACT has been extremely beneficial in my work within the field of counseling sexology, as I aim to help clients identify and live within their sexuality-related values, defuse from uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, and live a fuller life!

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
My experience at the 2021 World Conference was nothing short of amazing! I attended numerous workshops that were very beneficial for my personal and professional growth. At this year's World Conference, I was also introduced to CFT!!

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
An aspect of the CBS community that stands out the most to me is its dedication to social justice and multiculturalism. Of the multiple professional organizations I belong to and numerous conferences I have attended, CBS continues to not only discuss social justice and multiculturalism, but also puts these discussions into action.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
There were so many concepts and ideas I took back from the World Conference 2021! At this year's conference, I was exposed to CFT. As a result, I have begun integrating CFT into my clinical work and have begun teaching my master's counseling classes about it. Furthermore, the conference provided me with further information regarding the implementation of ACT that I have infused into my clinical work. Workshops I attended at the World Conference also strengthened my overall knowledge of and passion for ACT and provided me with valuable information that I was able to share with my students, mentees, and colleagues. Furthermore, workshops I attended inspired me to develop workshops/presentations on the use of ACT with the populations I am most passionate about, including individuals within the Black diaspora, those in romantic partnerships, and individuals identifying as affectionate or gender expansive.

Shatangela Gibbs, Southfield, MI, USA

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am Shatangela Gibbs, I am currently work as a high school counselor and Psychotherapist in Michigan. I have been in the field for the last 3.5 years and it has been very rewarding as well as an educational journey.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I became interested in contextual behavior science after taking a training in ACT.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I am interested in doing more research in ACT with women of color experiencing trauma. Learning how mindfulness could be implemented to assist with managing triggers. 

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
My experience with the World Conference this year was very interesting. Once i figured things out it was exciting to participate in the different sessions and meeting other professionals from different parts of the world was refreshing and inspirational to a new clinician like myself.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
Diversity and the willingness of the professionals who participated in the conference to impart knowledge and to assist with connecting me to other professionals who had similar interest that could mentor me and help me to explore CBS much deeper than I had imagined.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Learning about different techniques that can be used to assist clients with deescalation, understanding of self, and coping strategies that can be adaptive to any client. It was an overwhelming amount of knowledge and I am
grateful that I had this opportunity to connect with so many professionals.  

Luana Karina Pereira, Bahia, Brazil

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I'm a black woman from Bahia, a state in Brazil, and I finished my bachelor in Psychology in 2017. In 2018 I started to work as a clinical psychologist, and while I was doing that, I started to notice that some people (as black and LGBTQ+ ones) didn't fit really well in cases I used to read in books or listen to at conferences. Because of that, I started to research about minorities and specially black people's subjectivity. Since then I study, write and talk about antiracist clinical practices in Behavior Analysis.

How did you become interested in CBS?
Since I was in my first year at the university I'm interested in Behavior Analysis, because it made sense for me since the first time I heard about Skinner's work and the way radical behaviorism understands the human behavior. After my first contact with the field I volunteered myself to help in conferences as a monitor, and my interest only grew. When I had contact with the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy it also made sense to me, because it gives to people hope and choice to be the person they want to be guided by their own values, I think that's beautiful. So when I discovered ACBS I knew it would be the perfect place to learn and improve my practice as psychologist (and as a person as well), and it's been a real pleasure to be part of this community.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I'm interested in subjects related to minorities' mental health, as women, black people, LGBTQIA+ people, and the interseccionality of race, sexual orientation and gender. My research at this moment is focused on how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy can help black people to face racism and improve their mental health.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
It was an awesome experience for me. Firstly, because I was completely grateful for the opportunity to represent my country and my people there. Secondly, because it was my first ACBS Conference at all, and I couldn't be there if the ACBS team didn’t have a scholarship like this. Thirdly, because I could learn so much from every researcher and speaker that was there too! I never imagined that one day I would meet Mavis Tsai and Steven Hayes in person. They are my big references as clinical psychologist since the beginning of my career! It was a pleasure to meet them, meet other speakers I admire and be closer to people that have the same concerns as I do about how to implement diversity, equity and inclusion in our field.

Besides, I met many different people, from many different places, and everyone was very kind, receptive to me. It was new and funny to get emotional in some workshops (as Mavis' ones) with people I never saw in my life! This happened because I felt confortable to be open and experience everything, so once again, thanks to all ACBS team. It was also a great opportunity to be closer to the Brazil chapter of ACBS, and other Brazilian researchers that do really interesting works here in Brazil that I didn't know. Beyond the profesional side, I'm sure I can say I made friends there, and this is really valuable to me.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
In general, it was a great surprise seeing themes related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in many researchs and speeches. I didn't see this kind of discussion at CBS a few years ago, and now I can see many researchers doing important efforts to fix that gap. I want to highlight the plenary of Matthew Skinta about how CBS community needs to be engaged to eliminate prejudice, because this is our responsability too. It was also great to see some diverse people as speakers there, as Táhcita Mizael, Janini Vaidya, Rhonda Magee, etc. It's really important to have diverse people as speakers, because people like me can relate to them, and this inspires us to keep doing what we do, even knowing how hard it is.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
I came back to Brazil with the inspiration and desire to get closer to CBS community, because now I know that has a large space to research about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on our field. It was wonderful learning more about Process Based Therapy, because it's new and very promising in our field, and I think it can help a lot to improve minorities' mental health. I also could learn more about CBS applied to minorities, what helped me to be a better researcher and therapist. After the Conference I started to write papers in partnership with one of the researchers I got closer there, and I also got in groups of interests in Brazil Chapter. A few weeks ago I was invited to be speaker in a workshop from ACBS Brazil conference to talk about Racism and Psychotherapy, and there I could talk a little bit about my experience in the World Conference. It was really great to do that and I want to keep doing it!

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I just want to say thank you again, and ask you guys to keep doing things like this. I'm sure our field only grows with the inclusion of diverse people, because there are many valuable contributions we can make, but this is possible only if we have the opportunity to be there, to improve our knowledge and to show our perspectives about the world.

Steven Tran, Oakland, California, USA

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
My name is Steven Tran. I am originally from Boston, MA and currently live in Oakland, CA. I am a third-year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium at Palo Alto University. My current practicum placement is at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where I primarily work with Veterans who struggle with substance use. My clinical interests include LGBTQIA+ psychology, substance use, mood disorders, group psychotherapy, and individuals with marginalized cultural identities.

How did you become interested in CBS?
My first exposure to CBS was a workshop led by a local ACBS San Francisco chapter member during my first year of graduate school. I was drawn to Relational Frame Theory and the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. This initial exposure led me to further explore this framework and how I can apply them in my clinical work.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My current research is on investigating adolescent substance use. I am working with Dr. Karen Osilla at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. I hope to utilize the research literature in CBS to further inform my research.
As a trainee, I hope to continue applying acceptance and change-based approaches in my work with individual and group settings.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
I attended the World Conference 2022 in San Francisco, California. This was the first in-person conference since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was excited about the World Conference since I have not attended any in-person conferences since beginning graduate school in Fall 2020. Through this experience, I was able to meet many researchers and fellow students who are engaged in cutting-edge research and clinical work. This conference sparked a new level of motivation and interest in integrating CBS into my graduate school training and coursework. I am truly grateful for the connections that I have made.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
In attending the World Conference, I am inspired by the warmth and passion that the CBS community exudes. The countless presenters and attendees were extremely open to meeting new people and explaining concepts in ways that met people where they were at. I also enjoyed how the CBS community is attuned to diversity, equity, and inclusion in research and clinical work.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Since the World Conference, I have been reflecting on what I learned. I hope to continue bringing in my takeaways into the classroom and my clinical work.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I would like to thank the ACBS DEI Committee and those that made the World Conference 2022 possible. This experience is a highlight in my graduate school training. I hope to continue participating in the ACBS community and my local chapter in the many years to come in my professional career. Thank you so much!

Ela Ari, Istanbul, Türkiye

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am Dr. Ela Ari from Istanbul, Turkey. I am a full-time faculty in psychology department in Istanbul Medipol University. I am also an ACT therapist and co-founder of “Resilience Akademi”. My research and teaching is mostly on Organizational Psychology and Resilience.

How did you become interested in CBS?
Early in 2017-18 I started to do behavioral research on mindfulness and self-compassion. Then, I encountered the use of ACT model in organizational psychology. During Covid, I got my clinical psychology master’s degree. Then, I became an ACBS member and got more familiar with CBS. Recently, I integrated some ACT principles/exercises in the resilience programs to employees and communities that I am working with.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I established a Resilience Lab in my university. Currently, we are working with implicit emotion regulation and its relationship with psychological symptoms, developing a multifactorial resilience scale. Recently, we published a research article on how we disenfranchise for others and self-disenfranchise grief and loss. We are planning to include compassion interventions to take this research to another level. We are also experimenting on time perception and psychological flexibility. Currently, we are working on a mobile application for end users to build mental resilience. I would like to collaborate with different CBS researchers in these areas and/or cross-cultural aspects.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
It was a wonderful experience for my academic, research and practice purposes. Meeting my former friends and hanging out in San Francisco was lovely. Meeting with new people was also exciting. I had an ignite talk where I tap danced to show how to regulate emotions between therapy sessions. This might be the most joyful talk that I’ve ever given with all audience tap dancing with me. I also had a poster presentation about “Retrospective Time Perception: The influence of heart rate on time estimation on Anxiety and Mindfulness”. The questions and comments for the study were very lifting.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
Definitely yes. First, it was an inspiring experience in terms of research applications that are conducted around the World. On the other hand, I learned a lot in terms of clinical practice. I enjoyed every moment of all three days that I was there.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
I had a chance to meet famous CBS researchers in person and was surprised to see how approachable, humble, and helping they were. I want to try to come again or join online. It was very nurturing.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I have been in many conferences throughout my academic life. This was the best experience I have ever had, including Follies Night!

Melody Sylvain, Abu Zaby, United Arab Emirates

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am a Haitian-American Behavior Analyst born and raised in Florida, USA. I have lived in the UAE for the past few years with my partner where I have worked in schools, homes and centers providing behavior analytic training and mental health support for families and educators. I love nature, yoga, traveling and all things mental health and wellness and do my best to treat others with kindness and respect while advocating for a more just world.

How did you become interested in CBS?
I became interested in CBS through my own challenges with anxiety in 2019 as well as through my experiences working with anxious individuals. I sought support and consultation from ACT trainers in order to become a more knowledgeable clinician when working with those who struggle with anxiety. I found ACT and CBS so helpful for myself and my clients and I have been connected with the ACBS community ever since.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
I am interested in the application of ACT to support parents and school teams who support individuals experiencing behavioral challenges. I am also interested in the applications of movement, yoga, and physical embodiment as it relates to overall mental health and wellness.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
I enjoyed meeting so many new faces and presentations from people all over the world such as Brazil and Kenya. It was nice to see so many incredible projects and how people have benefited globally from CBS. I especially appreciated connecting with such a variety of different professionals outside of behavior analysis which I always love.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
I was able to commute with some people who were staying near to my accommodation, when we met at a coffee shop one morning before the conference. I was also able to do the same thing when leaving the conference on a few occasions. I really appreciate the effort that many CBS community members make to connect and collaborate in these small ways.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
I really enjoyed the panel discussion on interbehaviorism and continued my research and readings on this topic once I returned home.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
The CBS community at the World Conference in Cyprus was not as diverse as I would have liked, and I only met two other Black people in attendance at the conference. I would love to see more people who look like me at future conferences.

Devin Guthrie, Texas, USA

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I’m a disabled, nonbinary, existential psychologist and acceptance and commitment coach from Texas. I trained as a clinical psychologist for several years at Texas A&M University and graduated with a PhD in social and personality psychology in August 2023. Although I’m keeping a hand in terror management and end-of-life care research and am always open to new collaborations, since graduation I’ve focused on beginning to practice as a “Life & Death Coach” (using my clinical experience as a foundation for life coaching, my end-of-life doula experience for death coaching, and ACT to ground them both). My abiding interests are meaning in life, death & dying, and the psychology of climate crisis.

How did you become interested in CBS?
As soon as I learned about ACT in my second semester of my clinical psychology PhD program, I knew I wanted to practice it. Entering graduate school, I had reservations about cognitive behavioral therapy. Thought challenging seemed often unproductive and while I understood the pragmatic necessity of behavioral activation, it can be a very reductive approach. Originally, I had been most interested in practicing existential-humanistic therapy. This too, however, was unsatisfying in a way that was difficult to pin down. For instance, when I asked Kirk Schneider in a workshop how to help a physically suffering client find meaning worth living for, he told me, “All you can do is say, ‘I’m here with you.’” From one frame of reference, that is profoundly true. From another, I believe clients have a right to receive more guidance from a therapist. In ACT, I saw a workable marriage of the behavioral and existential approaches. So, I began to train in and practice ACT and eventually research and publish on it by the end of my PhD.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
As a person with chronic pain, I’ve witnessed ACT’s applications in my own life, and I enjoy using it in my work with disabled clients. However, I’m even more excited about continuing to push the boundaries of what ACT can do in two other areas: Death anxiety and eco-anxiety. As an existential psychologist and terror management theorist, most of my research has focused on what makes life meaningful in spite (or because) of the inevitability of death. Now, working in hospice and other end-of-life contexts, I get to use ACT as a guide to help individuals answer that question for themselves.

I view eco-anxiety as a form of death anxiety, only amplified because it regards the death of the species as well as that of the individual. Applying ACT to this new and growing problem is what I’m most passionate about and what I presented on at the conference.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
This was my first World Conference, and it was so much more than I expected and so much better than any other work-related trip I’ve been on. Everyone I met was both interested and interesting, and the workshops were incredible! If I hadn’t known I could watch all of them online after the fact, I’m not at all sure I could have appropriately defused from the opportunity cost regret.

Going into the conference, I had two major fears: The first was discrimination, for either my gender or requiring a motorized wheelchair. The second was that my presentation topic, how to use ACT to cope with imminent ecological collapse, wouldn’t be well-received. These had all been major issues for me in my academic communities in Texas, and they were all groundless with ACBS. No one made me feel excluded or burdensome for my differences, and everyone who saw my presentation or who I discussed it with separately was very encouraging and eager to talk about ACT and climate crisis.

I was deeply impressed by the quality of the conference’s organization, content, and the people I met there. I’m extremely grateful to have received the DEI scholarship that allowed me to attend, and I hope to return!

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
So many things! The warmth, welcome, kindness, curiosity, openness, passion, and compassion I saw at the ACBS World Conference was remarkable, a drastic contrast from other professional communities I’ve known. The attendees had so much more than a common interest; we had a shared set of values that instantly made me feel like I belonged. I was excited about the diversity of the community and the attention given to diversity in the conference content. The number of presentations specifically dedicated to DEI issues like race, gender, queerness, disability, neurodivergence, and social justice was really encouraging. Of all the excellent presentations I watched, what stood out and impressed me most were those that included subjects that are still fairly far outside of mainstream awareness such as polyamory and even ones that make me personally uncomfortable like client-therapist romantic feelings. The subjects people feel uncomfortable addressing are often the ones where the most the most progress needs to be made.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
So many things! After graduating only two weeks after the conference ended, I began practicing in hospice and other end-of-life contexts, so while I learned from every recorded presentation, the things I learned about death and grief from Robin Walser, Jennifer Gregg, Ray Owen, and the creators of the BEACHeS intervention have helped me most directly in my practice.

I met many amazing people, all of whom encouraged me to get more involved. Post-conference, I’ve become active in the peer supervision group, Pain SIG, and Climate Justice and Action SIG, and will be cohosting a ClimatACT Workshop with my SIG on 1/13/24.

The last and possibly most personally important thing I took back with me was the knowledge that I’m now part of a community, that people want to hear what I have to say, and that I have a role to play. Based on the exemplary models I watched, the discussions I had, and the encouragement to develop my IGNITE talk into a full workshop I received, I’ll be hosting my own, original ACT for Apocalyptic Anxiety Workshop in just a few days. I’m nervous and very excited!

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
Right now, I just want to share again my deep gratitude for the DEI scholarship I received, the people who accepted my presentation, and everyone who welcomed me into this wonderful community. I’m so glad I get to be a part this. And (committees willing) I hope to have quite a bit more to share with you this summer in Argentina!

Sara Cristina Robayo Perez - Bogotá, Colombia

Could you please tell us a little about you and your background?
I am a psychologist with a master's in clinical psychology from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and a PhD student in Psychology at the Universidad de los Andes. I have four years of experience providing individual clinical care to cisgender adults and trans and non-binary people. I currently work in a program promoting health care for children and adolescents with rare diseases. My line of research centers on social connection among Colombian trans and non-binary people. I am also coordinating a research project that evaluates the effect of Functional Analytical Psychotherapy on interpersonal intimacy repertoires of trans and non-binary people.

How did you become interested in CBS?
Since my undergraduate studies, I have had access to several books and classes about contextual behavioral therapies. I particularly became interested in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and I joined a study group in which I participated in research activities and experiential exercises. During that time, I realized that I wanted to delve into the FAP's change mechanisms. Later, I had the chance to research on FAP's therapeutic effect on Colombian gay men. I consider that contextual behavioral therapies enable clinical psychologists to translate behavioral principles within the therapeutic context and promote the client´s behavioral change.

Could you tell us about your research and application interests?
My experience working with Colombian TGNC (transgender and gender non-conforming) individuals in both clinical and research contexts has underscored the importance of developing research using cost-effective therapies like FAP, tailored to meet this population’s unique needs and the contextual barriers they face. Currently, I am working on FAP’s application with TGNC individuals who hold intersectional identities. This population may encounter additional stressors and often have limited access to social support.

On the other hand, given the idiographic approach and growing evidence base of behavioral contextual therapies, I am particularly interested in exploring their mechanisms of change to foster social connection in Latinx people.

Could you tell us about your experience at the World Conference this year?
This was my first time attending the ACBS World Conference. I was genuinely thrilled to meet researchers and psychologists from around the world who share interests and passion for contextual behavioral therapies. Every person I met was so interesting and shared brilliant ideas and updates on their work. At the beginning, I was a bit scared since English wasn’t my first language, but the logistic team was very helpful in providing the help I needed. It was an amazing opportunity to get in touch with the latest technological advances in contextual therapies and the contributors behind these achievements. During the Conference, I had the chance to share the findings of a FAP application with Colombian gay men. Despite my doubts and fears, I felt a warm response from the audience, who were willing to share their knowledge and support. This experience also made me realize how research like this buil ds the foundation of science and how forming social networks is essential for constructing and disseminating knowledge.

Was there anything that stood out to you about the CBS community?
I'd like to start by saying that this event was much more than I had imagined. One of the most memorable aspects of my experience at the conference was the warmth and appreciation that experts and professionals from around the world showed toward the work of Latin American researchers. The presentations and thematic axes illustrated the scope of contextual sciences and their contributions across different contexts and professional areas. I can also highlight the growing interest in and development that contextual therapies have gained on our continent. Finally, I would like to underscore the importance of events like the Conference to promote contextual therapies as an opportunity to develop prolific lines of research sensitive to the needs and values of our culture.

What did you take back from your experience that has been helpful to you?
Throughout this event, I certainly understood the importance of creating local and international social networks to facilitate the dissemination of our research work. Attending events such as the ACBS Conference facilitates the exchange of research teams that can promote academic collaborations and support the development of research. At the conference, I connected with professionals who taught me a lot about therapeutic work with populations with intersecting identities. These reflections on clinical considerations derived from this meeting have strengthened my work with third-wave therapies, making me more aware of how my identity categories influence my clinical practice and the application of behavioral principles.

Since the conference, I have become more willing to take interpersonal risks, reaching out to others who share my research and professional interests to explore opportunities for collaborative work.

Do you have anything else that you would like to share with the community?
I want to express my deep gratitude to the DEI fellowship committee for this opportunity and to everyone who allowed me to present my research team’s work. I am proud and grateful to have participated in this conference—for the inspiring people I met, the networks I built, and the professional growth it fostered. I see huge potential in contextual therapies to address pressing issues in behavioral health. Spaces like this conference are essential for advancing contextual sciences and supporting the growth of the professionals who attend.