Diversity
Erica Lee (Co-Chair) is a full time Assistant Professor in Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and the Associate Director of Grady Memorial Health System’s Department of Psychiatry Adult Day Services Program. She has experience in the area of psychotherapy as a clinician, supervisor, administrator, and researcher. Her publication and grant activities focus on young adults with serious mental illness from psychosocial and psychotherapy perspectives as well as psychosocial rehabilitative training. Her interests are in the delivery of mental health services to diverse, disenfranchised, and underserved individuals. She is devoted not only to education and training in psychotherapy, but also to enhancing understanding of the benefits and value of psychotherapy in mental health services at local, regional, and national levels. She serves as an advisory board member for a non profit program for survivors of domestic violence and participates in several community outreach and service efforts. As a Domain Diversity Representative she is committed and dedicated to furthering the awareness of and sensitivity to diversity issues as they relate to psychotherapy at all levels and ensure that APA policies are sensitive to issues related to diversity and that all APA initiatives include a diversity perspective.
Dr. Caryn R. R. Rodgers (Co-Chair) is a faculty member at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics Preventive Intervention Research Center. She is a licensed clinical psychologist. Currently, she is conducting research which focuses on the mental health promotion for urban adolescents of color living in low-income communities. She is a member of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Resilience and Strength in Black Children and AdolescentsDr. Rodgers’ is invested in the role of diversity as it relates to the research, practice and training of psychotherapy. She defines diversity as recognizing and supporting the promotion of commonalities, embracing the importance and value of differences, and creating a space for the multiplicity of voices to be heard. It is through this lens that she serves as the Diversity Domain Representative for Division 29.
Diversity Domain Committe Members.
1. Jean M. Birbilis, Ph.D., L.P. is a fulltime Professor at the University of St. Thomas in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology. She received her doctorate from Oklahoma State University and has taught at the college level for almost 30 years. She has been licensed by the state of Minnesota since 1991 and maintains a part time private practice where she works with clients with diverse ethnic and racial identities, ages, physical abilities, religious affiliations, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. During the 20 years that she has been teaching in the Psy.D. program in counseling psychology at St. Thomas, she has chaired the doctoral project committees of dozens of students and supervised numerous doctoral projects addressing the impact of diversity on the practice of psychology. Examples include the impact of cross cultural adoption on the identity development of the adoptee, the impact of internalized homonegativity of a therapist on psychotherapy, and the use of augmentative communication devices when counseling disabled clients. As an academician, Dr. Birbilis strives to incorporate diversity throughout her curriculum, and as a practitioner, her conceptualization of each client includes attending to diversity with the broadest and most thorough definition possible, in the spirit of the diversity competency in the core curriculum of the National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology.
2. Lisa Berning Flores, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist with Kaiser Permanente where she has been providing health psychology services for over 10 years. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Mississippi and did her internship at Kaiser Permanente. As a woman and mother of two culturally diverse little girls, diversity is especially relevant and ever present in her life. Dr. Flores believes it is important that the voices of those who are culturally, ethnically, and otherwise different from the majority be heard, embraced, and understood. Her passion for helping all individuals achieve better quality of life, and especially for individuals from diverse populations, is considerable. Dr. Flores also believes that we need to understand what makes us who we are, the similarities and the differences if we hope to help all individuals achieve their own happiness and their best life. She hopes to contribute to this effort by participating on the diversity committee of Div 29.
3. Meghna Patel, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist working within the Trauma Recovery Program at the Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center. She specifically works with veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma. In addition to her clinical duties, she is engaged in supervising graduate students and aiding in research aimed at assessing the effectiveness of various treatment interventions for military sexual trauma. In addition to her interests in trauma, Dr. Patel is dedicated to increasing awareness of how diversity and cultural factors impact clinical care, supervision, and research.
4. Amit Shahane, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is a licensed psychologist at the Grady Health System Infectious Disease Program. His clinical interests involve applying recovery-oriented, evidenced-based practices for individuals experiencing co-occurring severe mental illness and medical disorders. His research interests involve evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive-based interventions within a behavioral medicine context, as well as group interventions for male perpetrators of intimate partner violence.
5. Chuandrissa Oyeshiku Smith, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine and is the Clinical Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic at Grady Health System. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Smith received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Morgan State University and her doctorate in clinical-community psychology from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Smith completed a psychology postdoctoral fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine. For over ten years, Dr. Smith’s professional training and career has been in child and adolescent psychology. Her clinical and research interests have focused on serving the needs of low-income, African American children and their families through the implementation of evidenced-based and culturally sensitive family interventions. In addition, Dr. Smith has a strong interest in improving the access of behavioral health interventions through the integration of these interventions within pediatric primary care settings. Dr. Smith has co-authored manuscripts and book chapters related to child and adolescent depression, evidence-based interventions for childhood and adolescent disorders, pediatric health psychology, racial identity development, intimate partner violence and child maltreatment, juvenile delinquency, and competencies in psychology related to family therapy interventions.
6. Patricia Thompson, Ph.D. is a consultant and licensed psychologist with Sperduto & Associates, a corporate psychology firm in Atlanta Georgia. She completed her PhD in clinical psychology at Georgia State University, her internship at the University of Pennsylvania, and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Emory University School of Medicine. In addition to her work consulting with corporate clients, she is involved in research related to cultural coping in African American women. She is interested in promoting an understanding of diversity as it relates to research and practice in both psychotherapy and the business world. She is involved in several non-profit organizations aimed at assisting individuals in need, including Atlanta’s Family Inc. and the Mayor’s Youth Program through the Society of Human Resources.
