In celebration of Black History Month, the Anxiety Research and Treatment Lab honours the enormous impact of Dr. Samuel M. Turner, who helped to lay the foundation for our current understanding and treatment of anxiety and related disorders. Dr. Turner’s many contributions include developing evidence-based behavioral treatments and popular assessment tools for both social anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), founding the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment (which is a regular outlet for our own research), and publishing extensively on issues related to behaviour therapy, clinical methodology, and racial, ethnic, and cultural factors in the etiology and treatment of anxiety. Across his career, Dr. Turner published over 200 scientific journal articles, 50 chapters, and 18 books. His books on Diagnostic Interviewing (2003, 3rd ed.) and Psychopathology and Diagnosis (4th ed.) were required reading across many graduate programs in clinical psychology. Sadly Dr. Turner passed away from complications of a brain tumour on March 12, 2005, at the age of 61.

To learn more about Dr. Turner and his impressive contributions to the field, see Beidel, D.C. (2005). Samuel M. Turner (1944-2005). American Psychologist, 60(6), 652-653.