2026-2027 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Fellowship

Nick Turner is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) in the state of Illinois. Since graduating from the University of Chicago in 2009, Nick has worked in various mental health and substance abuse settings with children, adolescents, and adults.  He currently works full-time as a therapist in private practice with a focus on addiction, trauma, anxiety, and depression.

In addition to direct practice, Nick is a lecturer at the University of Chicago's Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. He also provides case consultation services to other clinicians and regularly conducts seminars on Motivational Interviewing and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.  Additionally, Nick co-authored the book Mindfulness-Based Sobriety, a treatment guide for addiction recovery that was published by New Harbinger Publishing in January 2014. The book features a comprehensive addiction treatment protocol that integrates Motivational Interviewing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Relapse Prevention therapy. 

Nicole Gier is a clinical social worker with 15 years of experience in a range of practice settings, including community hospitals, primary care, private practice, and academic medical centers. She joined the Comprehensive Care Program (CCP) at the University of Chicago Medicine in 2014.  CCP is an innovative primary care model and research study focused on building meaningful relationships between healthcare providers and individuals with complex, chronic medical and social needs. Within CCP, she develops and manages the provision of social service interventions and behavioral health programming alongside an interprofessional team of social workers, community health workers, AmeriCorps volunteers, nurses, and physicians.

Nicole applies contextual behavior therapy frameworks (ACT, DBT) in healthcare settings as a way to guide interprofessional team communication, to explore social determinants of health, & to empower individuals who are suffering to lead meaningful lives. Nicole has presented her work and research on the local, regional, and national level.

In addition to her clinical work, Nicole maintains a small psychotherapy & consulting practice and enjoys teaching graduate social work students (UChicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice) & medical students (UChicago Pritzker School of Medicine; The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University).

Tamara Sharifov is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 13-years’ experience across diverse disciplines – including clinical psychology, academia, humanitarianism, conflict resolution, global affairs, and activism. She is an expert in the newest forms of psychotherapy – Third-Wave Contextual Behavioral therapies, including Contextual-Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - with additional expertise in PTSD, complex trauma, international armed conflict, peacebuilding, and political unrest. 

Her experience spans facilitating full model DBT and contextual therapies across mental health contexts, medical missions to the Syrian-Lebanese border, co-founding a humanitarian emergency response NGO serving Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, teaching conflict-resolution to war-affected Armenian and Azerbaijani peacebuilders, acting as primary family therapist within intensive outpatient clinics (IOP), community mental health services in Chicago, private practice, and masters level lectureship. Tamara holds a Masters in Clinical Social Work from the University of Chicago School of Social Service, and a second Masters in Conflict Management and Resolution from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, at the University of San Diego.

Currently, Tamara runs a psychology private practice in San Diego, California, consults, and has most recently joined a Global Mental Health Task Force influencing policy around mental health targets within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Tamara also acts as a lead clinical instructor teaching Third-Wave Contextual therapies to post-master’s mental health clinicians at the University of Chicago, Masters School of Social Work.

Karishma J Bhakta is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, an Ayurvedic Practitioner, and a Yoga Instructor. She is interested in Eastern-based modalities of health and healing that emphasize the mind-body connection. Karishma works alongside her mentor, Dr. Paul Holmes, at Emotion Management Program, LLC, where she is the Intake and Training Coordinator and also practices Contextually Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy. 

Karishma will also be teaching two courses at Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice: Fundamentals of Behavioral Therapy: Contemporary Approaches and Contextually Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy. 

Karishma received a Bachelor's in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine in 2016, and a Master's (AM) in Clinical Social Work from the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice in 2019.