Steven C. Hayes

Steven C. Hayes (born August 12, 1948)^[1] is an American clinical psychologist and Nevada Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno Department of Psychology, where he is a faculty member in their Ph.D. program in behavior analysis^[2]. He is known for developing relational frame theory, an account of human higher cognition. He is the co-developer of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a popular evidence-based form of psychotherapy that uses mindfulness, acceptance, and values-based methods, and is the co-developer of process-based therapy (PBT), a new approach to evidence-based therapies more generally. He also coined the term clinical behavior analysis.

Hayes is the author of 47 books and 675 articles. His books have been published in 20 languages.^[3] As of January 2022^[update], Google Scholar data ranks Hayes among the top 1,000 most cited living scholars in all areas of study worldwide.^[4] As of December 2021^[update], Research.com data ranks Hayes as the #63 Top Scientist in Psychology in the world and the #39 Top Scientist in Psychology in the United States.^[5] He was listed in 1992 by the Institute for Scientific Information as the 30th "highest impact" psychologist. According to Time columnist John Cloud, "Steven Hayes is at the top of his field. A past president of the distinguished Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, he has written or co-written some 300 peer-reviewed articles and 27 books. Few psychologists are so well published".^[1]