Skip to Main Content
Scott T. Gaynor, Ph.D.**
Scott T. Gaynor

Scott T. Gaynor, Ph.D.**

  • Tele-Health
  • Older Teenagers, Adults
  • ADHD, Anxiety, CBIT (Tics, Tourettes), Coping Skills, Depression, Exposure Therapy, Grief/Loss, OCD, Parent Coaching, Perfectionism, Phobias, Sleep Concerns, Trauma

Dr.Gaynor (he/him/his) is a clinical psychologist fully licensed in the State of Michigan who provides evidenced-based tele-health treatment.

Background:

Dr. Gaynor serves individuals who are facing challenges to their well-being due to stress, depression, anxiety, adjustment issues and life transitions, and dissatisfaction with health, wellness, and relationships.

The foundation for productive therapy is developing a strong relationship, a shared vision of what success looks like, and collaboratively determining the strategies most likely to produce success. The approach taken typically comes from the wide range of evidence-based practices in which Dr. Gaynor has expertise, specifically those emerging from the cognitive-behavioral tradition and including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), exposure therapies, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). He uses a combination of change-oriented and acceptance-based strategies that fit the unique needs of each client.

Dr. Gaynor received his BA from the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He completed his clinical internship and an NIMH post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In 2001, he accepted a faculty position in the Psychology Department at Western Michigan University where he is currently a tenured Professor of Psychology. He teaches graduate courses in psychopathology and treatment, provides clinical supervision to therapists in training, and conducts intervention-oriented research.

**Dr. Gaynor operates an independent practice and is not an employee or agent of McCaskill Family Services.
 
Publications

Petts, R.A. & Gaynor, S.T. (in press). Behavioral health in primary care: Brief screening and intervention strategies for pediatric providers.

Barreto, M., Tran, T., & Gaynor, S.T. (2019). A single-session of acceptance and commitment therapy for health-related behavior change: An open trial with a nonconcurrent matched comparison group. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, (13), 17-26.

Barreto, M. & Gaynor, S.T. (2018). A single-session of acceptance and commitment therapy for health-related behavior change: Protocol description and initial case examples. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 19, 47-59.

Petts, R.A., Duenas, J.D., & Gaynor, S.T. (2017). Acceptance and commitment therapy for adolescent depression: Application with a diverse and predominantly socioeconomically disadvantaged sample. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6(2), 134-144.

Gaynor, S.T. (2017). Temporal precedence in the identification of mediators of change: A brief comment on "Mediators of change in the child/adolescent multimodal treatment study" (Kendall et al., 2016). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 85(1), 77-79.

Maitland, D.W.M., Petts, R.A., Knott, L.E., Briggs, C.A., Moore, J.A., & Gaynor, S.T. (2016). A randomized controlled trial of functional analytic psychotherapy versus watchful waiting: Enhancing social connectedness and reducing anxiety and avoidance. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 16(3), 103-122.

Maitland, D.W.M. & Gaynor, S.T. (2016). Functional analytic psychotherapy compared with supportive listening: An alternating treatments design examining distinctiveness, session evaluations, and interpersonal functioning. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 16(2), 52-64.

Cullinan, C.C. & Gaynor, S.T. (2014). Treatment of Agoraphobia in a Pregnant Woman: A Combination of Exposure and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Clinical Case Studies, 14(2), 98-114.

Riley, A.R. & Gaynor, S.T. (2014). Identifying Mechanisms of Change: Utilizing Single-Participant Methodology to Better Understand Behavior Therapy for Child Depression. Behavior Modification, 38(5), 636-64.

Eckshtain, D., & Gaynor, S. T. (2013). Combined individual cognitive behavior therapy and parent training for childhood depression: 2-3-year follow-up. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 13, 132--143.

Maitland, D.W.M. & Gaynor, S.T. (2012). Promoting efficacy research on functional analytic psychotherapy. International Journal of Behavioral and Consultation Therapy, 7(2-3), 63-71.

Clore, J. & Gaynor, S.T. (2012). Cognitive modification versus therapeutic support for internalizing distress and positive thinking: A randomized technique evaluation trial. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(1), 58-71.

Eckshtain, D., & Gaynor, S. T. (2011). Combining individual cognitive behavior therapy and caregiver-child sessions for childhood depression: An open clinical trial. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 266-283.

Hinton, M.J. & Gaynor, S.T. (2010). Cognitive defusion for psychological distress, dysphoria, and low self-esteem: A randomized technique evaluation trial of vocalizing strategies. International Journal of Behavioral and Consultation Therapy, 6(3), 164-185.

Eckshtain, D. & Gaynor, S.T. (2009). Assessing outcome in cognitive behavior therapy for child depression: An illustrative case series. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 31(2), 94-116.

Seim, R.W., Willerick, M.S., Gaynor, S.T., & Spates, C.R. (2008). Circumventing the vasovagal fainting response: A novel method of in vivo exposure for injection phobia. Clinical Case Studies, 7, 409-422.

Gaynor, S.T. & Harris, A. (2008). Single-participant assessment of treatment mediators: Strategy description and examples from a behavioral activation intervention for depressed adolescents. Behavior Modification, 32(3), 372-402.

Kanter, J.W., Baruch, D.E., & Gaynor, S.T. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy and behavioral activation for the treatment of depression: Description and comparison. The Behavior Analyst, 29(2), 161-185.

Presentations

Gaynor, S.T., Rausch, R., & Gratz, O. (2020, February). An Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for ABA Practitioners. Workshop (3-hour) presented at the annual meeting of the Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan, Ypsilanti, MI.

Gaynor, S.T., DeLizza, A., Rausch, R., Barreto, M., & Briggs, C.A. (2018, February). Behavioral Activation for (Adolescent) Depression. Workshop (3-hour) presented at the annual meeting of the Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan, Ypsilanti, MI.

Gaynor, S.T., Gratz, O., & Rausch, R. (2019, October). An Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Break-out session (80 minutes) presented at the Michigan Autism Conference, Kalamazoo, MI.

Rausch, R.A., DeLizza, A.A., Petts, R.A., Foster, C.S., & Gaynor, S.T. (2018, February). The Role of the Therapeutic Alliance on Activation in Behaviorally Oriented Treatments for Adolescent Depression. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan, Ypsilanti, MI.

Gaynor, S.T. (2015, May). Behavioral Activation as a Treatment for Adolescent Depression. Tutorial presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, San Antonio, TX.

Gaynor, S.T., Petts, R., Douleh, T., Duenas, J., & Foster, C. (2015, February). Behavior therapy for youth depression: Theory, methods, mechanisms, and outcomes. Invited paper presented at the annual conference of the Texas Association for Behavior Analysis, Houston, TX.

Moore, J.M. & Gaynor, S.T. (2014, August). Motivational Interviewing. Block conference presentation to Internal Medicine Residents at WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.