ABOUT THE DIS SIG

Taken from our Read DIS Newsletter, Volume 15, Issue 2, published on our Listserv November 5, 2024

Written by Kendal Reeder, Student Communications Officer

This year marks the 15th official year of the DIS SIG. In a recent coffee hour hosted by current DIS SIG leader Dr. Kelsie Okamura, members of the inaugural leadership committee–including Drs. Brad Nakamura, Bruce Chorpita, Kimberly Becker, and John Young–shared about the history of the DIS SIG, discussed the impetus and initial goals for the group, and reflected on the DIS SIG’s trajectory thus far. A recounting of the DIS SIG’s history as discussed in the coffee hour is summarized here.

When and how did the DIS SIG start? Who was involved? What were the initial goals?

Bruce Chorpita shared that initial conversations discussing the possible formation of the DIS SIG began in 2007 at the 41st Annual ABCT Convention in Philadelphia. Dr. Chorpita remembered that at that time, numerous members of ABCT who were working to improve mental health services in community settings did not feel that their work was fully respected and valued within ABCT. Thus, a major impetus for the creation of DIS SIG Founding Members: Brad Nakamura, Kimberly Becker, Bruce Chorpita, and John Young the DIS SIG was to enact change within ABCT and to increase ABCT’s focus on community-oriented work. In Dr. Chorpita’s words, “this SIG was formed out of DISsatisfaction.” 

Brad Nakamura noted that the “SIG-in-Formation” meeting for the nascent DIS SIG was held at the 42nd Annual ABCT Convention in Orlando on November 15, 2008. Per ABCT policy, these meetings are held by proposed SIGs to ensure sufficient membership, develop an organizational structure, and reach consensus on the intent of the SIG. Kimberly Becker shared more about this process: “to have the first SIG-in-Formation meeting, we were emailing everybody that we knew who we thought might be aligned with our thinking of wanting to start this SIG to advance the mission of increasing community-oriented work.” On the day of the scheduled SIG-in-Formation meeting, Dr. Becker remembered the four founding members wondering nervously if anyone else would attend the meeting (which was scheduled for 8am in a basement room, no less). “Surprisingly, 40 people showed up and crammed into this little room… it was very exciting!”

In reflecting on the initial formation of the SIG, Dr. Nakamura highlighted that the majority of the inaugural leadership team and members were in junior or early career positions. He noted that with “the right people and the right supports, state of career doesn’t matter” for intentionally acting on ideas to push ABCT, and the field, forward.

Dr. Becker recalled that the SIG-in-Formation meeting focused on identifying the intent and goals of the DIS SIG, noting that three overarching goals emerged. The first goal centered on advancing and supporting the careers of junior investigators. Meeting attendees discussed practical ideas for how the DIS SIG could achieve this, including networking opportunities and more senior colleagues reviewing grants and manuscripts for junior investigators. The second emerging goal was to involve community practitioners and respect their contributions to the field. Meeting attendees agreed that it was important for researchers and practitioners to collaborate and for researchers to do so with openness and humility. Practical ideas toward this theme included SIG members reaching out to other professional organizations and intentionally seeking feedback and input from practitioners on research efforts. The final goal that emerged was for the DIS SIG to reach beyond ABCT to connect with others in the field who are doing similar work and who are also invested in mental health services. Possible steps toward this goal included partnering with other EBP conferences, EBP consortiums, and EBP service directors within state settings. 

The DIS SIG was officially designated as an ABCT special interest group in 2009, and the first official DIS SIG business meeting was held at the 43rd Annual ABCT Convention in New York. The inaugural leadership team for the DIS SIG included Brad Nakamura (SIG Leader), Bruce Chorpita (Senior Advisor), John Young (Communications Officer), Kimberly Becker (Treasurer), and Kate McHugh (Student Representative).

What are the DIS SIG buttons? Where did they come from?

Buttons have been an enduring legacy of the DIS SIG since 2009. At each annual ABCT convention, members proudly don buttons to indicate their belonging to the DIS SIG. Dr. Nakamura recalled the idea for buttons initially developed while the DIS SIG was still a SIG-in-Formation. Dr. Nakamura shared that founding members wanted to increase the visibility of the DIS SIG so that the group could “flourish and grow.” They began to discuss buttons as a possible way to increase visibility, with the idea that fellow conference attendees would ask about the buttons and thus open up conversations about the DIS SIG to those who might be interested in joining. Dr. Chorpita reflected that this goal was inspired by the principle of observability, discussed by Everett Rogers Diffusion of Innovations; he viewed this as the DIS SIG’s “secret weapon.” Dr. Nakamura noted that buttons also served a dual purpose of promoting fellowship and networking within the DIS SIG, especially toward the DIS SIG’s goal to support students and junior colleagues. Buttons, it was thought, could facilitate DIS SIG members' camaraderie and connection with each other. While buttons satisfied these goals to improve the DIS SIG’s visibility and fellowship within the SIG, Dr. Nakamura shared that they also satisfied two practical goals: they could be easily fastened to ABCT badges and they were extremely cost effective.

Since their inception, DIS SIG buttons have read “U KNOW U WANT DIS.” Dr. Becker discussed how the slogan came to be. At the SIG-in-Formation meeting in 2008, the initial leadership team proposed the idea of buttons and possible slogans to members and also elicited further ideas for slogans. The goal was to come up with a slogan that was eye-catching and would spark visibility and conversations as hoped. Dr. Chorpita remembered initially being slightly apprehensive about “U KNOW U WANT DIS,” thinking that it might be too provocative. Despite concerns, “U KNOW U WANT DIS” was the chosen slogan, and the buttons were an immediate hit. Dr. Becker shared that the buttons soon became “coveted” within ABCT, achieving the desired visibility. John Young additionally shared that wearing the DIS SIG buttons to the ABCT convention in 2009 “was sort of like being the away team at somebody else’s sports game,” which sparked an immediate sense of camaraderie with fellow button-wearers as hoped.

How has DIS SIG done at achieving goals? Where should the DIS SIG head next?

From Dr. Chorpita’s perspective, the DIS SIG has made substantial progress toward its initial goals. He described that the DIS SIG quickly became a “juggernaut” and one of the largest SIGs, giving dissemination and implementation science a “major foothold” within ABCT. In thinking toward the future, Dr. Chorpita encouraged the DIS SIG to stick to the feeling that drove its creation–that we as professionals “need to have an impact on the community and we need to make a difference.” He noted the need for increased representation from communities–especially those that have been historically marginalized–and interdisciplinary teams for the DIS SIG to do this effectively. Dr. Chorpita shared the perspective that the DIS SIG should actively focus on increasing such representation so that the work of the DIS SIG can be driven by community needs. Finally, he shared that the DIS SIG should be active in the conversation about the use of technology and AI in mental health settings and whether it is informed by what we know about EBP and science. 

Dr. Young shared a perspective that the DIS SIG has been successful in terms of outreach, connection, and understanding the social contexts in which dissemination and implementation efforts take place. Similar to the sentiments shared by Dr. Chorpita, Dr. Young noted one major area for future growth is “bringing people into our sphere.” He emphasized the importance of involving practitioners, government leaders, and other stakeholders more intentionally within the DIS SIG to drive our work forward. 

In reflecting about the DIS SIG’s initial goal to support students and junior colleagues, Dr. Becker shared that from her perspective, the DIS SIG has “exceeded expectations.” She pointed to the many networking opportunities offered by the DIS SIG both at conventions and throughout the year, such as mentorship programs, coffee hours, and student support groups. Dr. Becker agreed that future goals for the DIS SIG should include more intentionally connecting with practitioners. She highlighted that some of this work is already happening within ABCT–including through the Dissemination, Implementation, and Community Engagement Committee (DICEC)–and that the DIS SIG may need to pursue additional avenues to achieve this goal. She also noted the importance of moving away from taking a “push” model (i.e., researchers pushing work into communities) and instead taking an approach of assessing how our work can be most helpful to the communities that we serve. Dr. Nakamura also shared the perspective that connecting with communities should be a crucial goal of the DIS SIG.