Training and Professional Consultation:
Core Principle: Hire, train and mentor professional therapists who love working with students.
Recruiting and mentoring diverse staff from a variety of ethnic, socio-economic and clinical backgrounds has always been a top priority for me. Recruitment, supervision, mentorship and coaching for all staff below with a particular emphasis on recruiting bilingual, bicultural staff of color.
I have provided professional coaching and mentorship to the following staff all of whom I either personally recruited or served on a hiring committee to select:
Perry Chen, is a licensed Clinical Social Worker. He serves as the full-time faculty counselor. He attended Columbia University School of Social Work. I provided mentorship and professional coaching his first year at Skyline College. I also worked on the development, scope and job description of his role.
Danielle Brandys, is a Registered, Associate Marriage, Family Therapist. She received her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University. I recruited her through the California Association of Marriage, Family Therapists Intern Fair that I initiated having our department participate in. She served as a post graduate intern from 2019-2021 and was an integral part of our team and official launch of our intern program. I also provided clinical supervision and consultation to Danielle.
Hope Ledding, is a Registered, Associate Marriage, Family Therapist. She received her Master of Arts from The Wright Institute. I recruited her through the California Association of Marriage, Family Therapists Intern Fair that I initiated having our department participate in. She served as a post graduate intern from 2019-2021 and was an integral part of our team and official launch of our intern program. I also provided clinical supervision and consultation to Hope.
Mirna D. Pacheco-Walker is a licensed Marriage, Family Therapist. She served as an adjunct faculty counselor here at Skyline and San Jose City College. She received her Master of Science in Clinical Psychology-Marriage and Family Therapy. She is native bilingual and bicultural (Spanish) and she also has a private practice in Palo Alto. I recruited her to join our team for the Spring 2021 semester when our full-time counselor was on family leave. I provided weekly clinical coaching to Mirna. She provided skilled clinical services to our students with a particular focus on our Latinx community.
Yesenia Villa is a licensed Marriage, Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Registered Art Therapist. She served as an adjunct faculty counselor here at Skyline and is the Founding Mental Health Clinician at KIPP Esperanza High School. She received her Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy and Art Therapy Psychology Certificate from Notre Dame de Namur. She is bilingual and bicultural (Spanish). I recruited her to join our team for the Spring 2021 semester when our full-time counselor was on family leave. I provided weekly clinical coaching to Yesenia in the area of clinical supervision. She provided skilled clinical services to our students and group supervision to our interns. She also provided training on Art Therapy to our clinical team.
Margaret (Peggy) H. Farrell, is a licensed Marriage, Family Therapist and licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. She served as an adjunct faculty counselor here at Skyline and was previously serving as a therapist at Cañada College. She received her Master of Arts in Counseling from Palo Alto University and currently has a private practice in Burlingame. I recruited her to join our team for the Spring 2021 to provide direct services to our students. She provided clinical trainings to our faculty and staff in the area of trauma and self-care. My efforts to bring her on were also to support our Cañada team who due to budget cuts had to let her go in the Spring. We worked collaboratively to bring Peggy on to support her during this transition and to provided needed additional direct services to our students in the absence of our full-time counselor.
Golda Margate graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master of Social Work with an emphasis in Adult Mental Health and recently joined Skyline’s Health and Wellness department in Summer 2021. Golda is a Registered, Associate Social Worker and I have been providing clinical supervision.
Cristina Carella received her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University and is a licensed MFT. She has been working in community and school-based mental health settings since 2009 and has worked in diverse settings and populations providing clinical services to at-risk, underserved communities of color. She is native bilingual and bicultural (Spanish). I recruited her to join our team for the Fall 2021 semester to replace my position when I moved into the full-time role. I will be providing clinical coaching to Cristina in the area of mental health in higher ed and clinical supervision.
Kelsey Dodson is a marriage, family therapist and clinical counselor trainee. She is currently a graduate student at Saint Mary’s College of California pursuing a Master’s degree in counseling psychology with a specialization in Marriage & Family Therapy, Professional Clinical Counseling, and Higher Education & Student Affairs. I recruited her to join our team for the Fall 2021 semester and I am providing clinical supervision and training to her.
Bryan Martinez is a marriage, family therapist and clinical counselor trainee at Skyline College. He is currently a graduate student at Saint Mary’s College of California pursuing a master’s degree in Marriage & Family Therapy, Professional Clinical Counseling with a dual specialization in Higher Education & Student Affairs. I recruited Bryan to join our team for the Fall 2021 semester and I am providing clinical supervision and training to him recognizing the unique opportunity to have another male clinician on our team.
Tessa Kwan is a Registered, Associate Marriage, Family Therapist. She received her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University. I recruited Tessa to join our team for the Spring 2021 semester to provide direct services to our students when one of our interns left on maternity leave. I am providing clinical supervision and training to her with a particular emphasis on mental health services to our AAPI community at Skyline. Tessa is trilingual, English, Cantonese and Mandarin and has clinical skills in trauma and substance abuse treatment.