Behavioral Activation: A Straightforward Treatment for Depression/Webinar by Dr. Christopher Martell

On Tuesday, May 26, 2026, Dr. Christopher Martell will present a free webinar, “Behavioral Activation: A Straightforward Treatment for Depression”. This presentation will cover the basics of how behavioral activation (BA) for depression works and how it fits in with other psychotherapies for depression and other disorders.  There will be brief explanation of a behavioral rather than medical model of depression, and why it matters to anyone other than researchers and scholars. Dr. Martell will also engage in discussion with participants about tips for helping loved ones when they are experiencing a depression episode, and when their distress has increased to a point where they may see suicide as an option. Xiaofang Chen, Co-Founder and President of the Alan Hu Foundation, is grateful for financial support of the Tri-Valley Nonprofit Alliance to offer this presentation free to the public, including live simultaneous Spanish interpretation. Live simultaneous Chinese interpretation is included.

Christopher Martell, Ph.D., ABPP is Director of the Psychological Services Center and Professor of Practice in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Massachusetts. Dr. Martell is first author of two of the primary texts on contemporary behavioral activation (BA), an effective psychological treatment for depression. His book, Living Well with Depression, part of the Guilford Press living well series is due to be available in July 2026. He was in private practice in Seattle, Washington for 23 years, and on the clinical faculty in the departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Washington prior to turning his attention exclusively to training the next generation of students. He consults with researchers and trains clinicians in behavioral activation around the world.

The free webinar will be held on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at 5:30 – 6:30 pm PDT via Zoom. It will include 15 minutes for questions and answers following Dr. Martell’s presentation. Please RSVP by May 25, 2026, at: https://alanhufoundation.org/lecture-series to receive the Zoom meeting link. Participants may join beginning at 5:15 pm.

The Alan Hu Foundation was created by Xiaofang Chen and Chih-Ching Hu in memory of their son, Alan. He passed away due to mental disorders in 2018 at the age of 15. Their mission is to promote mental health, raise awareness and remove stigma surrounding psychiatric disorders, and to support fundamental research for cures.

For further information and to support the Alan Hu Foundation, please visit the website: alanhufoundation.org/please-help