Overview
Rhonda M. Merwin, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Merwin completed her doctorate at the University of Mississippi and an NIH-sponsored postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Medicine at Duke University Medical Center before joining the Duke faculty in 2008. Dr. Merwin has expertise in eating disorders, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and psychological concerns in the management of Type 1 diabetes. She is 1 of 111 peer-reviewed ACT trainers worldwide and a Fellow and the President-Elect of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. Dr. Merwin is leading work to address eating disorders in type 1 diabetes, a dangerous comorbidity that disproportionately affects women. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (e.g., NIDDK, NIMH) and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), among others. She is the author of ACT for Anorexia: A Guide for Clinicians. Dr. Merwin directs the ACT in Context Laboratory, which focuses on the mechanisms and treatment of eating disorders, or more broadly, problems in living that arise from an adversarial relationship with the body or the body's cues, and/or difficulty reading and responding to internal cues to meet one's physical and emotional needs. Her treatment development work integrates digital and mobile technologies to increase treatment access, and for contextually sensitive assessment and intervention, with a focus on processes of change. Dr. Merwin directs the ACT at Duke program, a clinical, research and training program in ACT and process-based therapy, that includes a practicum for psychiatry residents, and psychology fellows and graduate students to receive in-depth training in ACT, as well as community consultation team for local providers and continuing education events. Dr. Merwin teaches a psychotherapy course for psychiatry residents in the School of Medicine. For more information about Dr. Merwin's research, educational and clinical activities, see ACTatDuke.org.