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Mentor Spotlights

The ABCT Academic Training and Education Standards committee annually solicits nominations for the “Spotlight on a Mentor” recognition to highlight the diversity of excellent mentors within the membership ranks of ABCT. Its goal is to spotlight promising early-career and well-established mentors across all levels of academic rank, areas of specialization, and types of institution.

We hope that you will consider nominating a mentor who has positively impacted you and provided exceptional guidance and dedication. Nominations from multiple mentees are encouraged. We are especially seeking nominations for mentors from underrepresented groups.

To submit a nomination, please complete the attached nomination form and email it to [email protected] by September 6, 2024.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

Jonathan Abramowitz Jonathan Abramowitz - Jonathan Abramowitz is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, and Director of the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic at the University of North Carolina
Anu Asnaani Anu Asnaani - Dr. Asnaani is a licensed Clinical Psychologist who currently is the Principal Investigator of the Treatment Mechanisms, Community Empowerment, and Technology Innovations (TCT) laboratory and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT.
Donald Baucom Donald Baucom - Dr. Baucom is the Richard Simpson Distinguished Professor of Psychology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Rinad S. Beidas Rinad S. Beidas - Dr. Rinad S. Beidas is Chair and Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Amy Brausch Amy Brausch - Amy Brausch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Western Kentucky University where she has been a faculty member since 2011.
Jennifer Cheavens Jennifer Cheavens - Jennifer Cheavens is an Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the Ohio State University (OSU).
Elise Clerkin Elise Clerkin - Elise Clerkin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Miami University.
Norman Cotterell Norman Cotterell - Dr. Cotterell has served as a protocol therapist on a variety of large-scale psychotherapy outcome studies, including drug abuse, panic disorder, and the prevention of depression.
David Dilillo David Dilillo - Dr. DiLillo is Professor and Associate Chair of Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), where he has been a faculty member since 2000.
Omid V. Ebrahimi Omid V. Ebrahimi - Omid V. Ebrahimi is a second year double-degree Ph.D. student at the University of Oslo, parallelly engaged in a clinical specialization at Modum Bad Psychiatric Hospital.
Stacy Frazier Stacy Frazier - Stacy Frazier was Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Clinical Science Program in Child and Adolescent Psychology, Department of Psychology, Florida International University.
Robert Friedberg Robert Friedberg - Robert D. Friedberg, Ph.D., ABPP is Professor and Head of the Child Emphasis Area at Palo Alto University.
Kristin Hawley Kristin Hawley - Dr. Kristin Hawley is a clinical psychologist, director of the Center for Evidence-Based Youth Mental Health, and associate professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri.
Betsy Kennard Betsy Kennard - Dr. Kennard is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Health, Dallas.
Anna Lau Anna Lau - Dr. Lau’s translational research on risk and protective factors for youth in immigrant families and her identification of racial disparities in youth mental health services have informed her efforts to study the implementation of evidence-based practices in community settings
Kelsie H. Okamura Kelsie H. Okamura - Dr. Okamura (she/her) is an Implementation Researcher at the Baker Center for Children and Families, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, and a licensed psychologist. Dr. Okamura serves on the training, consultation, and distance learning development teams at PracticeWise, LLC.
Sue Orsillo Sue Orsillo - Sue Orsillo and Lizabeth Roemer she developed an acceptance-based behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety and comorbid disorders, examined its efficacy, and identified mediators of change in a series of studies funded by the National Institute of Mental Health
Alayna Park Alayna Park - Dr. Alayna Park is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Palo Alto University and Director of the ADDRESS Mental Health Lab.
Jennifer Read Jennifer Read - Dr. Jennifer Read is a Professor of Psychology, and the Director of Clinical Training at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, NY.
Erin E. Reilly Erin E. Reilly - Erin E. Reilly is Director of the Lab for Research on Eating and Anxiety Disorders (READ) at Hofstra University.
Richard T. Liu Richard T. Liu - Richard T. Liu provides research mentorship to high school students, research assistants, medical students, residents, post-doctoral fellows, junior faculty, and psychology trainees through the clinical psychology internship program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Shireen Rizvi Shireen Rizvi - Shireen Rizvi, PhD, ABPP, is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Lizabeth Roemer Lizabeth Roemer - Dr. Lizabeth Roemer is Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she has been a faculty member since 1996.
Genelle Sawyer Genelle Sawyer - Dr. Genelle Sawyer is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Psychology: Clinical-Counseling MA program at The Citadel.
Crystal Schiller Crystal Schiller - Dr. Crystal Schiller is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UNC Chapel Hill. She is Director of the UNC Psychology Internship Program.
Norman Schmidt Norman Schmidt - Norman B. (Brad) Schmidt, Ph.D., is Distinguished Research Professor in the department of Psychology at the Florida State University.
Gregory Stuart Gregory Stuart - Dr. Gregory Stuart is an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and he is the Director of Family Violence Research at Butler Hospital.
Michael P. Twohig Michael P. Twohig - Dr. Twohig is a psychologist and a Professor of Psychology at Utah State University, where he co-runs the ACT Research Group.
Shirley B. Wang Shirley B. Wang - Shirley Wang conducts computational clinical science research to advance our understanding of why people engage in behaviors that are harmful to themselves, including eating disorder behaviors, nonsuicidal self-injury, and suicide.

Related Information

What Is Cognitive Behavior Therapy?

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.