Understanding and Applying RFT
A book club for contextual behavior scientists and practitioners
Experience RFT, with Dr. Siri Ming, Dr. Evelyn Gould, & Dr. Julia Fiebig
Spring 2026: February 19 - June 11
Alternate Thursdays, 12-1 pm US Eastern
This live, discussion-based experience is built around the book Understanding and Applying RFT, and is designed especially for practitioners and researchers interested in contextual behavioral science and behavior analysis. The book club offers space to expand your learning and application of RFT, wherever you might be on your journey—whether you’re an absolute beginner, or an expert looking to deepen your understanding of how complex language influences your work and life.
This is not a “workshop”, but a structured community space to explore, learn, connect, and try things out, together. You’ll read at a manageable pace, exploring how the book’s content applies to your own practice, your life, and in the world. No lectures, no recordings. Just thoughtful discussion and exploration into the power of words.
About the Book Club
What we’ll be doing together:
We’ll be exploring RFT through:
Reading the book at a sustainable pace of about a chapter a week, focusing not only on theory, but on how understanding RFT can support you in your practice and in your daily life.
Live group discussion (every other week) to ask questions, engage with the material, and chat about what showed up for you in your reading.
Trying out various experiential exercises from the book (not just talking about them - even though we will do that too!), considering what impact they might have on your practice, your life and in your community!
We’ll have conversations about the purpose of our work as contextual scientists, regardless of practice area or population: promoting psychological flexibility, prosociality, the sustainable use of resources, diversity, equity, and inclusion, at all levels of interaction. We’ll also have conversations about ACT, RFT, and contextual functional analysis as the foundation for our work. And, we’ll talk about how resourcing ourselves and improving our own psychological flexibility is often the most important starting point for any program of behavior change.
Overall, we’ll be learning about RFT in terms of:
the building blocks of complex human behavior
relational framing and rule governed behavior, and the implications of that for human suffering—and thriving
language as intervention and effective communication in the real world, including how listening and speaking impact therapeutic/working alliances
effectively navigating a complex, interconnected world, and creating a better world for everyone—considering issues of global sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion
In short, we’ll be exploring how language lies at the root of what it means to be human, and the limitless possibilities that come with that.
A word about the structure:
This is a live, small-group experience that aims to support thoughtful, authentic, practical conversation among peers who care about their work, each other, and the world.
Sessions are not recorded to encourage:
a safe, trusting space where people can ask questions
honest reflection
authentic conversation
CEUs require participation in at least 7 out of 8 live sessions.
If you are curious about RFT and want to deepen your understanding of language as behavior in context…
That’s the invitation.
Come read.
Come explore.
Come learn something new.
Reflections from Participants
Meet Siri, Evelyn, & Julia
Siri Ming, Ph.D., BCBA-D (she/her)
Siri is a leader in the field and our resident expert on applying Relational Frame Theory (RFT) to early intervention—and a trusted guide for behavior analysts seeking to bring clarity, purpose, and compassion to their practice. A peer-reviewed ACT trainer, behavior analyst, coach, and educator, Siri grounds her training in over 30 years of experience in the field in roles ranging from direct intervention and family consultation to quality assurance.
She is the co-author of Understanding and Applying RFT and the Using RFT to Promote Generative Language handbook series (and the ACT self-help book Finding Your Why and Finding Your Way), as well as numerous peer-reviewed publications on RFT and early language intervention. But more importantly, she’s spent over 15 years doing RFT-based work on the ground—collaborating with caregivers and professional teams to develop assessment and teaching plans, solve problems, and apply principles in real-world early childhood settings.
Known for making complex ideas practical, Siri has been teaching and mentoring behavior analysts around the world throughout her career, emphasizing humility, collaboration, and socially meaningful outcomes. In addition to her courses with Constellations, she co-facilitates our practitioner lab and provides coaching and consultation for professionals and teams working in early language development.
Her work is grounded in values of rigor, generosity, and kindness—and a commitment to supporting professionals who are ready to go deeper in their practice.
Learn more about Siri’s work at www.siriming.com.
Evelyn Gould, Ph.D., BCBA-D (they/she)
Evelyn is a licensed clinical psychologist, board certified behavior analyst, and Fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), as well as coauthor of Understanding and Applying RFT. They are internationally recognized for their work at the intersection of contextual behavioral science and applied behavior analysis, with a focus on compassionate, values-based, and socially valid care.
Evelyn specializes in supporting neurodivergent individuals and their families, often in complex or interdisciplinary contexts. Their work emphasizes trauma-informed, culturally responsive practices and the importance of psychological flexibility not only as an intervention goal, but as a foundation for ethical supervision, effective collaboration, and personal resilience.
As a clinician, researcher, trainer, and systems consultant, Evelyn has contributed extensively to the integration of ACT and ABA in both research and practice. Their teaching reflects deep clinical wisdom, humility, and a commitment to helping professionals bring curiosity, connection, and contextual sensitivity into their work
Learn more about Evelyn’s work at https://evelyngouldphd.com
Julia Fiebig, Ph.D., BCBA-D (she/her)
Julia is a scientist-practitioner with over 25 years experience in the field, much of that spent as a boots-on-the-ground behavior analyst leading center-based clinics, consulting in public school systems, and providing organizational consultation to organizations in the private and non-profit sector. Co-author of Understanding and Applying RFT, Julia is currently an associate professor at Ball State University, where she co-designs and leads the Verbal Behavior course. Julia’s work integrates RFT, contextual behavioral science, and systems-level application, and her interests and expertise include organizational development, sustainability, and prosocial systems design, with the aim of scaling behavioral science beyond individuals to communities and institutions.
A primary emphasis of her work is helping leaders and organizations cultivate values-informed, prosocial practices and sustainable systems. She is dedicated to work on issues of environmental justice and contributing to wider application and dissemination of a compassionate behavior science.
FAQs
Do I need to buy the book? Yes. You can purchase it directly from the publisher, or from your favorite bookseller.
Is this right for me? If you are a behavior analyst, aspiring behavior analyst, or someone isn’t sure they want to be called a behavior analyst but considers themselves a contextual behavior scientist/practitioner, and you’re looking for a structured way to deepen your understanding of RFT and start to integrate that understanding into your life and practice, this book club is for you. If you are looking for more traditional training with lectures and protocols, it probably isn’t.
Do I need prior RFT experience? Nope. While it might help to have passing familiarity with some of the terminology, we wrote Understanding and Applying RFT assuming that most readers would not have any previous training or reading in RFT. We recognize that learning RFT might be challenging—most journeys that matter bring some difficulty. But we hope that it will also be fun, interesting, and worth it. All you need to have prior to the book club in terms of RFT is curiosity.
Do I need to have a background in behavior analysis? To an extent—you do not need to be a BCBA, practice in typical “ABA” settings, or call yourself a behavior analyst in your practice. You do need to have a basic foundational understanding of behavior analytic principles—we recommend the book The ABCs of Human Behavior as a great resource for clinicians to gain this foundation first.
What if I have a lot of RFT experience? Great! You’ll probably get some new language to talk about language, and the book club is a great place to ask questions and have conversations about applying RFT in a range of practice settings—Siri is our expert in applying RFT in early intervention; Evelyn is our expert in applying RFT as a clinical psychologist, as well as implications for DEI issues; and Julia is our prosocial expert as well as an expert in global sustainability. All three are expert ACT trainers as well. And Siri is always happy to get into geeky details!
Are sessions recorded? No. Sessions are live only and will not be recorded. This is intentional to support presence, confidentiality, and open discussion.
What if I miss a meeting? You’ll need to attend 7 out of 8 live meetings to get CEUs, but there are no penalties for missing a meeting except missing out on that chapter’s discussion. Nonetheless, the group functions best when everyone is there—please do your best, and we wouldn’t advise signing up if the time is just not a good fit for your schedule. There will be other opportunities.
What if I can’t keep up with the reading? While the intention of the book club is to read at a manageable pace, life sometimes gets in the way. You are always welcome at meetings however you show up, with however much or little you’ve read, and with whatever capacity you have that day.
What if I’m not sure I know enough? Then you’re in the right place. You don’t need RFT confidence to join—just curiosity and a willingness to show up.
What is your refund policy? When will I get access to the course? Who do I contact? The answers to these kinds of questions and more can be found HERE.
Learning Objectives
Learning objectives for this book club are reflected in each chapter of the book. As an experiential book club, we recognize that every participant shows up with their own history and goals for their learning. Therefore, in terms of meaningful learning, we ask that participants identify specific objectives that are most important to them, from the list of objectives found in each chapter of the book. For each meeting, the more generic objectives are to:
Discuss the technical terms, definitions, and concepts of the chapter.
Explore the ways in which the concepts of the chapter apply to your work and life.
Download a complete list of the technical and experiential learning objectives from the book HERE.