Karekla, Maria: - Maria Karekla, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, and associate professor at the University of Cyprus where she heads the ACThealthy Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine laboratory. She is a peer-reviewed acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) therapy trainer, and presently serves as the president-elect of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) where she has been a fellow since 2019. She is also a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM). She was nominated in 2017 for the National Literary Awards in the children/adolescents category, and also for her illustrations for the book. She has received numerous national and international awards and grants for her research work. In 2018, she was nominated as Cyprus Woman of the Year in the academic/researcher category.