Honoring ABCT President Dr. Sandra Pimentel for Women’s History Month

Sandra Pimentel, Ph.D., ABCT’s current President, is Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychology, Associate Director of Psychology Training, and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Dr. Pimentel is a visionary and an advocate. During her short tenure as President, she has already introduced a youth community leader program, focused on identifying middle school and high school students’ contributions to mental health. The program is aimed at students in the city where ABCT holds its Annual Convention.

Dr. Pimentel is passionate about CBT and is a historian of the field’s pioneers. Currently, she is working to share the work of Mary Cover Jones, whose seminal work marks its 100^th anniversary this year. Our upcoming issue of the Behavior Therapist showcases the impact of Dr. Cover Jones’s research in child development.

A few fun facts about Dr. Pimentel:

She’s a Jersey girl: If you tell her your exit, she’ll know where you live.
She’s a die-hard Yankees fan.
She is proud of her Portuguese heritage and knows how to make a few special Portuguese dishes.
She is focused on DEIAJ in all areas for ABCT.
She independently raised funds for Central Park’s first monument to real women. The statue, featuring Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was unveiled in August 2020.

She is Director of the Anxiety and Mood Program (AMP), a program she launched; and is co-Director of the Becoming an Emerging Adult at Montefiore (BEAM) Program.

Dr. Pimentel has served in a variety of positions within ABCT’s governance. We are delighted to highlight Dr. Pimentel’s vision for ABCT and to share with you a few highlights during Women’s History Month.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a type of treatment that is based firmly on research findings. It places emphasis on changing your cognitions (thoughts) or behaviors (actions) in order to effect change in how you feel. These approaches help people in achieving specific changes or goals.

Changes or goals might involve:

A way of acting: like smoking less or being more outgoing;
A way of feeling: like helping a person to be less scared, less depressed, or less anxious;
A way of thinking: like learning to problem-solve or get rid of self-defeating thoughts;
A way of dealing with physical or medical problems: like reducing back pain or helping a person stick to a doctor’s suggestions.

Cognitive behavioral therapists usually focus more on the current situation and its solution, rather than the past. They concentrate on a person’s views and beliefs about their life. CBT is an effective treatment for individuals, parents, children, couples, and families. The goal of CBT is to help people improve and gain more control over their lives by changing behaviors that don’t work well to ones that do.

How to Get Help

If you are looking for help, either for yourself or someone else, you may be tempted to call someone who advertises in a local publication or who comes up from a search of the Internet. You may, or may not, find a competent therapist in this manner. It is wise to check on the credentials of a psychotherapist. It is expected that competent therapists hold advanced academic degrees. They should be listed as members of professional organizations, such as the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies or the American Psychological Association. Of course, they should be licensed to practice in your state. You can find competent specialists who are affiliated with local universities or mental health facilities or who are listed on the websites of professional organizations. You may, of course, visit our website (www.abct.org) and click on “Find a CBT Therapist”

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) is an interdisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of a scientific approach to the understanding and amelioration of problems of the human condition. These aims are achieved through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, and other evidence-based principles to assessment, prevention, and treatment.