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