Remembering Michael J. Asher

Michael J. Asher, Ph.D., ABPP passed away in 2016 and was a clinical psychologist, licensed in New Jersey, at Behavior Therapy Associates beginning in 1988. He served as Coordinator of Consultation Services and was Board Certified in Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. Dr. Asher was an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Medical School where he supervised Psychiatric Fellows and taught Child Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and he was a field supervisor for the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. Dr. Asher co-authored several books on the topic of behavior disorders and children. He was passionate about his work, loved psychology, cognitive behavior therapy, and especially enjoyed learning about and practicing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Dr. Asher significantly impacted the lives of many and his contribution to the field of psychology and education was significant. He will be remembered fondly.

The Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) has proudly supported the Michael J. Asher Student Dissertation Award. This award will be given to two students based on their doctoral dissertation proposal related to the use of Contextual Behavioral Science with children/adolescents. Accompanying this honor will be a monetary award of $750.00 USD and $250.00 USD to be used in support of research (e.g., to pay participants, to purchase testing equipment) and/or to facilitate travel to the ACBS annual conference. This award is made possible by a generous donation from Steven B. Gordon, Ph.D., ABPP, Michael C. Selbst, Ph.D., BCBA-D, and Behavior Therapy Associates. Eligibility requirements for these awards are as follows: 1) candidates must be student members of ACBS at the time of application (and be considered a student by her/his University at the time of the application), 2) topic area of dissertation research must be of direct relevance to CBS applied to children/adolescents, 3) the dissertation must have been successfully proposed. Proposals with preliminary results included are preferred. To be considered for this award, research should be relevant to the development, maintenance, and/or treatment in children and/or adolescents. Nominations/applications will be accepted annually from December 1 to February 1, and the award determined by the ACBS Awards Committee. The selected application will be determined by March 15.