Author: board

OACBS Updates:

2022 Needs Assessment Survey: 

The OACBS Board sent out a survey in October of 2022 to assess member’s needs and desires to engage in activities with  each other. The survey items were based on the SIG Activities and Chapter Events page listed on the ACBS website in combination with ideas identified by Board Members. Respondents (N=16) indicated a desire for brief, online training in ACT. There was some interest in being a part of an online reading group, Facebook group, and an in-person social networking event. Respondents did not appear to desire an at least bi-weekly online consultation group and almost all did not want to participate in an online committee focused on legislative activism.

The OACBS Board will be contacting those who provided their contact information for online reading groups and will consider how to meet other items on the survey in the context of time commitments and avoiding duplication of efforts (e.g., OACBS providing a training that is already offered in the greater ACBS community). Stay tuned for more to come!

ACBS World Conference 2023

2023 ACBS World Conference 

The World Conference brings together clinicians and researchers to present cutting-edge research in, among other modalities, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Relational Frame Theory (RFT), and Contextual Behavioral Science, as well as experienced trainers to lead experiential workshops so that you can learn how to better serve your clients. Registration is now open!

Keep an eye out for OACBS table or events!

This year, the ACBS world conference will be held in-person in Nicosia, Cyprus, from July 26-28, 2023. You can sign up for updates about the conference here:  https://contextualscience.org/webform/register_your_interest_in_the_acbs_world_conference_2023

For more information: https://contextualscience.org/wc2023

There are also Pre-Conference Workshops taking place virtually and in-person. The virtual pre-conference workshops will be on 6/24/23-6/25/23 and will be offered in various time zones to accommodate presenters and attendees. The in-person pre-conference workshops will be on 7/24/23-7/25-23 in Nicosia, Cyprus. 

ACBS Updates and Listserv Nuggets  

• New ACBS Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Project Recruits for Volunteers to Participate. ACBS is an organization of people from a diverse range of professional and cultural groups, and growing fast. In collaboration with JEDI consultants, ACBS began a new project in September of this year to proactively assess and address obstacles to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). ACBS is asking for individuals to volunteer to work alongside their consultants throughout the project. If you want to participate, complete the volunteer webform here: https://contextualscience.org/webform/justice_equity_diversity_and_inclusion_volunteer_form

For more information about this exciting project, please visit:

• New AsiaFlex Dialogue and Exchange virtual meeting series. The ACBS Asian Culture and CBS SIG Committee is hosting a series of six meetings that are held online once a month from October 2022 to March 2023. During these meetings, facilitators will guide the group to promote learning and sharing of ACT and CBS clinical skills and research with a special interest in Asian cultures. Each meeting will have a focus on one ACT core process (e.g. defusion, acceptance). Prof. Kenneth Fung, ACBS Fellow, will preside over the meetings. 

Although two meetings have already occurred, there are still four more meetings scheduled:

January 13, 2023

February 10, 2023

March 10, 2023

The meetings will occur from 6-7 pm on the above dates. 

Meetings will be conducted in English with an auto-generated transcript on zoom. Audio/video recordings will not be made to allow for clinical case discussions.   

For more details, please visit: https://contextualscience.org/event/asiaflex_dialogue_and_exchange_virtual_meeting_series_asian_culture_and_cbs

• 2023 Foundation Grants announcement from ACBS Foundation Board:

“The ACBS Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce the 2023 Foundation Grants. Applications will open on January 15. We look forward to supporting innovative and original projects of high quality and potential. The ACBS Foundation Grant is aiming to financially support CBS projects related to the environment, social justice, and behavior in real life contexts. The choice of theme and the design of the project rests entirely with the applicant. The applications will be judged both on fit with the call, scientific quality, originality, and potential to maintain the implementation (for applied projects) or to clearly and compellingly demonstrate how the project will be subsequently implemented in the real-world and the planned steps that will be taken to insure this (for research projects). We are also excited to share a brand new funding opportunity! This grant award is honoring the legacy of Bob Kohlenberg, it will support graduate student and early career psychologist research focused on FAP. This new grant is made possible through the generosity of Mavis Tsai and Barbara Kohlenberg. 

Grant applications opening January 15, 2023: 

• The Robert J. Kohlenberg Research Award will be awarded to a project of no more than $5,000 USD. Typical projects should be completed within 18 months of the award. 

• The ACBS Foundation Grant will typically be awarded to projects of no more than $2,000 USD; however, larger projects will be considered based on their merits. Typical projects should be completed within 12 months of the award. 

The deadline to submit your grant application is March 1, 2023 17:00 GMT. (10:30 pm Delhi/ 5:00pm London/ 1:00 pm New York). We look forward to the opportunity to see the innovative projects you have planned!

Also, if you are interested in helping us review grant submissions, please share your information and areas of expertise here.

Sincerely,

The ACBS Foundation Board

                                    Scientific Literature Highlights

• Process-based therapy (PBT) in a clinical case. For those of you who have found it challenging to figure out how to apply a process-based approach in your clinical work, a case study illustrating how PBT is applied was recently published by Clarissa Ong, Steve Hayes, and Stefann Hofmann. You can find the article here:Ne

Upcoming Professional Trainings

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Joanne Chan (joanne@portlandexposuretherapy.com).

• Jenna Le Jeune, PhD, from Portland Psychotherapy, will be offering a series of workshops in early 2023 focusing on working with values from an ACT perspective:
  •  Values in therapy: An intro to working with values from an ACT perspective will be held 1/20/2023 from 12pm-2pm PST. 
  • Truffle Hunting: Bringing Values to Life in the Therapy Room will be held on 2/24/2023 from 12pm-2pm PST.
  • Values Stuck Points: When Psychological Inflexibility Creates Barriers to Valued Living will be held on 3/17/2023 from 12-2pm PST.

*All workshops will be held online. For more information and to register, please visit: https://www.portlandpsychotherapytraining.com/01-20-2022-values-in-therapy

•  Dr. Alison Stapleton will be giving a webinar on rule-governed behavior through an RFT-lens on 1/12/2023 from 12:30 pm-2:30pm PST. Here is a description of the webinar from Connections (host for the webinar):

“Rules have a substantial influence on human behavior, with many instances of psychological rigidity seeming to stem from context-insensitive rule-following. Rule-following is a double-edged sword. While it can allow us to bypass trial and error, meaning we respond accurately quickly, it can also reduce our sensitivity to our immediate environment. Reduced sensitivity and awareness of shifting environmental contingencies is highly problematic and can cause us to maintain behaviors that are no longer useful for us, or even cause us to engage in harmful behaviors. And yet, at times we need to promote rule-following. For example, we want people to adhere to guidelines that reduce the spread of COVID-19, we don’t want children to test rules around looking both ways before crossing the street, and in a clinical context, we want clients to test and follow rules that clinicians provide (e.g., rules around valued action). This workshop will introduce attendees to the RFT account of rule-governed behavior and how this account can empower us to facilitate flexible, appropriately contextualized rule-following, while emphasizing the importance of the individual.”

For more information, please visit: https://connections-behavior.com/events/stapleton-rgb/

Peer Consult Groups in Oregon

Medford/Ashland: Bi-monthly on the third Tuesday of the month at 4:30. Rotates between Medford at Rogue Community College and Ashland. Format is peer skills-building group with a rotating book we read together. Contact Sarah Verducci for info sarah@sarahverducci.com.

Portland: ACT peer clinical consultation group meets every 2nd Friday of the month online from 3:30-5:30pm. This group is a forum for clinicians to engage in didactic and experiential consultation about the clinical use of ACT. It is mainly composed of professionals working in the mental health field, but graduate students pursuing a mental health-related degree are also welcome. Further information is here:

Email Cordelia Kraus, LPC, CADC 1 (cordelia@cordeliakraus.com) prior to attending the group if it’s your first time.

New Clinical Resources 

Portland Psychotherapy is now taking OHP.  Portland Psychotherapy has recently set up contracts with Care Oregon, Trillium. The clinic can also  accept individuals who have “open card” as well as negotiate contracts with people using OHP from outside the local area. In addition to general services, the clinic can even offer specialized anxiety disorder treatment for things like OCD or repetitive behavior disorders like trichotillomania. The best place to connect clients to services is the contact form here: https://portlandpsychotherapy.com/contact-us/

Free online master course using ACT for quitting cigarette smoking. This online course is based on over 15 years of grant-funded research by Seattle-based colleague, Jonathan Bricker and his lab (The HABIT lab at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington), and is available to the public for no cost. Access the course through this link: https://mpulse.thebigknow.com/home/instructors/jonathan-bricker

OACBS Projects/Board

Election Results!!

Thank you to all candidates, as well as Board Members involved, for your efforts and willingness to represent the Oregon ACBS chapter.

President-Elect is Alia Zelder, PsyD (formerly Alia Mulder-Rosi), Psychologist at River Fern Wellness, LLC, Adjunct Professor at Portland State University

I am a psychologist in private practice in Tigard, OR. I started studying ACT while in graduate school at The Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. I had the wonderful benefit of growing and learning with fantastic professors and colleagues during graduate school and was well plugged into the ACT community in Denver. While I grew up in Oregon, I returned 4 years ago, after completion of my degree and internship. Since returning, I have become well established in a supportive integrated care and academic community in Washington County and feel that it is high time for me to focus on connecting more with fellow therapists, which is why I want to be actively involved with OACBS. The local trainings that I have attended, many of which were sponsored by Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, were wonderful experiences for me and were sterling reminders that I flourish as a therapist most when in regular consult and community with other ACT therapists.

Member-at-Large is Sarah Verducci, LPC, Private Practice in Ashland Oregon & Counseling/Instruction at Rogue Community College

Bio: I am a psychotherapist living and working in Southern Oregon. I split my time between private practice and also work with a variety of students at Rogue Community College. My eight years since graduate school have been broad, ranging from educational settings to SPMI programs as well as homeless youth. I have found beauty in the flexibility of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and how I have been able to adapt the framework to every population I have worked with. I first heard of ACT while in graduate school and the more I learned the more obsessed I became. It immediately clicked with my values and world-view. The possibility of serving with OACBS reflects my values of connection and gratitude.

And thank you to the outgoing board members, C. David Maxey, as Past-President, and Tim Wright, as Member-at-Large, for your contributions to the Oregon ACBS Chapter community.

ACBS Updates and Listserv Nuggets

COMING SOON:  ACBS World Conference 16

July 24-29, 2018, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,

Beyond “Acceptance of Situations”

Hank Robb opened the thread with a post about acceptance, referencing the serenity prayer. This led to an important and inspiring (IMHO) thread discussing gender issues within the ACBS community, with many women in particular sharing their experiences with compassion and courage, offering perspectives often obscured by privilege. As stated by Robyn Walser in a related but separate post, “something is happening… my eternal hope is that it is something good.”

Dissociation vs. Observer Self

Original post from Lindsay Harrington, after being asked by a patient, how would you explain the difference between the two experiences? The subsequent thread spanned multiple weeks and led OACBS’s Paul Guinther to at one point simply post, “Mind blown!”

Positives Aspects of Avoidance

Stan Malicki posted a summary of Stephan Hofman’s article on the nuances of avoidance with a link to the article. An interesting discussion followed.

A Robust Discussion on ACT Matrix

A thread started by Kevin Polk offering a summary of the ACT Matrix. Chris Dowdeswell then responded with a precise analysis and query about the nature of the Away/Toward discrimination task, sparking a robust discussion and an advanced tutorial on the Matrix.

ACT Summer Camp – Southern Sweden!! September 3 – 7, 2018

From Kirk Strosahl: “Tired of the emotional turmoil that results from daily exposure to the boorish tweets of a narcissistic, misogynist leader of the free world? Well, you can get away from it all and come to the sunny shores of Southern Sweden for the First Annual ACT Summer Camp!” Click here to see more.

Steve Hayes and Stefan Hoffman on Process-Based CBT

Steve Hayes posted this link to a vimeo with himself and Stefan Hoffman discussing the movement towards process-based CBT. He refers to their mutual 2017 article in World Psychiatry on process-based care. Then follows an interesting thread as he responds to Patricia Zurita’s questions on how clinicians might apply such ideas and developments.

A week or so later, Matt Boone provoked a second thread when posing the question, how to define the term “process”, leading to a cool discussion.

Bonus link from Steve Hayes: “Cool interview of our friend and colleague James Coan by fellow CBSer and evolutionist David Sloan Wilson:”

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Tim Wright.

August 2018

ACT Bootcamp for Women: Power through Psychological Flexibility.

San Diego, CA, August 16-19, 2018 / 32 CE Credit Hours Available.

Women have made giant strides in equality and power. Yet, there is much more work to do—and clinicians have a vital role in supporting women. This workshop teaches skills to empower yourself as well as your clients, using proven-effective acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), to help us access our own innate power for positive and empowered change. Over 4 days, a fleet of all-female speakers, including Robyn Walser, Laura Silberstein, Aisling Curtin, Sue McCurry, and many more, will teach your concrete ways of applying ACT to better understand the landscape of the challenges women face. Register before July 23 to save $50. Enter the discount code WOMENBC50 for an additional $50 discount. Click here to register today.

September 2018

RO-DBT Intensive Portland/Seattle with Thomas Lynch, PhD, FBPsS

September 24th to 28th, 2018

Portland Psychotherapy will be co-hosting the Portland portion of this Radically-Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy intensive training. This intensive training is a two-part fast-track program, consisting of two 5-day workshops. After completing the intensive training, practitioners may choose to progress to advanced level training and supervision. Click here for further information and registration. Training co-hosted by Portland Psychotherapy Clinic. The follow-up 5-day workshop takes place in Seattle, April 8 – 12, 2019.

Location: Portland. More details to come.

OACBS Member News

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your participation in our community!

Vanessa Casillas
Wilson Eng Kau
Bob Garber
Debrin Goubert
William Hwang
Josh Kaplan
Samantha Kettle
Andjelka Palikucin-Reljin
Jenna Sant-Wing
Cassandra Sieg
Karen Siegel
Cynthia Tremblay
Sarah Campbell
Eula Crippen
Lauren DeNoia
Kari Hays
Celeste Hettman
Geoffrey Scholl
Lesley Smith
Kyle Webster

OACBS Projects/Board

No updates at this time. We remain thankful to the many little and large contributions by Board Members past and present.

ACBS Updates and Listserv Nuggets

ACBS World Conference 16 – July 24-29, 2018, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,

Click Here to register your interest and receive notifications when things like Call for Submissions, Registration, and the program are available.

Research in Clinical Practice Collaborative SIG

A new energy to promote collaboration between researchers and practitioners within the ACBS community started with this by Danielle Lamb:

“There was a discussion on the ACT for Professionals listserv in August about ways to link up ACT practitioners who are data rich (but time/research experience poor) with ACT researchers who are experience rich (but data poor).”

After a few weeks (and the discovery that such a SIG already existed but with little activity), the thread ended with this:

“We now have a new email list for those wanting to be involved in researcher-practitioner collaboration, housed under the existing Research in Practice Collaborative SIG.  You can join the list here. The SIG page is here. “

See thread here. 

Susan David TED Talk – The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage

As recommended by multiple contributors. Click here for thread. 

Some New Year Clinical Gifts

A thread by Lou Lasprugato (upcoming ACT trainer in Portland)

“Attached are clinical worksheets, which are also available on my training page, that you are welcome to use.  Below is a brief description of each:

ABCs of Workability – clinical/training worksheet for examining functional analysis of behavior from an RFT/ACT perspective

ACT Vowels Assessment (AVA) – (non-validated) clinical instrument for assessing ACT processes/skills and treatment planning

Cycle of Suffering – worksheet for assessing conditional/cylical patterns of unworkable behavior (from pain to suffering) – can be used alone or along with Resilience

Cycle of Resilience – worksheet for identifying conditional/cyclical patterns of workable behavior (from pain to purpose) – can be used alone or along with Suffering

Flexible Action Plan – worksheet for hierarchical exploration of flexible action planning (life domain, values, actions)

Three Steps to Mindfulness – instructions on mindfulness from ACT perspective

Wheel of Fulfillment – worksheet for exploring valued life domains and corresponding fulfillment – a “spin” off of Wheel of Fortune and similar in scope to Bull’s Eye and Compass worksheets, with different emphasis

Feedback (positive or critical) is always appreciated!

Happy New Year!”

ACT for Kids: Living a Valued Life

A post by Maria Karekla asking for help to find an ACT for kids’ manual led to a post by Steve Gordon offering his work, followed by many, many requests, and his posting of the manual at the end of the thread.

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Tim Wright.

March 2018

Using the ACT Matrix with Trauma – Kevin Polk, PhD

March 23rd, 2018

The ACT Matrix is a highly collaborative diagram that profoundly changes how a clinician relates to a client’s trauma memories. Rather than focusing on the content of the trauma, client and clinician focus on changing the pattern of having the trauma memory in daily life. Often, it is not necessary for the clinician to hear the trauma story at all. This greatly reduces the chances of a clinician becoming burned out due to witnessing hundreds of trauma stories over a career. Click here for further information and registration. Training offered by Portland Psychotherapy Clinic.

Location: Taborspace, Annex, 5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215

April 2018

ACT I – Portland with Lou Lasprugato, MFT

April 20th – 21st, 2018

Join Lou Lasprugato, MFT and Peer-Reviewed ACBS ACT Trainer, for this 2-day event (13 CEUs) designed to integrate a conceptual, experiential, and practical understanding of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Click here for more information and registration. Training offered by Praxis.

Location: Courtyard by Marriott, Portland City Center

September 2018

RO-DBT Intensive Portland/Seattle with Thomas Lynch, PhD, FBPsS

September 24th to 28th, 2018

Portland Psychotherapy will be co-hosting the Portland portion of this Radically-Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy intensive training. This intensive training is a two-part fast-track program, consisting of two 5-day workshops. After completing the intensive training, practitioners may choose to progress to advanced level training and supervision. Click here for further information and registration. Training co-hosted by Portland Psychotherapy Clinic. The follow-up 5-day workshop takes place in Seattle, April 8 – 12, 2019.

Location: Portland. More details to come.

OACBS Member News

From Paul Guinther – New Publication!

I recently got an RFT study on derived perspective taking published in Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

From Brian Goff – A Veritable Feast of Resources (thank you!)

I’m sure you know about the app Headspace. I think this is a great app for clients. Good introduction/on-ramp to mindfulness practice.  I also really like Streaks, which is a useful app for establishing and tracking committed action or developing new habits.

Some people may know this, but there is a delightful and fantastic song by Kimya Dawson called The Competition. Great defusion/fusion and acceptance illustrated.

From Hank Robb – Upcoming presentation at OPA

Self-Care as Orientation for Life Action: “I Choose Willingly” or “I Have to Grudgingly” By Hank ROBB, PhD

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your participation in our community!

Ida Moadab
Melodie Radcliffe
Kevin Reilly
Mike Running
Taylor Shank
Sean Dodge
Heather Harris
Amy Joslin
Megan Poole
Steffannie Roache
Christopher Watson

OACBS Projects/Board

Everything is running smoothly thanks to the many little and large contributions by Board Members past and present. No updates at this time.

ACBS Updates and Listserv Nuggets

ACBS World Conference 16 – July 24-29, 2018, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,

Click Here to register your interest and receive notifications when things like Call for Submissions, Registration, and the program are available.

A Beautiful Reminder

Nina Yamini asked the community for help tracking down a video shown during a Steve Hayes training back in 2015. Turns out it was called The ACT Therapist, produced by  Jenna Lejeune and Jason Luoma. And it’s well worth watching (again). Or in the words of Lara Fielding, “thank you Nina for reminding us of this AWESOME video!”

MBCT and ACT – How Might They Differ?

The original post by Jill Corvelli: “Has anyone done a deep dive into evaluating MBCT?… I am trying to tease out how MBCT and ACT differ. I wonder at the theoretcial level how congruent the mindfulness piece is with the now expanded offering of CBT. I wonder if the MBCT claim to have more intensity in meditation than ACT plays out in reality. I would enjoy anyones thoughts as I try to sort this out.”  Led to an interesting discussion, which touched on the additional question of whether stress reduction, as a treatment goal, is ACT-consistent.

Click here for the full thread.

2018 Diary (or Calendar to others) for Valued Action

Original post by Nic Hooper: “After running workshops last year a few of us in Bristol realised how easily people lose contact with their values and so started brainstorming cues that might remind people of their values. We came up with the idea of a diary, and have subsequently put one together.”

As noted by multiple people, such as Rob Archer, “Superb idea Nic.”

NB. Nic openly acknowledges he has financial investment in this product, as it is self-funded. He also shares he sees real value in its potential to help others. Judge for yourself!

Click here for the full thread.

A Primer on Self-As-Context: Observer Self or Pure Awareness?

Original post by Kip Williams: “I’ve been noticing two different discourses about self-as-context, and I’m starting to wonder whether they’re compatible with each other. I thought I’d see what y’all think about it.”

Led to a fascinating discussion and a brief (ish) primer on self-as-context, not to mention some philosophical references, and something about a haircut…

Click here for the full thread.

What is ACT?

Original post (and “bold move”) by Rob Archer: “What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy / Acceptance and Commitment Training?   In other words, what are its essential features?  How do we know when we are doing it?”

A “simple” question that led to a great discussion. Click here for the full thread.

Emotion Efficacy Therapy – An ACT Therapy, Something Different or Does it Matter?

What started as an introductory post to a new “brief universal therapy protocol” integrating ACT, CBT and exposure therapy developed by Aprila West and Matthew McKay, led to a lively discussion about brands, mechanisms, models of psychological flexibility and Steve Hayes and Stefan Hofmann’s upcoming book on “Process-based CBT”.

Click here for the full thread.

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Tim Wright.

December 2017

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy – An Experiential and Practical Introduction

Friday, December 1, 2017 & Saturday, December 2, 2017, 8.30 am – 4.30 pm.

This two-day workshop provides a thorough overview of the theory, principles, and techniques of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It is intended for those who are relatively new to ACT and for those who have done some reading on their own about ACT but who may not have had the opportunity to participate in more experiential learning, practice case conceptualization, and receive feedback while practicing using the ACT model. Read more 

Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, 3700 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227

Introduction to Radically-Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT)

December 8, 2017, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT) is a new evidence-based therapy for people who are overcontrolled. RO-DBT emerged from 20 years of research into how to help people who suffer because of excessive overcontrol. The treatment pulls together experimental, longitudinal, and treatment outcome research in the form of this novel treatment. This introductory workshop for counselors and therapists will provide clinicians with the theoretical foundations underlying this form of DBT, as well as a few key skills to engage with clients.  Read more

Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, 3700 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227

January, 2018

Working with Gender and Sexual Minority Clients: Fostering Mindfulness, Acceptance, Compassion, Connection, and Equality using Contextual Behavioral Strategies

January 19, 2018, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Despite incredible advances in the science of psychological distress or well-being among gender and sexual minority (GSM) clients, changes in treatment have been lagging. Most resources express the need for an affirming and non-rejecting stance, but these do not fully meet the needs of therapists who wish to align their practice with the most current of data. This workshop will promote cutting-edge techniques that take advantage of research on minority stress and emotion regulation. The workshop will incorporate both theoretical and experiential work. Read more

Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, 3700 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227

OACBS Member News

Learning ACT – Second Edition – Available December 1st.

As posted on the ACBS listserv, Kim Diebold asked about rumors of a new edition. Portland’s very own Jason Luoma responded with the release date, and shared the following information to help folks determine if they want to purchase. It is about 30% new material, with extensive smaller changes based on updates and reader feedback. In addition, there is a complete rewrite of the self as context chapter and a new chapter on social context/culture/diversity and ACT.

In addition, there is “a free e-book, “The Learning ACT Resources Guide,” which pulls together a whole range of resources on learning ACT that people might want to know about, including all the published ACT books I could find.”

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your participation in our community!

Nancy Anderson
Rick Baumgartle
Pamela Braun
Adam Brotman
Kyle Chambers
Maria Cicio
Joanna Crowl
Eli Dapolonia
Bryce Doehne
Beth Eckerd
Chelsea Gilbert
Joel Gregor
Joshua Higinbotham
Michael Ianello
Angela Izmirian
Wendy Machalicek
Greg Macke
Debesh Mallik
Rosanne Marmor
Alyssa Nolde
Carolyn Peterson
Mathias Quackenbush
Gabriel Reed
Rodney Robbins
Carl Sallee
Aaron Truong
Rebecca Vestal
Tricha Weeks
Trond Willmann
Kyong Yi

OACBS Projects/Board

OACBS Board Elections 2017

Welcome to our newly elected members of the board:

Shadee Hardy – President Elect

Jill Corvelli – Student Representative

And thank you to Brian Thompson, who steps down as Past-President, for his considerable service to the OACBS community in the past 3 years.

Non-Profit Status

It’s official. Through the efforts of Brian Thompson (Past-President), Melissa Soll (Treasurer) and other board members past and present, the IRS has granted OACBS the status of nonprofit 501c6. We can now open a bank account.

ACBS Updates and Listserv Nuggets

Our Common Humanity – The Movie

A beautiful offering posted by Rikke Kjelgaard:

“Inspired by and with bold and heartfelt contributions from my mentors, fellow trainers and trainees I have put together this movie that demonstrates our common humanity.”

Click here for link to movie

No Buddha Pill

A post by Joseph Ciarrochi, recommending an article recently published from Baljinder Sahdra and colleagues (including Joseph).

“This article… shows that you can’t just think of mindfulness in “more” or “less” terms, i.e., more is good, less is bad. Mindfulness is no single thing or buddha pill that magically cures everything, as some pop books would have you believe.”

Sahdra, B.Ciarrochi, J., Parker, P., Basarkod, G., Bradshaw, E., Baer, R. (2017) . Are people mindful in different ways? Disentangling the quantity and quality of mindfulness in latent profiles and exploring their links to mental health and life effectiveness. European Journal of Personality.

ACT-friendly Mobile Apps

Original post by John Davis: “What apps have members found useful in the practice of ACT?”

Donna Read posted: Headspace, ACT Coach, ACT Companion, Buddify 2, Voice Changer, Songify. And followed up with: Sleep Well, Be Grounded, ACT 1 Values, Act 2 Control, Act 3 Defusion, ACT   Willingness, ACT: You as Context

Michael Levin posted: “we have a running list of available ACT-relevant mobile apps as part of our ACTing with Technology SIG website resources”

Terry Shott posted: calm.com

Roger Viladargo posted: mindfulness daily, and T2 Mood Tracker

Benji Schoendorff posted: T2 Mood Tracker, to track toward and away moves on the matrix.

Megan Oser posted: “Breathe2Relax (great for teaching diaphragmatic breathing and it’s free), Headspace, ACT Coach, ACT companion, T2 Mood tracker, Moodlytics for mood and activity monitoring, and ‘Stop, Breathe, and Think’ (mindfulness app), and Mindfulness Coach. To help promote/clarify values, I’ve used ‘Gratitude journal’ by HapperTapper. One of my clients really liked SimplyBeing – another mindfulness app.”

Choice Point 2.0 –

An updated primer from Russ Harris sharing this “useful clinical metaphor”, and a subsequent thread providing additional clarification on its differences with the matrix.

Books on Grief and Loss

Original post by Suzanne Strisik, asking for ACT consistent book recommendations for grief and loss.

Suzanne Bates posted: Grieving Mindfully: A Compassionate & Spiritual Guide to Coping with Loss by Kumar; and How to Survive the Loss of a Love by McWilliams, Bloomfield & Cosgrove

Jennifer Laing posted: Reality Slap by Russ Harris

Julie Hamilton posted: Mindfulness and Grief by Heather Stang

Thomas Holmes posted: A Buddhist Grief Observed by Guy Newman

Martin Brock shared he is in the process of writing a book, and suggested materials from Compassion-Focused Therapy

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Tim Wright.

ACT Webinars – from Praxis – Sign Up By August 7th

• Steve Hayes discussing how to redirect the energy inside psychological inflexibility for better therapeutic outcomes
• Russ Harris will do a training on Getting Unstuck with ACT
• Kelly Wilson discussing stimulus control and the core characteristics of behaviorism
• Joanne Steinwachs and Tim Gordon explore how to use ACT with complex cases
• Niklas Torneke is even doing a bonus webinar this season on metaphor in practice
• And more…

September 2017

From Jason Luoma: “Just a heads up that there’s an interesting workshop in Seattle coming up in September that some of you may be interested in that combines ACT and FAP ideas to help therapists address racism and bias.”

Location: Seattle, Washington; Dates: September 15-17, 2017

Presenters: Drs. Jonathan Kanter, Monica Williams, and Dan Rosen

October 2017

ACT anxiety researcher and University of Albany, SUNY professor John Forsyth, PhD, the author of several ACT books, will be offering with his wife, Jamie, two 1-day training in October, 2017.

• ACT for Anxiety Disorders on October 27;
• Using Exposure in ACT on October 28.

OACBS Member News

Call Out to Students!

Your new Student Representative Jill Corvelli would love to hear from the OACBS student community, to find out how best to support your needs. Please email (2catharsis@gmail.com) with any thoughts and suggestions.

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your participation in our community!

Lyssi Brady
David Casey
Cameron Haynes
Cody Johnson
Stephen Kliewer
Sara Knepper
Summer LeFebvre
Maureen Marchant
Justin McCoy
Garrett Price
Aaron Truong
Zana Zeigler
Anne Willis
April Rose
Gina Ortola
Danielle Moyer
Kenneth Mackie
Jessica Lee
Georgia Layton
Anna Kiiveri
Chris Ferrante
Jeffrey Borchers
Bridget Beachy

OACBS Projects/Board

Call Out for Board Nominations

Have you been looking for a way to get more involved with the ACBS/ACT community?

Do you appreciate what OACBS and ACBS have done for you and would like to give back?

Would you like to expand your network of relationships with like-minded, local colleagues?

We are officially putting a call out for nominations to serve on the board of Oregon chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.

If you’d like to become more involved consider these officer positions that are open for this year…

• President-elect: 1-year term (then automatically moves on to a 1-year term as President, then a 1-year term as Past-President for a 3-year total commitment)
• Student Representative: 1-year term

A detailed description of each of these positions can be found on the OACBS website here.

If you know of someone who you’d like to nominate for one of the positions, please email me (bthompson@portlandpsychotherapyclinic.com) their contact information and for which position you’d like to nominate them. Self-nominations are not only accepted but are strongly encouraged! Nominations will be accepted through Friday, April 28th.

Non-Profit Status

The OACBS Board submitted paperwork for 503(c)3 non-profit status. If all goes smoothly, OACBS will be granted nonprofit status by June.

ACBS Updates and Listserv Nuggets

Women in ACBS – Update

It is our pleasure to announce the creation of the Women in ACBS SIG and invite all interested individuals in supporting our mission as we move forward into the new year (and election process!). Please review our mission statement below and if you are interested, join us in building increasingly equitable representation within ACBS. See full post.

And in response to a statement of support from Russell Kolts, “Yes, the SIG is open to anyone (including men) who would like to support our mission.”

Amy Murrell posted this response:

More recently – Amy Murrell posted a “Final Update” on the work of the ad hoc group in responding to Steve Hayes Call to Action. See link for the full post.

ACBS Board Member Election Results

• Nanni Presti – President
• Louise Hayes* – President-elect
• D.J. Moran – Past-president
• Andrew Gloster – Secretary-Treasurer
• Amy Murrell* – Member-at-large
• Jonathan Bricker* – Member-at-large
• Maria Karekla – Member-at-large
• Emily Sandoz – Member-at-large
• Joseph Graddy* – Student representative

(new members denoted with *)

ACBS World Conference – Early Registration Ends April 7th

ACBS World Conference 15 is June 22-25 in Seville, Spain. There are also a number of 1 and 2-day pre-conference workshops June 20-21. Move quickly to take advantage of early registration.

Self Compassion Metaphors

A really useful thread seeking metaphors and clinical resources for self compassion

From Russ Harris – The Compassionate Hand Exercise

From Lauren Porosoff – the Failure Clothesline

• Kristin Neff’s website and meditations
• Chris Germer’s website and meditations
• Dennis Tirch’s book along with many more resources in his post response
• John Forsyth and Georg Eifert’s book
• Tara Brach’s website and meditations
• Jason Luoma blog on self-compassion

Grounding Techniques

Some clinical goodies from Russ Harris in response to a post by Yamini Nina:

Click here for a free eBook on grounding in ACT (which I like to call ‘dropping anchor’).

In addition, here’s a 2 minute MP3 audio recording of ACT-style grounding

And here’s a longer 7-minute version:

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Tim Wright.

April 2017

Bringing Values to Life in ACT: Moving from the conceptual to the experiential

Jason Luoma and Jenna LeJeune
April 28, 2017, 12:45 pm – 4:15 pm · Portland, OR.

September 2017

OACBS Member News

New Practice Announcement from Magda Permut

Our specialties are as follows:

Dr. Platt specializes in working with people who have experienced complex trauma and its effects, particularly shame, dissociation, and relational difficulties. She is skilled in working with populations that have experienced marginalization and oppression due to identities such as gender, sexuality, disability, and race, and in working with people who have experienced institutional betrayal.

Dr. Permut specializes in working with clients struggling with PTSD and addictions, as well as related issues such as interpersonal relationships and emotion regulation. She also facilitates a monthly meetup group based on Functional Analytic Psychotherapy for community members interested in enhancing awareness, courage, and love in their lives.

The Hank Robb Corner 🙂

ACBS Fellow and Oregon Chapter member Hank Robb, has some additional offerings for our community.

A four page handout on habits.

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your participation in our community!

Robert Dickey
Belen Herreros
Arielle Marston
Robb Mills
Antonio Rodríguez Galicia
Allyson Souders
Carey Baumgarten
Charlie Knowlton
Erika Shearer
Vanessa Welch-Pemberton

OACBS Projects/Board

In June, the chapter election of 4 new members to our 6-person board resulted in many transitions in responsibilities from previous board members. I am so grateful to all of our board members for their hard work to keep up the community built here in previous years, notably including the publication of our newsletters. Tim Wright has been thoughtfully curating relevant content, and the rest of the board has been eager to edit collaboratively. Melissa Soll has done a phenomenal job taking over responsibilities that were previously shared by two board member. Thanks to YK Jeong for sharing student perspectives, and to President-Elect Darin Bergen for his engagement with the board preparing for his new role in June. I want to share special thanks to Past-President Brian Thompson for being so willing to be our source for institutional memory. Thanks to you all for your contributions to our community.

C. David Maxey, President, Oregon Chapter

ACBS Updates and Listserv Nuggets

Women in the ACBS Community – Broadening the Conversation and, Hopefully, More…

Lucía Loureiro’s post prompted an important and hopefully fruitful discussion aimed at shedding light on current inequalities and fostering more diversity within the ACBS community.  From her original post:

“There is an issue I would like to bring up and hear (read) your opinions. It seems to me that even though women are the majority in this field (and in this community) men take the lead, and women seem more invisible.

1) I see a lot more posts in this list from men than women, and it seems women ask questions and men give «expert» answers, or promote their workshops, books, etc.

2) Whenever I go to a conference, more men are presenting workshops and lectures, and they take the lead spaces to do so.

3) You look at attendees at these events, and I can´t help but notice that most of the listeners are in fact women, so why are there so many men presenting?

4) Are more men writing books, doing research and presenting workshops than women? If this is so, what is the reason for this?

Are women choosing to take a step back? Or are we still constraint by cultural ideas on how women should behave or should «be» Do women need to wait to be given a space and men just go for it without waiting for approval?

I would love to hear your opinions. Do men notice that this is happening? How do the women in this community feel about this issue?”

See continued conversations in the links below, with a variety of comments, suggestions, and proposed action steps, such as changing bylaws of ACBS, supporting more diverse representation on the ACBS board, advice for the privileged, and much more. Inspired by the conversation, the ACBS diversity committee will be responding with their reflections and proposals in the near future.

Women in ACBS A concrete suggestion and call for action; Women in ACBS conference participation; Women in ACBS new thread; Women in ACBS another new thread;

ACBS World Conference 15, Seville, Spain

There’s an open call for submissions for ACBS Annual World Conference 15 in Seville, Spain, June 22-25, 2017. The submission deadline for papers, symposia, panel discussions, and workshops is February 15, 2017. The submission deadline for posters and Chapter/SIG meetings is March 15, 2017. The theme for this conference is Committed to Science. We hope you consider attending this year!

Favorite Research Articles of 2016:

Original post by Bartosz Kleszcz:

Sierra, M. A. et al. (2016). The role of common physical properties and augmental functions in the metaphor effect. “Brand new information about how to enhance the power of a metaphor.”

Ruiz, F. J. et al. (2016). Effect of a one session ACT protocol in disrupting negative repetitive thinking: A randomized multiple-baseline design.  “A 75-minute application of the new definition of psychological flexibility.”

From Shamell Brandon:

Villatte, J. L. et al. (2016). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy modules: Differential impact on treatment processes and outcomes. “I really appreciate the commitment to empirically inspecting if the theory is consistent with process and outcome data.”

From Matthieu Villatte:

“I’d say one of the pieces of research work I have most enjoyed discovering in 2016 was the work by Baljinder K. Sahdra on experiential attachment. She gave a keynote at the AZACBS conference titled “Beyond experiential avoidance: The dangers of experiential attachment and clinging to the positive”. Download slides here.

From Stuart Libman:

Atkins, P. & Styles, R. (2016). Measuring self and rules in what people say: Exploring whether self-discrimination Predicts Long-Term Well-being. “I/here/now am noticing these days that I am listening differently as a function of your work in all my clinical and consultative sessions.”

1 Million Views for Jonathan Bricker’s TEDx Talk on The Secret of Self-Control

Alternative Holiday Message

Posted by Fiona O’Neill: “This alternative Christmas message comes from Brendan Cox, whose wife Jo, a British Member of Parliament actively involved in speaking out against racial division and intolerance, was murdered in June leaving a constituency meeting by a man shouting “Britain First”.

I post it here because it is for me such a powerful example of committed action in the face of adversity in so many ways which seems so apt as we come to the close of a truly difficult year for our human community.”

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Tim Wright.

February 2017

ACT with Compassion (Day 1): An Introduction to Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Highly Self-critical and Shame Prone Clients – Led by Jason Luoma, Jenna LeJeune, and Melissa Platt

• This workshop is intended for those with little knowledge of ACT to those with advanced experience.
• February 24, 2017
• This workshop can be taken alone or paired with a more advanced training the following day (February 25, 2017)

Invitation to an Online Professional Wellness Retreat by Kelly Koerner

“We’re hosting a unique online retreat to improve professional well-being, combining… restorative practices and measurement-based care…

Inspiring guest instructors from ACBS, DBT and mindfulness-based and compassion-focused therapy communities, will guide a process of reflection, design, and action to help us build a path to more sustainable professional wellbeing.”

OACBS Member News

Free Therapeutic Yoga

The Pacific Psychology and Comprehensive Health Clinics in Portland and Hillsboro are offering FREE therapeutic yoga groups starting mid-January. The no-cost groups are run as closed therapeutic yoga groups for 10 weeks at a time, three times per year (returners are more than welcome). These yoga classes are a wonderful opportunity to ameliorate stress and engage in self-care. The classes emphasize mindfulness practice and increasing interoceptive awareness through yoga philosophy, asana, and guided meditation.

The Hillsboro Clinic is on Pacific’s Hillsboro campus, at 222 SE 8th Ave, Suite 212. We are currently taking referrals for two groups: Mondays 5:30-7pm and Wednesdays from 6-7:30pm. More classes may be added as needed. For more information or to enroll in the group, please call (503) 352-7333 Ext. 8150 with a name and number we can call back.

The Portland Clinic is downtown at 1411 SW Morrison St, Suite 310. We are currently taking referrals for two groups: Mondays 6-7:30pm and Wednesdays 6-7:30pm. More classes may be added as needed. For more information or to enroll in the group, please call (503) 352- 2400 Ext. 8140 with a name and number we can call back.

New Community Group – Live with Awareness, Courage and Love

Magda Permut is sharing a brand new community group she is running. It is called Live with Awareness, Courage, and Love, and it is based on the Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) model designed by Mavis Tsai and Bob Kohlenberg at the University of Washington.

It is designed to help us build deeper, more truthful, and genuine relationships with ourselves and others. I believe that in these divided times, we need this kind of connection more than ever.

New Mindfulness Group Offering in Hood River

From Scott Rower: “I’d be happy to share that since moving to Hood River (from Portland) this year I started up a drop in weekly mindfulness class that has been surprisingly well attended and I finished the first level of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). I’m excited to be sharing mindfulness skills with my community :)”

The Hank Robb Corner 🙂

ACBS Fellow and Oregon Chapter member Hank Robb, has some additional offerings for our community.

Hank is also offering his “Values Based Consult” for the first three months of 2017. “Values Based” means you pay what you think it was worth. The consult in in West Lake Oswego near I-5 & 217 from 3:30 to 5:30 for the dates:  1/27, 3/3 and 3/24. Anyone interested contact: robbhb@pacificu.edu or 503 635-2489 (o)

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your participation in our community!

Sheryl Dunn Watson
Patrice Jacob
Kaylin Jones
Amy Joslin
Jason Loverti
Susan Merrick
Jeffrey Peyton
Calle Pierson
Gina Senan
Erika Shearer

OACBS Projects

The new board is now in place, poised to do great things.

• David Maxey, MA – Current President
• Brian Thompson, PhD – Past President
• Darin Bergen, PsyD – President Elect
• Melissa Soll, PhD – Secretary/Treasurer
• Timothy Wright, PsyD – Member at Large
• Yeong Keun (YK) Jeong, MA – Student Representative

See About the Board for additional information about your board members. More to come…

ACBS Updates and Listserv Nuggets

ACBS World Conference 14

ACBS World Conference in Seattle this summer was a success. There was a good turnout from Oregon—70 attendees from Oregon of which 41 were Oregon Chapter members. OACBS members offered workshops and participated in symposiums and panel discussion. World Conference 15 will be held in Seville, Spain in 2017 and in Montreal, Canada in 2018.

Steven Hayes’ New TEDx talk

Steve Hayes gave a 2^nd Tedx Talk on defusion at Davidson Academy, a school for gifted high school students. In his words: “I gave the talk to a group of high school kids with IQs in the 99.9^th percentile or above. Way smart. They still struggle. To explain why defusion is needed, I tried to distill RFT down to a single slide normal folks could understand. I think I succeeded, but you will have to be the judge.”

Mobile Apps/Technology

Recent listserv traffic highlighted a newly published journal article in JCBS on mobile apps, plus a link from Michael Levin to his presentation at World Conference 14, highlighting a few apps. He also noted a broader list of CBS-relevant apps through the ACBS Technology SIG list.

Fierce Compassion Podcast

A conversation between Dennis Tirch and Steve Hayes on “the nature of compassion, how ACT developed, and how we humans can transform our own pain into compassionate prosocial action in an open and vulnerable discussion lasting nearly 90 minutes.” (Dennis Tirch)

Mindfulness Cartoon

A contribution from Sarah Marcus: “A cartoon called ‘Steven Universe’ on The Cartoon Network recently made an episode about Mindfulness, which included a ‘Mindfulness education song’ Enjoy!” Per Steve Hayes, “Wonderful song and should be useful for ACT folks who work with kids and families.”

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Tim Wright.

September 2016

Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) Training for Professionals – Led by Ruth Leibowitz, PhD

• Eight Monday evenings, beginning September 19^th, 2016, and includes a half-day retreat; 12 SE 14^th Ave, 97214
• Email Dr.LeibQ@hotmail.com for more details

October 2016

Who Am I to I Here Now: How Relational Frame Theory Can Help Your Clients Develop a More Flexible Sense of Self – Led by Matthieu Villatte, PhD

• This workshop should be applicable to both people who have little experience with ACT to those with advanced knowledge.
• Two Day Workshop: October 14^th & 15^th, 2016; Held at LifeQual, Beaverton.

November 2016

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy – An Experiential and Practical Introduction – Led by Jason Luoma, PhD, and Jenna LeJeune, PhD

• This workshop is intended for any therapist or student in a mental health field who is relatively new to the ACT model.
• Two Day Workshop; November 11^th & 12^th, 2016; Held at LifeQual, Beaverton

February 2017

ACT with Compassion (Day 1): An Introduction to Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Highly Self-critical and Shame Prone Clients – Led by Jason Luoma, PhD, Jenna LeJeune, PhD, and Melissa Platt, PhD

• This workshop is intended for those with little knowledge of ACT to those with advanced experience.
• February 24, 2017
• This workshop can be taken alone or paired with a more advanced training the following day (February 25, 2017)

OACBS Member News

New ACT-Based Anxiety Clinic and Postdoctoral Fellow at Portland Psychotherapy

Portland Psychotherapy is excited to announce their new postdoc, Kaylin Jones, PhD. As part of the new ACT-based Anxiety Clinic at Portland Psychotherapy, Kaylin will be offering sliding scale evidence-based treatment for Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive & Related Disorders (including trichotillomania & skin picking).

Member Highlighted Reading Suggested

Inside This Moment from Patti Robinson & Kirk Strosahl.  Posted on the ACT listserve as “the Jedi Field Manual for ACT.” – Thank you Scott Rower for your suggestion.

Centering Activity – A Hank Robb Offering

ACBS Fellow and Oregon Chapter member Hank Robb, PhD posted an audio recorded of a centering activity followed by a relaxation activity.

Research Update: Team Compassion Research Lab

Team Compassion (at Portland Psychotherapy) is working to understand the role of compassion in helping people with high self-criticism and shame to live fuller, more engaged lives with an increased sense of belonging. Currently, Team Compassion is developing a 9-week class entitled Big Heart, Open Wide, which is a class for highly self-critical people based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, affective science, and compassion-based interventions. We will be collecting data to assess the effectiveness of the class and use the data to inform future iterations of the class as well as additional research projects.

• Investigators:Jason Luoma, Ph.D., Jenna LeJeune, Ph.D., & Melissa Platt, Ph.D.

As highlighted in a recent post on OACBS listserv, Team Compassion has also compiled 20 science-based resources for those working with highly self-critical and shame prone clients, including case conceptualizations outlines, measures, book recommendations, videos and audios.

Reminder: ACT Peer Clinical Consult Group

Every 2^nd Friday of the month, Portland Psychotherapy hosts an ACT peer clinical consultation group from 3:30-5:30pm. This group is a forum for clinicians to engage in didactic and experiential consultation about the clinical use of ACT. It is mainly composed of professionals working in the mental health field, but graduate students pursuing a mental health-related degree are also welcome. Click here for details.

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your participation in our community!

Nancy Anderson
Kristen Beck
Adam Brotman
Kristen Genzano
Nina Hidalgo
An Huygen
Tonya Lippert
Heather Macaky
Cayla Panitz
Megan Poole
Jenna Sant-Wing
Kathryn Schwartz
Molly Sullivan
Athena Thompson

OACBS Projects

OACBS Board Election

The ballots are in for the 2016 OACBS Board Election! We are pleased to announce our new Board members:

President-Elect: Darin Bergen, Psy.D.
Secretary/Treasurer: Melissa Soll, Ph.D.
Member-at-Large: Tim Wright, Psy.D.
Student Representative: YK Jeong, M.A.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to all of those who stepped up to run this year and to the OACBS members who took the time to cast their ballots. New terms will begin on June 15, 2016. Congratulations to the new Board members; we look forward to your contributions!

OACBS Community-Building Get-Together at World Conference 14

The Oregon Chapter has reserved a table at ACBS World Conference in Seattle for the Opening Social, Chapter, and SIG Event on Wednesday evening, June 15th, from 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM. Stop by and see us–and meet other OACBS members! Also, we will email registered OACBS attendees shortly before the conference about arranging an informal get together later in the week. Hope to see you there! If you have questions, email President-Elect C. David Maxey <David@CDM.name>.

ACBS Updates

ACBS World Conference 14 “Welcome Team”

Kelly Koerner, the program chair for the ACBS World Conference, has put out a call for volunteers interested in being on the “Welcoming Team” to help reach out to those who are new to WorldCon and make sure they feel welcomed and included. Volunteer opportunities include staffing the registration table area and several lunch tables to have a short friendly conversation, offer to be of help with finding interesting things in the program, and just generally reaching out to make people feel welcome. It would involve being available for short time periods (30 minutes) on Wednesday afternoon/evening and Thursday morning or being willing to sit with people on Thursday or Friday lunches. Anyone interested can write to Kelly directly at kelly@ebpi.org to receive more details.

Presidential Address at ACBS World Conference 13, Berlin, Germany, 2015

Jason Luoma’s Presidential Address, delivered at the 2015 World Conference in Germany has been posted to the ACBS website. If you were not able to attend the conference, Jason’s inspiring speech focused on shame, stigma, compassion, and connection. You can view the presentation on-line: Big heart, open wide: Moving from shame and fear to empathy, compassion, and connection in our clinical work and communities

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Meghan Marty.

• Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) Annual World Conference
  June 14 – 19, 2016 (Seattle)
  Confirmed Speakers: Kristin Neff, Marsha Linehan, Lisa Diamond, James Coan, Michael Twohig, Sue McCurry, Anthony Biglan, Mark R. Dixon, Robert Kohlenberg, and Mavis Tsai.
  Offered by ACBS

The World Conference brings together clinicians and researchers to present cutting-edge research in ACT, RFT, and Contextual Behavioral Science, as well as experienced trainers to lead experiential workshops so that you can learn how to better serve your clients.

The World Conference is for psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychiatrists, physicians, drug counselors, health researchers, language researchers, behavior analysts, students and more…. Anyone in a similarly related helping or research field is invited to attend.

Several OACBS members will be among those giving workshops and presentations including Hank Robb, Jason Luoma, Melissa Platt, Paul Guinther, Brian Thompson, and Jenna LeJeune.

Registration in the full conference is all-inclusive and includes lunch, coffee/tea breaks, open access to workshops, research symposia, posters, panel discussions, plenary sessions with CBS researchers and practitioners, and IGNITE sessions.

OACBS Member News

Harold (“Hank”) Robb Named ACBS fellow

Congratulations to OACBS member Hank Robb for being named an ACBS Fellow, to be inducted at the Seattle ACBS World Conference in June! Fellowship in ACBS is one of the Association’s highest honors and is meant to recognize professionals who have made strong positive contributions to Contextual Behavioral Science, at any stage of career, through research, scholarship, training, public information, policy, prevention, organizational work, practice, or any other area of CBS and of the Association.

Pre-Conference Workshop on Self-Criticism and Shame

OACBS members Jason Luoma, Jenna LeJeune, and Melissa Platt are offering a pre-conference workshop in Seattle, titled “From Isolation to Belonging: Using ACT and Affective Science to Deepen Your Work with Clients Stuck in Self-Criticism and Shame.”

Upcoming Presentations at National Nurse Practitioner Conference

OACBS member Mike Bricker is scheduled to give two presentations at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners Conference this July in San Antonio:  “ACTing on ACEs – Working with the Difficult Patient” and “ACT and EMDR for Chronic Pain.”

ACT-based Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Research and Presentations

OACBS President Brian Thompson was recently awarded additional grant funding through Portland Psychotherapy to continue a single case design study looking at process of change in ACT and ERP for OCD. Additionally, Brian will give a few ACT-based presentations at the Annual OCD Conference this July.

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your participation in our community!

Stephani Grace
Jessica Farrar
April Lightcap
Lauren Whitelaw
Chandra Mundon
Eric Lillibridge
Breanna Bocciolatt
Miranda Drake

OACBS Projects

Will You Answer the Call?

Four years ago, a group of Oregonians committed to contextual behavioral science started talking about organizing our state-wide community of CBSers in some way. A year later, the Oregon Chapter of ACBS was officially formed. For the past 3 years, a small number of individuals who have volunteered to serve on your board have made some pretty significant accomplishments (if we do say so ourselves!). From creating and then revising our bylaws, to hosting training events and study groups, to getting our OACBS website and newsletter up and running, and lots of other behind-the-scenes activities, those who have served on the board over the past 3 years have been hard at work. But now, terms are coming to an end and there are several opportunities for others to step up and get involved. Starting in early April, we will be calling for nominations for the 4 seats that will be opening up on the OACBS Board: President-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, Member-At-Large, and Student Representative. Will you answer the call? Please be on the look out for an announcement and more information on the upcoming election in the coming weeks. And consider whether you or someone you know might be willing to serve our OACBS community in this way.

OACBS Committee for a Community-Building Get-Together at World Conference 14

OACBS is looking to arrange an informal get-together at the Seattle World Conference this summer where Oregon chapter members can connect with each other. If you’d like to help organize this, please email C. David Maxey (David@CDM.name), OACBS President-Elect. Once we have the details set, we’ll announce them through the listserv. Hope to see you all there!

ACBS Updates

OACBS Involved at the Ground Level for World Conference 14

As many of you know, the ACBS World Conference is coming to the west coast for the first time ever, from June 14-19 in our beautiful sister city to the north, Seattle. What you may not know is how much OACBS has already been involved in the planning stages for the conference. While many of us have been involved in the conference planning on some level, it’s been OACBS President-Elect, C. David Maxey that has really taken this task on with full gusto! He has been working very closely with Kelly Koerner (Program Committee Chair) and Emily Rodrigues (ACBS Executive Director) to make this one of the best World Conferences ever. David’s technical savvy (he is also the one that finally was able to get our OACBS website off the ground!) resulted in a total rehaul of how the workshop and panel submissions were reviewed and selected. He has been helping organize and run countless planning meetings, conference calls, sending out reminder emails to those of us doing much smaller tasks, and many more things we probably don’t even know about. David’s humble nature means that he would never make a fuss out of all that he has done to serve our Oregon ACBS community in this way, but the rest of us on the Board felt like all of our members should know how well they are represented. So hip, hip, hooray for our President-Elect David!!! Thank you for all of your service.

Steve Hayes TEDx Talk

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, Steve Hayes recently presented an inspiring TEDx talk about psychological flexibility and his personal experience with panic disorder. You can watch the talk on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy via YouTube.

Upcoming Professional Training

The opportunities listed below may be of interest to OACBS members. Please note, these events are not necessarily endorsed by OACBS and the information is simply provided as a convenience to members. If you know of any CBS-related training events in our area that you’d like announced in the next newsletter, please e-mail that information to Member At Large, Meghan Marty.

• Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) Workshop
  April 15 & 16, 2016 (Portland)
  Kirk Strosahl & Patti Robinson
  Offered by Patient-Centered Primary Care Institute

Drs. Strosahl and Robinson are both exceptionally experienced ACT clinicians and ACT peer-reviewed trainers who train folks around the world in FACT. FACT was developed for clinicians who work in settings that require brief interventions, such as hospitals, jails, primary care clinics, and mental health clinics.

• Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) Annual World Conference
  June 14 – 19, 2016 (Seattle)
  Confirmed Speakers: Kristin Neff, Marsha Linehan, Lisa Diamond, James Coan, Michael Twohig, Sue McCurry, Anthony Biglan, Mark R. Dixon, Robert Kohlenberg, and Mavis Tsai.
  Offered by ACBS

The World Conference brings together clinicians and researchers to present cutting-edge research in ACT, RFT, and Contextual Behavioral Science, as well as experienced trainers to lead experiential workshops so that you can learn how to better serve your clients.

The World Conference is for psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychiatrists, physicians, drug counselors, health researchers, language researchers, behavior analysts, students and more…. Anyone in a similarly related helping or research field is invited to attend.

Early registration ends April 8th! Registration in the full conference is all-inclusive and includes lunch, coffee/tea breaks, open access to workshops, research symposia, posters, panel discussions, plenary sessions with CBS researchers and practitioners, and IGNITE sessions.

New OACBS Members

Welcome to our newest OACBS members. We look forward to your contribution to our community!

Anna Kiiveri
Zena Doherty
April Rose
Kenneth Sewell
Anna Boller
Cody Weldon
Kara Friend
Christina Irvine
An Huygen
Kristen Genzano
Athena Thompson