Founders
The two co-founders of the PBBT Institute have worked together since 2006 as academics and clinicians and have built a strong professional and personal partnership. As academics, they worked for many years on trying to advance the basic science of human behavior so that it could explain all mental health problems. Their scientific discoveries led them to understand the core elements of mental health and from this they were able to build a highly unique and powerful science-based programme of psychotherapy, called Process-based Behavior Therapy (PBBT).
Dr. Yvonne Barnes-Holmes
Yvonne has been a highly successful academic and clinician with a strong track record in teaching, training, publishing and presenting for over 20 years. She has published over 150 scientific articles and book chapters and given over 500 presentations and workshops internationally. She was an Associate Professor in Behaviour Analysis and a Senior Research Fellow at Ghent University before co-founding Perspectives Ireland. She is a world leader in behavioural science and a co-developer of Process-based Behaviour Therapy (PBBT). Yvonne is dedicated to bringing greater precision to clinical psychology with PBBT in order to increase success in their personal and professional lives.
Dr. Ciara McEnteggart
Across her career in both Ireland and Belgium, Ciara has built up a strong reputation in her field as both a scientist and a clinician. She has published over 40 scientific articles and book chapters and given over 70 presentations and workshops internationally. She was a senior researcher at Ghent University before co-founding Perspectives Ireland in 2020. She is a highly established as a behavioural scientist and a co-developer of Process-based Behaviour Therapy (PBBT). Ciara has spent many years undergoing scientific research and providing training in PBBT across many different mental health sectors across the globe. Ciara’s goal is to ultimately enhance the psychological training that is available in order to improve the clinical outcomes for clinicians and their clients.
Advisory Council
The Institute has a highly esteemed Advisory Council, each experts in their respective fields, to oversee the quality of the Institute.
Dr Freddy Jackson Brown
Freddy is an HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) registered, chartered clinical psychologist with 20 years experience working with children and families in the NHS. He has published a range of peer reviewed articles / book chapters on ACT, behaviour analysis, disability and sexuality, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Dummies. His interests include child development, language and communication, challenging behaviour, staff systems, emotional literacy and supervision.
Dr. Conor Nolan
Dr Conor Nolan is a Chartered Behavioural Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland and is the programme director for the undergraduate degree in psychology at the National College of Ireland. Conor completed his undergraduate degree in psychology at UCD, then went on to study child and adolescent mental health at postgraduate level, also in UCD in conjunction with Lucena Clinic. Following this he undertook a doctorate in behaviour analysis and therapy at Maynooth University. Conor has applied and clinical experience working with children with intellectual disabilities, autism and mental health problems, providing behaviour therapy and behaviour support services. He has also provided workshops to parent groups and early learning practitioners on working with behaviours that challenge. Conor’s research interests lie broadly in the areas of behavioural psychology and child and adolescent mental health. Conor has published a number of IRAP and RFT papers. As well as lecturing in NCI, Conor provides research supervision for students on the Masters in ABA at Trinity College Dublin, he sits on the programme board for the Masters in ABA at Galway University, and is secretary of the PSI Division of Behaviour Analysis.
Dr. Duncan Gillard
Dr. Duncan Gillard is a HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) registered Psychologist and an experienced ACT practitioner and trainer. As well as authoring books such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Dummies and The Science of Children’s Wellbeing, Duncan has also written a range of peer-reviewed articles relevant to the field of Contextual Behavioural Science (CBS). Primarily, Duncan’s work focuses on whole-school and targeted interventions to promote and improve the wellbeing and resilience of children and adolescents, as well as on the delivery of group and individually-based ACT coaching interventions to support teachers’ wellbeing and valued-living.
Dr. Jennifer Holloway
Dr Jennifer Holloway is the CEO of ASK and the Director of the ACCESS program. Dr. Holloway is a Chartered Psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She has worked with children and adults with differential learning needs for over 25 years, as a clinician and researcher. Jennifer has specific expertise in designing evidence-based practices to teach socially significant goals for individuals. She has spent many years supporting families and other professionals through delivering training courses and workshops. Jennifer is dedicated to advancing ASK to provide a range of services and supports to meet the needs of the individual with differential diagnoses, their families, and community partners.
Dr. Krystyna Pomorska
Assistant professor at the University of Łódź, Poland in the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology, Institute of Psychology. Lecturer at the Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy School at SWPS University. Since 2007, she has been involved in therapeutic work with children, adolescents, and their caregivers. She focuses on promoting therapeutic approaches within the behavioral-developmental framework. Author and co-author of publications on therapy for individuals with developmental disorders, applied behavior analysis, and relational frame theory. Her scientific and therapeutic interests primarily include the development of social-emotional and communication skills in individuals with typical and atypical development.
Dr. Olive Healy
Dr. Olive Healy is a Behavioural Psychologist and Doctoral Board Certified Behaviour Analyst® with clinical expertise and research interests in neurodevelopmental conditions including Autism. She is Director of the Masters programme in Behaviour Analysis at the School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin. After serving for seven years as Lecturer in Psychology (2006-2013) at the University of Galway, Olive joined the School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin and is now an Associate Professor in Psychology.
Prof. Dermot Barnes-Holmes
Dr. Dermot Barnes-Holmes graduated from the University of Ulster in 1985 with a B.Sc. in Psychology and in 1990 with a D.Phil. in behavior analysis. His first tenured position was in the Department of Applied Psychology at University College Cork, where he founded and led the Behavior Analysis and Cognitive Science unit. In 1999 he accepted the foundation professorship in psychology and head-of-department position at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. In 2015 he accepted a life-time senior professorship at Ghent University in Belgium. In 2020 he returned to his alma mater as a full professor at Ulster University. Dr. Barnes-Holmes is known internationally for the analysis of human language and cognition through the development of Relational Frame Theory with Steven C. Hayes, and its application in various psychological settings. He was the world's most prolific author in the experimental analysis of human behaviour between the years 1980 and 1999. He was awarded the Don Hake Translational Research Award in 2012 by the American Psychological Association, is a past president and fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, and a fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis, International. He is also a recipient of the Quad-L Lecture Award from the University of New Mexico and became an Odysseus laureate in 2015 when he received an Odysseus Type 1 award from the Flemish Science Foundation in Belgium.
Stu Libman, M.D.
Stuart Libman, M.D. is a Board Certified Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatrist, with further sub-specialization in Sports Psychiatry. After graduating from Ohio University and the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, he completed training in Pediatrics, General Psychiatry, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Libman serves as a Peer Reviewed ACT Trainer for the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (https://contextualscience.org/), as a ProSocial Facilitator (www.prosocial.world), and as the Medical Director of the PLEA School Based Partial Hospital Program (https://plea-agency.org/) that provides behavior analytically based education and treatment to a referred population of children and youth with diagnoses on the Autistic Spectrum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.