Amanda Acevedo, M.A., Ed.S., is a Psy.D. candidate (2025) in the Northern Arizona’s Clinical Psychology Psy.D program. Mrs. Acevedo was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of South Florida (1998) and her master’s and education specialist’s degree in Educational Psychology from Argosy University (2016, 2019). Mrs. Acevedo is an active member of different psychology organizations both at the state (AzPA, AASP) and national level (APA, NLPA). She serves as a board member of the Arizona Psychological Foundation (AZPF).

Her clinical interest includes promoting mental health awareness in children, adolescents, and adults who live in rural communities and belong to underserved populations. Other interests include provide psychotherapy services in both Spanish and English to bilingual clients. Upon graduation, Mrs. Acevedo would like to work within community-based programs with culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Mrs. Acevedo’s research interest focuses on addressing and curtailing substance use among minority populations, diversity and inclusion, generational trauma, bilingual assessments, autism (from childhood to adults), and stigma.

Dr. Maysa (MY-SA) Akbar is a respected scientist-practitioner and APA’s Chief Diversity Officer and Interim Chief of Psychology in the Public Interest. She is charged with infusing equity, diversity and, inclusion (EDI) into the fabric of the association’s work. As the leading architect of APA’s evolving EDI framework, Dr. Akbar works with APA staff, leaders and members to refine and build consensus for an overall plan, operationalize its goals and establish metrics to monitor and ensure progress. The CDO also serves as a spokesperson and advocate for EDI in the field of psychology, both within and outside the association. Before assuming the CDO post, she was the founder and chief executive officer of a clinical practice based in New Haven, Connecticut, that specialized in race-based trauma. She created a consulting firm and educational network focused on organizational cultural transformation. Her firm delivered cutting-edge programs anchored in EDI to city governments, public schools and, court systems, among other entities. Dr. Akbar’s areas of specialty include racial identity development, racism, urban trauma and, allyship, topics on which she has written research articles, books and book chapters. Dr. Akbar is an experienced instructor and master trainer in EDI for both the medical and the broader community.

Faren Akins is a psychologist and attorney licensed in Arizona and California with more than 40 years professional experience. He completed his doctorate in psychology at the University of Arizona graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his law degree with Honors at Santa Clara University. He has taught at the University of Arizona, San Jose State University, and Santa Clara University. He is a published author and has received grants and fellowships. As an attorney he represents clients with licensing board complaints and provides consultation about law and ethics issues. His forensic psychology practice is devoted to work in family and juvenile law matters where he routinely provides evaluations and expert testimony.

Riana Alexander is the director of Arizona Students for Mental Health and an Intern for Valley Interfaith Project. After experiencing hardships with Mental Health, she founded Arizona Students for Mental Health and led a successful effort in increasing support for teens in her school district. She has testified in front of the state legislators and been recognized in the Washington Post, Arizona Republic, and ABC15. In her free time she likes to travel the state and spend time with her dog.

Andrea Annibale, PsyD, is a Psychologist and Owner of ONE Psychological Services in Prescott, Arizona. Dr. Annibale works with teens and adults to embrace the “art of being human.” She describes her approach as humanistic, trauma-informed, and solution-focused. She enjoys working with people who are facing life transitions, exploring their identity, and looking for ways to make life less chaotic and more manageable. She helps her clients find rest, resolution, and peace.

Andrea has a Master of General Psychology from Grand Canyon University and both a Master and Doctorate (PsyD) of Clinical Psychology from Midwestern University. She worked in higher education for 12 years in both administrative support and adjunct faculty roles before deciding to embrace her own humanness and return to school. She considers it a great honor to share space with her clients and is extremely excited to sit alongside the incredible women on today’s panel.

Carisa Authier is a licensed clinical psychologist working in private practice. She is a person centered, trauma informed, gender affirming therapist working with persons in young adulthood through the elder years. Prior to working in private practice, she worked in a variety of settings including community mental health, residential addiction treatment, methadone treatment, partial hospitalization, and conducted home visits to help elders “age in place.” Her focus is to treat the person and not the “disorder.” Areas of particular interest include complex trauma and dissociation, life transitions, identity development, grief and self-care. Prior to psychology, Dr. Authier worked in the field of industrial chemicals as both a research and development chemist and regional sales representative.

Erin J. Buggy, a doctoral student of clinical psychology at Northern Arizona University, is entering her internship year. She is passionate about providing therapy and education pertaining to complex and developmental trauma. Erin is a 2022 AzPA Dissertation Scholarship recipient and has been selected as the 2023 NAU College of Education “Outstanding Doctoral Student” from the Department of Clinical Psychology.

Dr. Carlson has been a psychologist at Phoenix Children's for the past 15 years, where she has been the principal psychologist staffing new programs at multidisciplinary outpatient centers launched in Mesa (2008) and Gilbert (2019). She developed a psychology program within the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology that includes multidisciplinary work to address feeding disorders and inflammatory bowel diseases. She served as Psychology Interim Section Chief from 2017-2020, playing a key role in the rapid expansion and growth of quality psychology programming at the hospital and its outpatient community-based clinics.. She currently devotes her clinical services to children with special and complex medical needs, practicing at at Phoenix Children's multidisciplinary outpatient center on the campus of Mercy Gilbert Hospital in the East Valley.

Dr. Carlson completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at DePaul University in Chicago in 2005. She completed her internship at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and in 2006 finished her postdoctoral residency across two programs for Native American youth through the Arizona Psychology Training Consortium Dr. Carlson attained certification by the American Board of Professional Psychology in the practice of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology in 2013. Her commitment to providing quality care to underserved communities is evidenced in her work with low-income African American youth in Chicago, Native American adolescents in Phoenix, and her continuing clinical work with ethnically, socioeconomically, culturally, medically, and religiously diverse children, adolescents, and families.

Dr. Carlson holds professorships with both Arizona State University and the University of Arizona College of Medicine, assisting with training of psychology graduate/practicum students, psychology interns and postdoctoral residents, and medical students and residents. Dr. Carlson is invested in training the next generation of health providers to have a pediatric-informed and mental-health-informed holistic and collaborative approach to patient care.

.Dr. Shannon Dodani is a licensed psychologist practicing nationally through her practice, Diaspora Psychological Services. Dr. Dodani primarily provides culturally-aligned services to children of immigrants, neurodivergent adolescents and adults, and the South Asian/AAPI population. Dr. Dodani is rostered in Child Parent Psychotherapy, and utilizes aspects of this model in her work with adolescents and adults. Dr. Dodani hopes to further conversations around equity, diversity, and inclusion through her participation in the Arizona Psychological Association as Diversity Representative to the Governing Council and Diversity Committee Co-Chair. Dr. Dodani was also nominated for and attended the APA’s Practice Leadership Conference as a Diversity Delegate in March 2023.

Amanda F. Emmerson, B.S., is a 4th-year student at Northern Arizona University, Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program (Psy.D.) and a student member of the Arizona Psychological Association

Lisa Gutierrez is a clinical psychology doctoral student at Midwestern University and a graduate of ASU's Master of Counseling program. Driven by the desire to make psychological services more accessible to marginalized populations, she takes pride in her advocacy, research, and clinical work that focuses on uplifting communities of color. Her professional goals include developing a culturally tailored empowerment program for Latinx adolescents, mentoring first-generation students, and training future practitioners.

Morgan Hall, PhD is a licensed psychologist specializing in lifespan neuropsychology. She has worked or trained in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, private practices, juvenile corrections, and nonprofit organizations. She specializes in diagnostic assessment for neurodevelopmental disorders and acquired brain injury. She currently works as a clinical adviser to Axis for Autism and runs a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing access to high quality neuropsychological and related services. She has recently supervised doctoral student research on the separate topics of access to neuropsychological care and test performance validity. Her doctorate in Educational Psychology was obtained from Arizona State University where she also taught courses on topics of Human Development and Educational Psychology. She completed her predoctoral internship on the neuropsychology track of an APA approved internship in Virginia Beach and then completed a two-year postdoctoral residency at a private practice in central Phoenix. She volunteers on the strategic planning committee for a school district in Phoenix and as an alumni mentor to students in the Psychology Department at Arizona State University.

Dr. Sheryl Harrison is a full-time faculty member in the Department of Clinical Psychology, Psy.D. at Northern Arizona University. She teaches courses in Person Centered and Experiential Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Group Therapy, Animal Assisted Therapy and Ethics. Dr. Harrison also maintains a private practice in Scottsdale. She specializes in anxiety disorders, stress management, psychosomatic disorders, couples’ therapy and equine assisted psychotherapy. She is a member of the AzPA Ethics Committee.

Rosalie Hydock is the owner of Changepoints Coaching and Couples Therapy—a private psychology practice that focuses on working with individuals and couples in transition, both voluntary and involuntary. Her research and clinical interests focus on the areas of individual and organizational development, performance, and relationships – all of which provide the experience and support underlying her passion for helping others evolve and thrive.

Dr. George M. Kapalka, a Distinguished Professor in the California School of Professional Psychology and the Program Director of its MS in Clinical Psychopharmacology, is a prescribing and clinical psychologist based in Albuquerque, NM. He is board certified in clinical psychology (ABPP) and psychopharmacology (FICPP) and is a Fellow of APA Divisions 53 (pending) and 55 (since 2011). He is in practice for over 30 years and primarily treats children and adolescents. His research has focused on the psychological, pharmacological and combined treatments of pediatric disorders, collaborating with primary care (particularly pediatricians), and behavior management training for parents and teachers. He is an author of six books (one of which was translated into ten foreign languages) and dozens of journal articles and other publications.

Stacey Krauss, Psy.D., ABPP is the CEO of Transitions Counseling and Consulting, a multi-clinic specialty practice in Phoenix, Arizona.

Jennifer Lee is a Clinical Psychology doctoral student at Northern Arizona University. Her clinical interests include autism, health psychology, and mental health stigma. Her current research project involves stigma within parents in substance use recovery. She is active within her program by serving in different leadership positions and committees. As a first-generation graduate student, she hopes to further advocate for student involvement within the mental health community.

Vicky T. Lomay, Ph.D. is a Dinè psychologist in Arizona. She founded Tsinajini Psychology Services, PLLC, in 2010 and specializes in providing psychological services to American Indian communities. She also provides services at the River People Health Center, a tribal clinic, in Scottsdale. For over two decades, she has focused her direct clinical practice on developing and interweaving culturally appropriate methods into her assessment, testing, and individual psychotherapy work.

Dr. Brad MacNeil is an Assistant Professor and licensed Clinical Psychologist in the College of Health Sciences at Midwestern University. Prior to joining the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Midwestern, he was the Founding Lead for the Provincial Center for Training, Education, and Learning (PCTEL) with the Mental Health and Addictions Program at Nova Scotia Health. He completed a doctoral residency at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Child and Family Clinical Psychology. He is certified in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) through the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (CACBT). He also holds a formal designation as a Certified Health Executive (CHE) through the Canadian College of Healthcare Leaders (CCHL). Dr. MacNeil operates a private practice where he provides evidence-based assessment, treatment, training, and clinical consultation. He has held prior academic appointments and adjunct faculty positions at university and health sciences centers in the US and Canada (e.g., McMaster Children’s Hospital, McMaster University Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders at UNC at Chapel Hill, Dalhousie University Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, Kingston Health Sciences Center, Queen’s University Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, and George Mason University CAPS). Areas of clinical and research interest include eating disorders, program development and competency-based therapy (C.B.T.) training, and the interrelationship between general medical conditions and mental health. He has presented his research and provided training and clinical consultation nationally and internationally to healthcare professionals.

Amanda Malak, PsyD is an early career psychologist with a private practice, Malak Psychology, providing individual, group, family, and couples therapy along with psychological assessments almost exclusively via telehealth. She is particularly attuned to supporting multicultural couples, faith transitions/reconciling faith and sexuality, and sexual and intergenerational trauma serving primarily LGBTQ+ and/or BIPOC populations. She uses multimodal techniques including cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), cognitive processing therapy (CPT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), family systems, somatic experiencing (SE), and psychodynamic therapies to support patients. She is also contracted with Axis for Autism completing autism evaluations, and she does psychological assessments at her private practice including worker’s compensation, diagnostic clarification, preemployment, and fitness-for-duty. Her prior experiences include police psychology, disability testing, perinatal mental health, university counseling center, forensic therapy and assessment, sex offender treatment, and community mental health serving SMI populations. She is also a heterosexually married, bisexual, first generation, Coptic Egyptian and a young mother with a passion to expand mental health access for Middle East and North African (MENA) populations in the US and abroad.

Kathy Melamed, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker. Before retiring from paid employment in 2020, she enjoyed a 40+ year career in medical settings, including 23 years as an administrator, educator, and internal EAP counselor at Hospice of the Valley. Long after her hippie activist years in the 70’s, she is rediscovering an interest in community organizing—specifically around mental health and immigration issues--through VIP and the Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation. After nearly 45 years, she is still happily married to her first husband, David. She enjoys travel, theater, books, poker, the NYTimes cooking app, coffee with friends…and, especially, visiting with kids and grandkids as often as possible.

Dr. Paula McCall is an Arizona licensed psychologist and Nationally Certified School Psychologist who specializes in working with children and adolescents in her private practice, Next Step Psychology. She is also the founder, director, and president of Semicolon Society, an Arizona nonprofit organization providing free community mental health education with an emphasis on suicide prevention and postvention education, events, and supports. Dr. McCall is passionate about mental health education and suicide prevention and has collaborated with multiple school districts and local agencies to build suicide risk assessment procedures and provide free community supports and education. Her proudest role though is that of being a mom to her two children.

Dr. Michelle Melton is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the Phoenix Metro area. Dr. Melton has a private practice in Phoenix, AZ providing psychological services as well as clinical supervision, consultation, training, and workshops. She also works with the University of Arizona – College of Medicine-Phoenix providing psychotherapeutic services to its medical students.

She has provided mental health services in a variety of settings including private and state psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse recovery programs, community mental health settings, and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Dr. Melton has served as the Director of Clinical Training and Associate Professor in the masters and doctoral clinical psychology programs at the Arizona School of Professional Psychology. She has also served as the Assistant Training Director for the Phoenix VA Psychology Fellowship Program as well as the facility’s Co-Manager of the EEO Black Employment Special Emphasis Program.

Dr. Melton provides training in the public and private sectors on mental health wellness, organizational development, and diversity education and leadership. She has been published in state and national scholarly journals. Dr. Melton’s aim is to use psychological sciences and professional knowledge to improve the condition of individuals, organizations, and communities. By enterprising diversity and inclusion, she seeks to facilitate personal transformation and institutional innovation.

Sami Mericle is an organizer with Valley Interfaith Project, a broad-based organization building power for families in Maricopa County. Her work in community organizing began as a leader with the Marin Organizing Committee in the Bay Area, California, where she led a successful effort to pass emergency pandemic protections for renters. In her free time, Sami enjoys hiking, boxing, and chess.

Deborah Partington, PsyD earned both a masters and doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at the Arizona School of Professional Psychology. She currently has a full-time private practice in Phoenix, AZ From 2006 through January 2015 she directed the psychology training and internship program at Southwest Behavioral Health Services. She developed he program which achieved APA accreditation in 2015. She has been a member of the Arizona Psychological Association Ethics Committee for the past seven years. Between 2013 and April 2017, she served as chair of the committee. Dr. Partington is the recipient of the AzPA 2016 Distinguished Mentor Award and the 2022 Distinguished Contribution in Diversity Award. Dr. Partington completed training in humanistic-existential psychology through the International Institute of Humanistic Studies, and has a chapter included in Unearthing the Moment: Mindful Applications of Existential-Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychotherapy, edited by Myrtle Heery, PhD. Dr. Partington holds a Master’s Degree from Goddard College, VT, and a Master’s of Fine Arts/Creative Writing from ASU. Her first novel, Telling Stories, was published in 2015, followed by Telling Shadows, published in 2022.

Dr. Andrea Waddell-Pratt is a licensed Clinical Psychologist who has been practicing in the field for more than 23 years. She is licensed in Arizona and Georgia and holds a Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ) from the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, allowing clinical practice in nearly 40 states. She is passionate about offering exceptional clinical care to clients as the owner and Executive Clinical Director of her private practice, Life Choices Professional Group, LLC. The practice has served as a training site for Master's and Doctorate level providers as well as Post-Doctoral clinicians. Dr. Waddell-Pratt is equally passionate about training the next generation of providers, endeavoring to help students broaden their practice skills for working with diverse populations. Toward this end, she holds the title of Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller Seminary.Dr. Waddell-Pratt is surrounded by love through her husband, children and her tribe of amazing friends.

Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD, ABN, ABPdN, earned his Doctoral Degree from the University of Georgia in 1978 under the tutelage of Dr. Alan S. Kaufman, with a major in School Psychology and minors in Statistics and in Clinical Neuropsychology. He subsequently served an internship working under Drs. Larry Hartlage and Patricia Hartlage at the Medical College of Georgia. He is the author of more than 300 scholarly publications and author or editor of over 50 books including The Energetic Brain and the Handbook of Clinical Child Neuropsychology. He is the author of more than 50 commercially published tests including the Behavior Assessment System for Children (the most widely used measure of its kind in the English-speaking world), the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, and the Test of Memory and Learning. His work in psychological testing has the unusual distinction of having been awarded 3 US Patents. Dr. Reynolds is a diplomate in Clinical Neuropsychology of the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology, a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology, and a Past President of both of these Boards, and was a diplomate in School Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology, prior to retiring this diplomate in 2004. He was elected a Distinguished Practitioner and Fellow of the National Academies of Practice in 2012. He maintained a clinical practice treating trauma victims and individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury for 25 years and served as Chief of the Neuropsychology Service at Sandstone Psychiatric Hospital before retiring from clinical work at the end of 2003 to extend his forensic practice and writing efforts.

Dr. Reynolds is a past president of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, APA Divisions 5 (Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics), 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology), and 16 (School Psychology). He is a Fellow of APA Divisions 1, 5, 15, 16, 40, and 53. He served as Editor in Chief of Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology (1990-2002), Applied Neuropsychology (2004-2008), the prestigious APA journal Psychological Assessment (2009-2015), and APA’s open access journal, Archives of Scientific Psychology from 2015-2020, and is now Editor of the Journal of Pediatric Neuropsychology. Dr. Reynolds has received multiple national awards recognizing him for excellence in research and for service to the profession, including the Lightner Witmer Award, the Jack Bardon, Award, and the Nadine Murphy Lambert Award (given only periodically for distinguished contributions to the profession that are of unusual depth and breadth), along with the APA Division 16 Senior Scientist Award, the Samuel A. Messick Award for Distinguished Contributions to Measurement Science, and the Distinguished Clinical Neuropsychologist as well as the President’s Gold Medal Award both from the National Academy of Neuropsychology. He received the 50th anniversary Razor Walker Award from the U. of NC-Wilmington for Distinguished Service to the youth of America. He is an Alumnus of the Year at both UNCW and the U. of Georgia, where he was also elected to the Academic Hall of Fame. A 2020 quantitative review of impact on the field of clinical neuropsychology published in the Oxford Handbook of the History of Clinical Neuropsychology ranked Dr. Reynolds as the 7th most influential person in the history of the field. In 2021, he was noted to be in the top half of the Stanford list of the top 2% of scientists in the world, based on quantitative analyses of the impact of their published works. He is Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology, Professor of Neuroscience, and Distinguished Research Scholar at Texas A & M University, where he taught for 28 years and was a founding member of the neuroscience faculty. He continues to write and practices Forensic Neuroscience in Austin Texas.

Rebecca Riggs is a retired high school teacher with a Master's degree in Science Education. She worked in the Chandler Unified School District for 35 years teaching science and math. The last 10 years of her career she worked in conjunction with the special education department, working with students with learning disabilities to successfully navigate upper-level science courses.

Starting in 2008, following the suicide death of her teenage son, Rebecca started volunteering to speak in health classes at Hamilton High School in Chandler. She has developed a teen suicide prevention presentation designed to educate students about the signs of suicide, offer resources to students, and attempt to reduce the stigma attached to suicide. After the increase in suicides within CUSD in 2021/2022, Rebecca became involved in VIP - Valley Interfaith Project. That work is to broaden the reach of all types of mental health information, involve the larger community, and organize so change is advocated not from her individually, but from a wider, more powerful platform.

Rebecca is an active member of the Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Chandler, which is where she became involved in VIP. She loves singing and is a member of several choirs. She is grateful to be an involved "gramma" to her two elementary aged granddaughters.

Fernando Rodriguez is a graduate of ASU’s Master of Counseling program and was awarded the Outstanding Student Fellowship during his time in graduate school. As a master’s level clinician, Fernando worked in a community mental health setting to provide therapeutic interventions and services to LGBTQIA+ and Latinx populations within the greater Phoenix area. Fernando has worked in multiple veterinary practices ranging from small, mixed/exotic, and large general practitioner agencies to emergency care in various roles. His extensive experience in mentorship, organizational development, and clinical veterinary work has contributed to his research goals. Fernando aims to bring awareness to veterinary suicidality and mental wellness through his research and clinical work.

Daniel Schulte, Ph.D. is a psychologist in Arizona. He currently provides psychotherapy and counseling services to adult individuals and couples in his practice in Mesa, and is also currently an adjunct faculty member in the Counseling Program at Ottawa University. Dr. Schulte is licensed as a Psychologist in Arizona, and is credentialed both as a National Register Health Service Psychologist and a National Certified Counselor. Through his career, Dr. Schulte has been active in volunteer work and with professional organizations. He is a past president of the Arizona Psychological Association, andcontinues as active members of both the AzPA Leadership Development Committee and Diversity Committee, as well as the Board of Directors for the Arizona Psychology Training Consortium. Dr. Schulte became associated with Valley Interfaith Project through his work at Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation, where he is an active member, and part of both their Lay Pastoral Care team and chair the Leadership Development Committee. He is married to an internal medicine physician who shares his volunteerism habit. They have 2 children, who a psychologist colleague once described as “appropriately uninhibited.” Also residing in his home are a small dog and a slightly smaller hedgehog.

Neil Stafford is a licensed psychologist working for Axis for Autism as the Clinical Director. He is married with 2 boys, ages 6 and 9. They are all Arizona natives living in the Litchfield Park area.

Dr. Stafford worked at Avondale Elementary School District (AESD) for the past 16 years providing psychological services to children ages 5 to 15. He is board certified in School Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He also was the Special Education Director for 5 of those years.

Dr. Stafford has served on several community service and professional association governing and advisory boards. Currently, he is the 2021 Past President of the Arizona Psychological Association. AZPA has awarded him the Early Career Psychologist, Mentor of the Year, and Distinguished Service Awards. He is the training director for the internship program at AESD, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA).