Jill A. Stoddard, PhD, is founder and director of The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management, a multisite outpatient clinic in San Diego, CA. She specializes in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety and related issues. Stoddard received her PhD in clinical psychology from Boston University in 2007. She is an award-winning teacher, recognized ACT trainer, and coauthor of The Big Book of ACT Metaphors. She lives in San Diego with her husband, two kids, and two French bulldogs.


Niloofar Afari, PhD, is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego; director of Mental Health Integrative and Consultative Services at VA San Diego Healthcare System; and director of Clinical Research at the VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health in San Diego, CA. In addition to clinical practice, she conducts research and mentors graduate and postdoctoral students in the application of ACT to chronic health conditions. She received her PhD in clinical psychology in 1996 from the University of Nevada, Reno, under the mentorship of ACT cofounder, Steven C. Hayes.


Steven C. Hayes, PhD, is Nevada Foundation Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has been president of numerous professional organizations, is author of forty-five books and nearly 650 scientific articles, and is among the most cited living psychologists. He has shown in his research how language and thought leads to human suffering, and is originator and codeveloper of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): a powerful therapy method that is useful in a wide variety of areas; relational frame theory (RFT): an empirical program in language and cognition; and process-based therapy (with Stefan G. Hofmann).