I am interested in developing, refining and disseminating acceptance-based behavioral approaches to improving psychological functioning, health and quality of life. Acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT) involves integrating acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches (such as ACT, MBCT, DBT and MBSR) with more traditionally behavioral approaches to therapy (e.g., psychoeducation, skills training, exposure therapy). With funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, my colleague Liz Roemer and I developed an ABBT to treat generalized anxiety disorder and examined its efficacy in a randomized control trial comparing ABBT to applied relaxation. We are currently examining the efficacy of a self-directed version of the treatment and developing more effective methods of training and dissemination. In collaboration with graduate students in my lab, I have also develop acceptance-based behavioral approaches to target other problem areas. For example, we have developed programs aimed at decreasing depression in first year college students, decreasing relational aggression among middle schoolers, reducing the risk of sexual assault among college students, decreasing procrastination and improving body dissatisfaction. My second research interest involves experimentally examining the nature and parameters of the constructs we target with ABBT, including emotional avoidance, suppression, and the strategic withholding of emotion across several channels of responding including self-report, facial expression, psychophysiological responding and narrative expression.
