Student Spotlight Award Recipient - Clarissa Ong

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.

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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.]