A brief history of the ACBS BeNe Chapter

In September 2010 the Belgium-Netherlands Chapter (BeNe Chapter) of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science was founded. Starting from scratch with only a webpage for Dutch speaking members on the ACBS website, the Chapter grew to what it is today – a vibrant chapter with almost 250 members. The chapter now has a website with information for both clients and professionals. (www.ACBSBeNe.com)

The BeNe Chatper has a Board and several active committees (from the science committee to the PR-committee). The chapter also offers a wide array of workshops. Throughout the years, a variety of workshop topics were presented, such as ACT and pain; compassion; values; and “working with complex clients” by both renowned English- and Dutch speaking authors, therapists and researchers. In early 2019 a series of workshops on RFT by Yvonne Barnes-Homes et al. was launched, with a focus on experiential, clinical-technical and technical; like the HDML-model.

In October 2015; the chapter celebrated its first lustrum with a conference in The Netherlands. In March 2020, the chapter will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Antwerp, Belgium. We welcome you to join the BeNe Chapter in a 2-day conference on March 19 – 20, 2020, themed “ACT toge/ather.” This second conference of ACBS BeNe is dedicated to connect and deepen our knowledge and experience about ACT. The conference will feature Dutch and English speakers: Robyn Walser, Rikke Kjelgaard, Yvonne Barnes-Holmes and Ross White. Click here to learn more about the conference.