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Invited Speakers - Confirmed
Tara Brach, Ph.D.
Tara Brach, Ph. D., is founder and senior teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, and teaches Buddhist meditation at centers in the United States and Canada. A clinical psychologist, she has taught extensively on the application of Buddhist teachings to emotional healing. Dr. Brach is the author of Radical Acceptance- Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (Bantam, 2003,) and the upcoming book True Refuge- Three Gateways to a Fearless Heart (Bantam, 2013.)
Michelle Craske, Ph.D.
Dr. Craske is Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles. She has published widely on the topics of fear and anxiety disorders, their etiology, assessment and treatment. She has been the recipient of continuous NIMH funding since 1993 for research projects pertaining to risk factors for phobias, anxiety disorders and depression; attentional biases and psychophysiological fear responding; the translation of basic science of fear extinction to human phobias and mechanisms of exposure therapy; and the development and implementation of treatments for anxiety and related disorders. Dr. Craske was Associate Editor for the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and is currently Associate Editor for Behaviour Research and Therapy is a Scientific Board Member for the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and a member of the Anxiety Disorders Work Group for DSM-V.
Louise McHugh, Ph.D.
Louise McHugh is currently a faculty member at University College Dublin in Ireland. Louise's research interests are centered on the experimental analysis of language and cognition from a behavior analytic and Relational Frame Theory perspective, including especially the development of complex cognitive skills such as as perspective-taking and the process-level investigation of behavioral and cognitive psychotherapies including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She has published over 40 papers on these topics and has received funding from several sources including the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, the Waterloo Trust and the Welsh Assembly. Most recently she was awarded a European Marie Curie career integration award to join the faculty at UCD.
Robert Whitaker
Robert Whitaker is the author of four books, two of which tell of the history of psychiatry. His first, Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill was named by Discover magazine as one of the best science books of 2002, while the American Library Association named it one of the best history books of that year. His newest book on this topic, Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America, won the Investigative Reporters and Editors book award for best investigative journalism in 2010. Prior to writing books, Robert Whitaker worked as the science and medical reporter at the Albany Times Union newspaper in New York for a number of years. His journalism articles won several national awards, including a George Polk award for medical writing, and a National Association of Science Writers’ award for best magazine article. A series he co-wrote for The Boston Globe was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.
Paul Gilbert, Ph.D.
Paul Gilbert is the head of the Mental Health Research Unit as well as Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby. He has a degree in Economics (Wolverhampton, 1973), Masters in Experimental Psychology (Sussex, 1975), PhD in Clinical Psychology (Edinburgh, 1980) and a diploma in Clinical Psychology awarded by the British Psychological Society (1980). He was made a fellow of the British Psychological Society for contributions to psychological knowledge in 1993, and was president of the British Association for Cognitive and Behavioural Psychotherapy in 2003. He has also served on the government depression NICE guideline committee. He has published and edited 21 books, over 100 academic papers and 39 book chapters. He is currently a series editor for a 'compassionate approaches to life difficulties' series. After years of exploring the processes underpinning shame and its role in a variety of psychopathologies, his current research is exploring the neurophysiology and therapeutic effectiveness of compassion focused therapy.
David Sloan Wilson, Ph.D.
David Sloan Wilson is SUNY Distinguished Professor in Binghamton University’s Departments of Biology and Anthropology. He is an evolutionist who studies all aspects of humanity in addition to the biological world. He manages a number of programs designed to expand the influence of evolutionary theory in higher education (EvoS), public policy (The Evolution Institute), community-based research (The Binghamton Neighborhood Project), and religion (Evolutionary Religious Studies). He communicates to the general public through a ScienceBlogs site and trade books, including Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin’s Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives and The Neighborhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve my City, One Block at a Time. He is also interested in how evolutionary theory and contextual behavioral science can converge to provide a science of intentional change.
Kirk J. Schneider, Ph.D.
Kirk J. Schneider is a licensed psychologist and leading spokesperson for contemporary humanistic psychology. Dr. Schneider is current editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, vice-president of the Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI), and adjunct faculty at Saybrook Graduate School, the California Institute of Integral Studies, and the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology. He is also a Fellow of three divisions of the American Psychological Association (Humanistic, Clinical, and Independent Practice) as well as a frequent speaker at conferences and in the media. Dr. Schneider has published over 100 articles and chapters and has authored or edited eight books.
Kelly Koerner, Ph.D.
Kelly Koerner, Ph.D., is Creative Director and CEO of the Evidence-Based Practice Institute, where she explores how technology can scale learning and collaboration so practitioners get better clinical outcomes. She is a clinical psychologist and an expert clinician, clinical supervisor and trainer in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). She has served as: Director of Training for Marsha Linehan’s research investigating the efficacy of DBT for suicidal and drug abusing individuals with borderline personality disorder; Creative Director at Behavioral Tech Research where she developed e-learning and other technology based methods to disseminate evidence-based practices; and co-founder and first CEO of Behavioral Tech, a company that provides training in DBT. Her most recent publications include Doing Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Practical Guide (Guides to Individualized Evidence-Based Treatment) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Clinical Practice: Applications across Disorders and Settings.
Ruth Anne Rehfeldt, Ph.D., BCBA
Dr. Ruth Anne Rehfeldt is a Professor in the Rehabilitation Services undergraduate program and an affiliated faculty in the Behavior Analysis and Therapy program at Southern Illinois University. She holds a Ph.D. (1998) and M.A. (1995) from the Behavior Analysis Program (in Psychology) at the University of Nevada. Dr. Rehfeldt has authored over 60 articles and book chapters, primarily in the areas of stimulus equivalence and verbal relations, autism, developmental disabilities and verbal behavior. Dr. Rehfeldt is currently the Editor of The Psychological Record and an editorial board member for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour, the Behavior Analyst and Education and Treatment of Children. Dr. Rehfeldt's book, co-edited with Yvonne Barnes-Holmes, is entitled Derived Relational Responding: Applications for Learners with Autism and other Developmental Disabilities: A Progressive Guide to Change. New Harbinger: Oakland, CA, 2009.
James D. Herbert, Ph.D.
James D. Herbert, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive-behavior therapy (including mindfulness and acceptance-based models), mood and anxiety disorders, teletherapy, the distinction between science and pseudoscience, and the promotion of evidence-based practice in mental health. He is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Anxiety Treatment and Research Program at Drexel University, where he also serves as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He also served for several years as Director of Clinical Training of Drexel's Ph.D. Program in Clinical Psychology. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy as well as the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health, and is active in several professional organizations. He is currently an Associate Editor of The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, and serves on the editorial boards of several additional journals, including the Journal of Anxiety Disorders.
Antonette M. Zeiss, Ph.D.
Dr. Zeiss serves as Chief Consultant for Mental Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Central Office. Previously, Dr. Zeiss served as Assistant Chief and Director of Training at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Among her academic appointments, Dr. Zeiss has served as Clinical Lecturer in the Stanford University Department of Medicine, Visiting Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University. Dr. Zeiss received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oregon in 1977. Dr. Zeiss’ honors and awards include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy (2011), the United States Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious (2009), the Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association (2007), APA Division 12’s Clinical Geropsychologist Distinguished Clinical Mentorship Award (2004). In 2010, the Association for VA Psychology Leaders established the Antonette Zeiss Distinguished Leadership Award.