Invited Speakers
Presidential Address
Title: Are the Obsessive-Compulsive Related Disorders Related to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? A Critical
Look at DSM-5’s New Category
Level: Basic
Presenter:
Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Ph.D., University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Moderator:
Michelle Craske, Ph.D., UCLA
The creators of DSM-5 have moved obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) from its previous designation as an
Anxiety Disorder to a newly introduced category of “Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders” (OCRDs).
Along with OCD, the OCRDs include body dysmorphic disorder, hoarding disorder, hair-pulling disorder
(trichotillomania), and excoriation (skin picking) disorder. The framers of DSM-5 assert that all of these conditions
overlap in their symptom presentation, etiology, and treatment response. Although incorporating these problems
within the same diagnostic class might raise awareness of the more underrecognized and understudied conditions,
the new category’s conceptual validity, scientific basis, and practical utility are a matter of sharp disagreement
among clinicians and researchers alike. In this address I will consider the nature of the putative OCRDs, examine
the empirical grounds for this new diagnostic class, and discuss treatment implications. Careful inspection indicates
that the DSM-5’s new OCRDs category has insufficient empirical support and might ultimately be a detriment to
the clinical management of these problems. For example, apparent overlaps in “compulsive” behavior disappear at
the functional level and family studies suggest OCD is more closely related to anxiety disorders than to the other
OCRDs. Moreover, clinicians might incorrectly assume that comparable interventions can be applied to all
conditions within the broader category. I therefore propose a more evidence-based and clinically useful nosology of
obsessive-compulsive and putatively related problems.
Invited Address
Title: From Bench to Global Impact: Lessons Learned About Translating Research to Reach
Level: Basic
Presenter: Carolyn Black Becker, Ph.D., Trinity University
The ABCT mission fosters the “advancement of scientific approaches to the understanding and improvement of
human functioning through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, and other evidence-based
principles to the assessment, prevention, treatment of human problems, and the enhancement of health and wellbeing.” Although ABCT members have made significant strides towards our collective goals, we routinely
acknowledge that our ability to develop empirically supported treatments exceeds our success in improving
dissemination and implementation of said interventions. Further, as noted by Kazdin and Blase (2011), even if we
succeeded in having every clinician worldwide administer our best treatments with good competency, we still
would fail to significantly reduce the global burden of mental illness because most treatments require intensive
labor by expensive providers. To this end, Kazdin and Blase and others call for increased use of alternative
strategies. Examples include: increased attention towards prevention; use of lower-cost, simplified interventions;
task-shifting; train-the-trainer models; community participatory research methodology, and identification of novel
funding sources. The Body Project is an empirically supported, cognitive-dissonance-based prevention program
that targets body image, a well-established risk factor for eating disorders, negative affect, unhealthy weight control
behaviors, smoking behavior, and decreased physical activity. Supported by a global village of researchers,
community activists, and organizational partners, the Body Project and its sister programs are currently being
implemented in 112 countries. In this talk I will share lessons our team has learned in taking a program from early
testing to widespread implementation and connect these back to broader conversations occurring in our field
regarding the importance of scalability and new directions in improving global mental health.
You will learn:





The importance of attending to scalability in both research and practice.
The benefits of adopting community participatory research methods.
Advantages of using social entrepreneurship to improve dissemination and implementation.
Why grant funding can sometimes hinder innovation by allowing you to escape real-world contingencies.
The benefits of attending to shorter, easier-to-implement interventions even if they have potentially smaller
effect sizes per individual.
Recommended Readings:
Becker, C. B., Bull, S., Schaumberg, K., Cauble, A., & Franco, A. (2008). Effectiveness of peer-led eating
disorders prevention: A replication trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76(2), 347-354. Becker, C.
B., Stice, E., Shaw, H., & Woda, S. (2009). Use of empirically supported interventions for psychopathology: Can
the participatory approach move us beyond the research-to-practice gap? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47(4),
265-274. Fairburn, C. G., & Patel, V. (2014). The global dissemination of psychological treatments: A road map for
research and practice. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(5), 495-498. Kazdin, A. E., & Blase, S. L. (2011).
Rebooting psychotherapy research and practice to reduce the burden of mental illness. Perspectives on
Psychological Science, 6(1), 21-37. Kilpela, L. S., Hill, K., Kelly, M. C., Elmquist, J., Ottoson, P., Keith, D.,
Hildebrandt, T., & Becker, B. C. (2014). Reducing eating disorder risk factors: A controlled investigation of a
blended task-shifting/train-the-trainer approach to dissemination and implementation. Behaviour Research and
Therapy, 63, 70-82. Patel, V., Chowdhary, N., Rahman, A., & Verdeli, H. (2011). Improving access to
psychological treatments: Lessons from developing countries. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49(9), 523-528.
Invited Address
Title: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals of Mental Disorders as Instruments of Cultural Propaganda
Level: Basic
Presenter: Arthur C. Houts, Ph.D., Vector Oncology and University of Memphis
This address uses Ellul’s (1965) concept of propagandas to interpret the history and development of the DSMs from
1952 to the present. Emphasis is placed on the period between DSM-II and DSM-III where efforts were made to
define mental disorders as medical disorders. DSM-III coincided with longstanding cultural developments toward
physiological reductionism and the economic “opportunities” for profit in health care and prescription medication
promotion. The expansion of the DSMs is shown. The general claim that mental disorders are manifestations of
dysfunctions is examined and criticized. The expansion of the scope and number of mental disorders is attributed to
social and cultural developments related to loose definitions of mental disorder, the need of mental health
professionals for employment, promotion of disorders by pharmaceutical companies, and a frightened and troubled
populace. Some suggestions are offered to reconfigure broad categories of problems along a continuum of relative
fit (likely vs. unlikely) for broken physiological mechanisms. Finally, questions of ethics and values are raised
regarding the current state of mental health care in light of the history of the DSMs.
You will learn:





The concept of propagandas as Ellul defined the phenomenon of multiple propagandas.
How philosophical anthropologies can affect concepts of mental disorders.
General trends of the DSMs from 1952 to the present in terms of the size of the manuals and the number of
specific mental disorders named within the manuals.
Reasons for why the time between DSM-II and DSM-III was important in terms of the expansion of the
DSM and its use in U.S. society.
Three broad cultural developments this author believes were influential in the expansion of the DSM scope
and number of mental disorders.
Recommended Readings:
Baldwin, S. A., Williams, D. C., & Houts, A. C. (2004). The creation, expansion, and embodiment of posttraumatic
stress disorder: A case study in historical critical psychopathology. Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice,
3(1), 33-52. Decker, H. S. (2013). The making of DSM-III: A diagnostic manual's conquest of American psychiatry.
New York: Oxford University Press. Ellul, J. (1965). Propaganda: The formation of men's attitudes. (1st American
ed.). New York: Knopf. Houts, A. C. (2000). Fifty years of psychiatric nomenclature: reflections on the 1943 War
Department Technical Bulletin, Medical 203. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56(7), 935-967.
Invited Address
Title: The Brave New World of the Brain: Promises and Perils for Clinical Psychology
Level: Basic
Presenter:
Scott O. Lilienfeld, Ph.D., Emory University
In this talk, Dr. Lilienfeld will examine the increasing influence of neuroscience on psychology, especially clinical
psychology. He will discuss the potential of neuroscientific discoveries to transform our classification and treatment
of mental disorders as well as our understanding of their etiology. At the same time, he will express concerns
regarding the dangers of focusing unduly on a single level of analysis in explaining psychopathology, and will
delineate potential perils in the premature application of brain-based discoveries to mental disorders.
You will learn:





Recent advances in neuroimaging and other neuroscience-based techniques.
The rationale for the recent Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative of the National Institute of Mental
Health, and be able to describe its potential advantages and disadvantages relative to the prevailing DSM
approach.
Inferential limitations and common methodological errors in neuroimaging research.
The importance of distinguishing among different levels of analysis in understanding the causes and
treatment of mental illness.
The potential scientific and pragmatic advantages and disadvantages of conceptualizing mental disorders as
brain diseases.
Recommended Readings:
Deacon, B. J. (2013). The biomedical model of mental disorder: A critical analysis of its validity, utility, and effects
on psychotherapy research. Clinical Psychology Review, 33, 846-861. Kendler, K.S. (2014). The structure of
psychiatric science. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171, 931-938. Kvaale, E. P., Gottdiener, W. H., & Haslam, N.
(2013). Biogenetic explanations and stigma: A meta-analytic review of associations among laypeople. Social
Science & Medicine, 96, 95-103. Satel, S., & Lilienfeld, S.O. (2013). Brainwashed: The seductive appeal of
mindless neuroscience. New York: Basic Books.
Invited Address
Title: Anatomy of an Epidemic: The History and Science of a Failed Paradigm of Care
Level: Basic
Presenter: Robert Whitaker, Psy.D., Former Fellow of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard
University Harvard University
In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association published DSM-III, which conceptualized psychiatric disorders as
illnesses. This naturally led to the use of psychiatric drugs as first-line therapies for most disorders. Thirty-five
years later, history and science reveal quite clearly that this paradigm of care has failed. The burden of mental
illness in the United States and other developed countries has risen markedly during this period; there is now
compelling evidence that psychiatric drugs worsen the long-term course of major mental disorders, including
schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder; and the DSM stands revealed as a diagnostic manual that is neither
reliable nor valid. Psychiatry’s guild interests serve as a barrier to remaking this paradigm of care.
You will learn:





Rising numbers of disabled mentally ill in the U.S. and other countries that have adopted a DSM approach
to diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders.
Research on the effects of psychiatric drugs on long-term outcomes of major mental disorders.
Research documenting the lack of reliability in the DSM manuals, and acknowledgments that the DSM
lacks validity.
APA’s guild interests that have so biased the information it presents to the public, and its reporting on
findings from NIMH-funded trials.
How this failed paradigm of care can be remade.
Recommended Readings:
Whitaker, R. (2015). Anatomy of an epidemic: Magic bullets, psychiatric drugs, and the astonishing rise of mental
illness in America. New York: Random House. Whitaker, R., & Cosgrove, L. (2015). Psychiatry under the
influence: Institutional corruption, social injury, and prescriptions for reform. New York: MacMillan.