Meet Christopher Martell, Ph.D.

About ABCT

Christopher Martell, Ph.D.

Professor of Practice, UMass Amherst

Candidate for ABCT President-Elect 2025-26

Watch Dr. Martell answer questions from ABCT’s SIGs.

Timestamp for each question

00:15 What is your main vision for ABCT?

02:44 In light of recent challenges affecting DEI priorities, how do you see yourself supporting diverse students and scholars within ABCT (e.g., professional development, presentation and dissemination of their work, grants and other support)?

06:43 What do you see as training gaps for training the future of CBT practitioners and how would you address those gaps in your role?

Autobiography

I am Professor of Practice and direct the Psychological Services Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. I first joined as a student member of ABCT in 1985. I was a practicing clinician in Seattle for 23 years, and on clinical faculty in departments of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Washington. I bring leadership experience from and connections to other organizations having been a past president of APA Division 44, the American Board of Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology, the Washington State Psychological Association and having served on several committees in ABCT.

I have had the opportunity to take my clinical expertise and contribute to the treatment literature through research on behavioral activation for depression and scholarship on conducting CBT in an LGBT-affirmative manner. I have trained clinicians on three continents in BA and on CBT with LGBT+ clients and worked with research teams internationally as well. I provide the perspective of having negotiated an academic and professional world that was not always open or transparent to me, as a first generation, openly gay, student. I have lived in both clinical and academic worlds, and in have cultivated relationships with CBT professionals worldwide. I have run for ABCT president-elect on two other occasions and last year built a collegial relationship with my opponent leading to a narrow defeat for me but opened doors for us to work well together. I believe this is still the right time for me to serve in this role for the association.

Position Statement

ABCT depends on academia, practitioners, and students to advance CBT dissemination. We were originally called the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. Advancement implies action, which has remained a strong value in the Association. Expanding CBT access, strengthening researcher-practitioner collaboration, and fostering innovation through rigorous research and practice-informed interventions require contributions from investigators, students, clinicians, and individuals with lived experience.

My goal is to work closely with committees and SIGS to increase opportunities for involvement from our diverse membership. Clinicians often have less research exposure at conferences, and smaller SIGs, particularly those representing marginalized identities, may feel overlooked or isolated. To advance CBT, we must foster inclusivity and collaboration. While ABCT leads in the development and study of empirically supported treatments, partnerships and joint ventures with other organizations (e.g. Society for Psychotherapy Research) can further progress in evidence-based care and build creative alliances. I remain committed to fully realizing our diversity of disciplines and continuing emphasizing diversifying membership in terms of race/ethnicity, gender-identity and sexual orientation.

Through transparency from the Board, leadership opportunities, opportunities to present at conferences, and gaining Fellow status can be demystified and made more available to all members. It is also important to continue to learn from our most senior members, and to harness the vision of our student members to achieve our initiatives. ABCT should be a place of inclusion and a shared brain trust, unhindered by any form of bias that limits our value to members and the public.