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.