President

Dr. Jonathan Kaplan, PhD, serves as the director of the SoHo CBT + Mindfulness Center in New York City (www.sohocbt.com). He’s been practicing ACT since 2005, and he has led trainings on ACT at hospitals, universities, and Buddhist communities. As an expert on mindfulness, his work has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine and The New York Times, along with TV appearances on PBS, Fox News, and ABC News. He teaches regularly at The New School for Public Engagement and the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. He’s the author of Urban Mindfulness: Cultivating Peace, Presence, and Purpose in the Middle of It All and co-author of ACT and RFT in Relationships: Helping Clients Deepen Intimacy and Maintain Healthy Commitments Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relational Frame Theory. Currently, he is co-developing a mindfulness-based curriculum to reduce bias and prejudice among schoolteachers.

President-Elect

Brian Mundy, LCSW-R, practices individual, couples, and family behavioral therapy in private practice. He is a Peer-Reviewed Trainer in Acceptance Commitment Therapy and is the recipient of the 2012 National Association of Social Workers-NYC Emerging Leader Award. He is a co-author of the Guilford Press book, Therapy in the Real World, and has authored peer-reviewed chapters and articles on trauma, family therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. He is a New York state accredited trainer, and has served as adjunct assistant professor at the New York University Silver School of Social Work for over 10 years.

Manager

Dr. Liliane Rocha is a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) who has worked with people with developmental disabilities, severe mental illness, parents and those looking to improve their lives for over 15 years. She is a certified Life Coach, ACT Matrix trainer and facilitator and uses ACT in her work helping individuals and organizations move through conflict and towards value-based, purpose-infused action. She is the CEO of The Behavior Web, an organization that provides consultation to local schools and hospitals in the US, as well as international consultation in Brazil, her native country.

Treasurer & Events/Membership Committee Chair

Dr. Abu Muhammad Nasim is a Bengali-American school psychologist living in New York City. He attended Stuyvesant H.S, received his B.A in Psychology from St. John's University, and his Ph.D. in School Psychology from Fordham University. He serves as the Director of Mental Health and Wellness at Just Kids Early Childhood Learning Center in Baldwin, NY; and assists his team in servicing special needs preschool students and their families. He is a licensed therapist, treating adolescents and adults, including members of the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. He applies cross-cultural contemplative techniques from Islamic, Christian, and Buddhist schools.

Student Representative

Nicholas is a third-year doctoral student in the Combined School and Clinical Psychology program at Kean University. He currently serves as a student clinician at Kean University's outpatient clinic, Kean Psychological Services (KPS), where he provides individual psychotherapy to adults and emerging adults pursues specialization in evidenced-based practices including ACT and CFT. Nicholas has worked as a school psychology extern within the New Jersey public school system implementing evidence-based intervention strategies aimed at improving students' academic performance, social skills, emotional functioning, and behavior. In addition to his clinical roles, he is involved in clinical research, which focuses on the feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes of a novel therapeutic approach that integrates ACT and CFT principles. He has also conducted research centered on mental health interventions serving college students. This research examined how trauma exposure affects the response of students to curriculum-based ACT and yoga workshops aimed at reducing psychological distress and increasing psychological flexibility.

Member at Large & Marketing Master

Bethany Bahl (she/they, MHC-LP) specializes in providing individual psychotherapy for adults struggling with life transitions, anxiety and worry, depression, LGBTQIA+ issues, identity concerns, and trauma. Bethany often encourages conversations about identity, oppression, and privilege with clients, as therapy can provide an important space to understand and address their effects on our lives. Prior to working in private practice, Bethany trained at New York University’s Center for Counseling and Community Wellbeing, a community outpatient setting, while also obtaining a M.A. in counseling for Mental Health and Wellness from NYU. Bethany also served as a Research Assistant for the Research for Child Anxiety Prevention (RECAP) Lab where they studied early interventions for anxiety disorders and developmental psychopathology of anxiety and depression. Bethany’s passion for destigmatizing mental health and promoting wellness in underserved communities has led to their previous work experiences with The Trevor Project and Frontline Paper.

Member at Large & Marketing Master

Ashley Wiscovitch (MHC-LP) specializes in providing psychotherapy for adults working through life transitions, anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma and loss, relationship issues, and psychedelic integration. Ashley holds a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from NYU, a Master’s in Industrial & Organizational Psychology from CUNY School of Professional Studies, and a Bachelor’s in Neuroscience from Barnard College of Columbia University. Prior to getting into private practice work, she provided counseling services at the NYU Center for Counseling and Community Wellbeing. She started her career in neuroscience, conducting research on motivation and schizophrenia at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York Psychiatric Institute. Since then, she has had a range of experience, from I/O psychology to behavioral intervention for adolescents, young adults and their families. She has also participated in trainings such as the ACT Bootcamp and ACT and psychedelic-assisted therapy and received certifications in relationship coaching and in positive psychology from UPenn.