Niloofar Afari, PhD

Niloofar Afari, PhD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Vice Chair of Veterans Affairs at the University of California, San Diego and Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health at VA San Diego Healthcare System. In addition to clinical practice and the administration of a large and interdisciplinary mental health service, she conducts research and mentors graduate and postdoctoral students in the application of ACT to chronic health conditions. She has received grant funding from multiple NIH Institutes as well as the Veterans Affairs. Dr. Afari has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles as well as the highly popular "The Big Book of ACT Metaphors: A Practitioner’s Guide to Experiential Exercises and Metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy" which has been translated into multiple languages. She obtained her PhD in clinical psychology in 1996 from the University of Nevada, Reno, under the mentorship of ACT cofounder, Steven C. Hayes.