Our Team :)
Dr. Elle Kirsten
PhD, BCBA, LBA
Elle Kirsten is originally from South Africa but she grew up in Hong Kong and currently resides in New York City (since 2011). She completed her PhD in relational frame theory (RFT; Psychology) at the National University of Ireland, Galway; her MSc in Psychology at the University of Auckland; and her HonsBSc in Psychology at the University of Toronto. Elle has been working with children since 2002 and is a Board Certified and New York State Licensed Behavior Analyst (BCBA; LBA). Her research and clinical interests are in testing and training meaningful and functional language (RFT), and in helping children get ‘unstuck’ from their thoughts so they can find meaning and joy in their lives (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT). Elle has presented her clinical work and academic research at numerous conferences, and she has published several articles and book chapters about RFT and complex language development.
Elle loves animals (especially dogs), water skiing/wakeboarding, surfing, snow skiing, MMA, and walking in forests, jungles, and botanical gardens.
Dr. Heidi Eilers
PhD, BCBA-D, CCTP
Dr. Eilers received her doctorate in Psychology with an emphasis in Behavior Analysis from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has 25 years of experience working with a variety of populations including children and adults with developmental disabilities, severe behavior problems, mental health, brain injury, and gerontology. Dr. Eilers has also worked as an Organizational Behavior Management Consultant to several organizations. Dr. Eilers has contributed to research and conceptual/theoretical analyses in diverse areas, including sexual assault and prevention, domestic violence, family court, psychoneuroimmunology, modified functional analyses, non-contingent reinforcement, learning assessments, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, complexity theory, and Interbehaviorism. Her areas of expertise include domestic violence, post-separation abuse, trauma, Relational Frame Theory and Acceptance and Commitment Training.
Sophie Steele
MA, BCBA
Sophie Steele is originally from England, and grew up between the UK, Australia, Singapore and the US, before moving full time to the US in 2011. She received a BA in English Literature from Exeter University (UK)/College of William and Mary (US). After a cross-country roadtrip from Virginia, she found graduate school in Colorado, and graduated in 2016 with a MA in Human Learning and Development from CU Denver with a concentration in Early Childhood Special Education. While obtaining her Master's degree, Sophie completed the Teacher Education Program at Boulder Journey School, and was immersed in the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. Then, she discovered psychological science and returned to study at the Florida Institute of Technology before becoming credentialed as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and International Behavior Analyst. Sophie's professional interests include precision teaching (PT), instructional design, relational frame theory (RFT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), generative learning, fluency, and teaching academic and cognitive skills. She hopes to inspire in her students a love of lifelong learning.
Sophie is a member of the Standard Celeration Society (SCS), the Colorado Association for Behavior Analysis (COABA), Four Corners ABA (4CABA), the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), the Association of Psychological Science (APS), the Association for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (ACBT) and the National Institute of Direct Instruction (NIFDI).
Dr. Sarah Cassidy
Sarah Cassidy, Ph.D., is an Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychologist. She specialises in the assessment and treatment of learning and emotional/behavioural difficulties with clinical populations. She is the Founder and Director at The Smithsfield Clinic, a private practice in Ireland for children, adolescents and their families using largely ACT and RFT based treatment methods. She has also worked as an educational psychologist within the Irish school system for the last 18 years, conducting assessments and advising parents and schools how to best support children with learning and behavioural challenges. In this context, she has developed classroom and school wide interventions for improving educational, behavioural and mental health outcomes. Dr. Cassidy also lectures in Psychology at Maynooth University, Ireland, where her specialist research areas include child and adolescent developmental psychology, counselling and educational psychology. She is a Peer Reviewed ACT trainer and trains psycho-therapists and allied professionals in both professional and post-graduate settings throughout Ireland. She received her Ph.D in the field of Relational Frame Theory and its articulation with intellectual development. She was author of the first empirical demonstration of the positive effects of intensive derived relational responding skill interventions on intelligence (Cassidy, Roche & Hayes, 2011), and has co-authored several papers since that have validated and extended this effect. Dr. Cassidy is a very experienced workshop leader and has delivered over 30 workshops worldwide in the domains of ACT, RFT, educational and counselling psychology. She is co-founder of Relational Frame Training Ltd, which developed the online SMART training software. She continues to conduct research in this area in an effort to keep pace with the ever changing needs of modern humans. She is a professional member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science (where she is also the chairperson of the membership committee) and a panel member of the National Educational Psychological Service (SCPA) in Ireland. Finally, Dr. Cassidy is a chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland.