Core Faculty Research and Teaching Interests

Core Faculty Teaching and Research Interests 

Connie Destito | Trevor Dobbs | Toni Guajardo 
| Dino Koutsolioutsos | Rebecca Rojas
 

Connie Destito, LCSW
 Latina/o Family Studies Program Director
(626) 685-2527, Email 
Office Location: Eureka 8
Office Hours: By appointment

Her teaching career began at California School of Professional Psychology, in Los Angeles. She has taught a variety of courses that integrate cultural perspectives with clinical knowledge and skills.

Education:
M.S.W. University of California, Los Angeles, Social Work
B.A. California State University, Los Angeles, Sociology

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Trevor Dobbs, Ph.D.
Core Faculty
(626)583-6035, Email
Office Location: Eureka 14
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm. Thursdays, 5:00 - 7:00 pm.

Teaching Interests:

• History and Systems in Psychology
• Cultural Contexts of Personality
• Couples Therapy
• Clinical Case Study in Research
• Psychology and Spirituality
• Object Relations Therapy

Education:
Ph.D. Psychoanalysis, Newport Psychoanalytic Institute
M.A. Marriage and Family Counseling, Fuller Theological Seminary
B.A. Religion & Computer Science, Pepperdine University

Scholarship:
Chapter Contributed to On Being Christian . . . and Human, 2002.
Chapter Contribulor: On Being a Person, 2003.M.A. Marriage and Family Counseling, Fuller Theological Seminary 
Conference Panelist and Presenter: Psychoanalysis and Couples Therapy: A Look Beneath the Surface, February 2004.
Transformation in Psychoanalysis and Religion: The Influence of John Mcmurray, Psychoanalytic Inquiry, Fall 2006.   

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Barbra Fletcher-Stephens, Ph.D.
Core Faculty
(626) 577-6141, E-mail
Office Location: Eureka 14
Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:00 – 6:00 p.m.,
Wednesdays and Thursdays 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.  

Teaching Interests:  

• Evolving epistemology of family therapy (e.g. systems theory, postmodern practices of family therapy, ethnic and cultural reflections, marital and family assessment, and clinical supervision).  
• It is essential to engage students in critical inquiry, analysis, and reflection, assist learners to demonstrate competence (building a higher synthesis of knowledge, skill and reason), and emulate conscience and compassion with an unfeigned commitment to integrity and personal responsibility.  

Education:  

Ph.D. The Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, General Psychology-Individual and Family Studies
M.A. The University of Akron, Ohio, Marriage and Family Therapy
M.Ed. Kent State University, Ohio, Counselor Education
B.A. Wilberforce University, Ohio, Sociology/Psychology  

Research Interests:  

• Present scholarships unites systems concepts (family and larger systems related to ethnic consciousness).  
• Connections between families as an interpretative community.  
• Contemporary issues and levels of family functioning from the perspective of the researcher, practitioner and supervisor.  
• Practical approaches to accessing indigenous community-based groups.  
• Creating pathways for those we serve to have equal voice in therapeutic outcomes.
• Use of the concepts of social construction as a way to bridge theory development with the process of clinical practice.
• Family assessment – examining circular causality and meaning in assessment process. 
• Children in family contexts with emphasis on developmental and treatment issues.

Scholarships:  

• Fletcher Stephens, B.J. & Cookson, P. (March 2005).  Current Trends in Clinical Practice & Research:  A Local Symposium.  Plenary speaker at the Oregon Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon.  
• Fletcher Stephens, B.J. (March 2004).  Emphasizing client competence:  Developing service delivery system for working with individuals experiencing residential instability.  Presentation at International Family Therapy Association XIV World Congress, Istanbul, Turkey.  
• Fletcher Stephens, B.J. & McAdory, D.D. (October 2002).  Black Families:  Building a future based on past experiences.  Presented at the 60th American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Weaving the Family, Cincinnati, Ohio.  
• Fletcher Stephens, B.J. (December 2000).  Collaborative Juvenile Justice:  Mental Health Interventions with high risk children and youth.  Presented at the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health.  Washington, D.C. 
• Fletcher Stephens, B.J. & McAdory, D.D. (March 1999).  Working with Black Families: Understanding Kinship Networking Patterns.  Presented at The Twenty-Sixth Annual National Conference and Celebration of The Black Family in America:  Countdown to the Millennium.  The University Of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky.  
• Fletcher Stephens, B.J. & Sand-Pringle, C. (April 1999). Evolving Epistemology in Family Therapy:  Implications for Treatment, Research, Teaching and Supervision in a Multicultural World.  Presented at the International Family Therapy Association XI World Congress, Akron, Oregon.  
• Review Board Member for the Journal of Systemic Therapies.  
• Test Reviewer Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, Family Assessment series.
• Abstract Reviewer American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Publications:       

• Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. (2005).  Twin legacies of African American Families.  Spring, 2005.  Journal of Systemic Therapies.       
• Fischer, J.L., Pidcock, B.W. & Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. (2005).  Family response to      adolescence:  Youth and alcohol.  Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly.  
• Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. & Smith, J. (In review).  Developing a Service Delivery System for Working with Families Experiencing Residential Instability.  The Family Therapy Journal.       
• Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. & McAdory, D.D. (In preparation).  Family Narratives: Voices that validate collective and individual ethnic consciousness.  Journal of Black Studies.         
• Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. (In preparation). Collaborative Juvenile Justice:  Mental     Health Interventions with high risk children and youth:  A literature review.       
• Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. (In preparation).  Practical Applications of the Ericksonian      Method:  Identifying strengths in African American Children.  Contemporary Family Therapy.       
• Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. (In preparation).  Evolving Epistemology in Family Therapy,      Families as an Interpretive Community:  Implications for Therapy, Research, Teaching and Supervision.  Merrill Prentice Hall Publishers.     
• Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. (In preparation).  Therapist Tool:  Helping Parents to Talk      With their Children.  Sage Publishers.     
• Fletcher-Stephens, B.J. (In preparation).  Demystifying marital and family      assessment:  The self of the therapist in a supportive role.  Merrill Prentice Hall Publishers.

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Toni Guajardo, Ph.D.
Core Faculty
(626)397-1345, Email
Office Location: Eureka 16
Office hours:  Mondays 1:00 - 5:00 p.m., Tuesdays 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. and Thursdays (By appointment)

Teaching Interests:

• Clinical Issues in Latina/o Community Mental Health
• Affect Regulation’s Impact on Children of Color
• Finding Different Modalities in Working with Latino/a Clients
• Psychopharmacology’s Role in Relieving Major Depression
• Emerging Theories of Marriage, Family and Children’s Therapy
• The Use of Hip Hop as Projective Techniques in Working with African American Adolescents in the Inner City
• Ethnic Identity Development

Education:
Ph.D. California School of Professional Psychology
M.S. California State University, Los Angeles, Psychology
B.A. California State University, Los Angeles, Speech Pathology/Audiology

Scholarship:

Latino/a Community Presentations:

• 2003 Channel 52 Spanish Language Television, Domestic Violence in the Latino/a Community
• 2004 Channel 52 Spanish Language Television, Alcohol Abuse in the Latino/a Community
• Various Presentations on Latino/a Family Studies Program, Pasadena, 2003  

APA-Women’s Conference 2004  

Chairperson for Thesis Symposium since 2002.

• Focus on critical clinical issues in the Mental Health Community underlined by social justice and diversity.

Thesis submitted for publication to University of California, Irvine. Latino Community Network: 

• Cuento Therapy:  a Non-Traditional Modality with Latino/a Clients     
• Author: Isaac Carreon
• Chair:  Toni Guajardo, PhD.  
• The Psychological Impact of Immigration Process on Salvadoran Children and Adolescents
• Authors:  Sonia Torres & Margarita Fuentes
• Chair:  Toni Guajardo, PhD  

Articles in Process:

• The Efficacy of Non-Traditional Graduate Program on Community Mental Health Services        
• Transformation and Empowerment for Latinas through Non-Traditional Graduate Programs  
• Methamphetamine Use among Young Adults:  Prison versus Treatment  

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Dino Koutsolioutsos, M.A.
Core Faculty
(626) 583-6036, Email
Office Location: Eureka 7
Office hours: By appointment
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

Teaching Interests:

• Clinical Courses
• Research courses
• MFCC Courses
• Many courses of the HD program

Education:
M.A. Loyola Marymount University, Counseling Psychology

Research Interests:

Current Book Project: Pathogenic Elements of Western Society and the Impact of Psychotherapy

• The Development of the American Character
• Psychotherapy as a tool for civic empowerment and social responsibility
• Democracy and the American Nation
• The Personality Disorders across culture and history
• Bereavement and Spirituality
• Spirituality, Ethics and the Psychotherapeutic Process
• Impact of Culture and Society on families and individuals
• Being an underprivileged member in a privileged society
• The various forces of oppression and their impact on human development and mental health
• Feminism
• All aspects of the Immigration experience and the impact on people, families and society
• LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people and families
• Globalization and the American Empire
• The downside and challenges of being born to, or living a privileged life
• The evolution of the American Mental Health System

Scholarship:

Statewide Head Start Training Conference: Panelist presentation: Issues Impacting the Mental Health of Head Start Families. Sacramento, Spring 2002

Pacific Oaks Conference: Latina Families Studies Program. Pasadena: Spring 2001

National Association of Chicanos and Chicanas: Liberation Psychotherapy. Los Angeles, Spring 2003

Pacific Clinics Latino Mental Health Conference:  Liberation Psychotherapy. Los Angeles, May 2003

Latino Behavioral Health Institute: Liberation Psychotherapy. Los Angeles, September 2003.

World Conference of Psychotherapy: The Antisocial Element in the Culture of Psychotherapy. Vienna, Austria, Summer 2003

International Conference of Political Psychology: The Antisocial Element in the Culture of Psychotherapy. Berlin, Germany, Summer 2003  

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Rebecca S. Rojas, Ph.D.
Core Faculty
(626)397-1339, Email
Office Location: Eureka 6
Office hours: By appointment

Teaching Interests:

• Clinical Theories of Child Development
• Psychopathology
• Latina/o History and Culture 
• Ethnicity and Mental Health

Education
Ph.D. University of Southern California, Counseling Psychology
M.A. Pepperdine University, Psychology
B.A. California State University, Long Beach, Music Therapy

Scholarship:  

Research areas of interest have been gender, culture and psychology.  

Rojas, R. S. and Hovey, J. D. (1998). "An examination of undocumented immigration in a Michigan Sample." Poster presentation at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.  

Rojas, R. S. and Kain, C. (1995).  "The Development of the Attitudes Towards Immigration Scale." Unpublished manuscript.  

Rojas, R. S., Kain, C., & Hovey, J. D. (1995) "Proposition 187 examined."  Poster presentation at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, New York, New York.  

Rojas, R. S. (1994) "The Mexican American Female Worker: Perspectives on Gender and Culture in the Workplace." Poster presentation at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.  

Rojas, R. S. (1994) "The Cultural Bias in the Work Environment Measure." Poster presentation at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.  

Rojas, R. S. (1993) "Acculturation and Work Stressors." Poster presentation at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada.  

Publications: Rojas, R. S. (1995). "The Mexican American Female Worker: Perspectives on Gender and Culture in the Workplace." Special Issue, Gender in the  Workplace, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, Vol. 10, No. 6, 163-178.  

Rojas, R.S. (2000). "Proposition 187 Re-Examined: Attitudes toward Immigration among California Voters," Current Psychology, November issue.

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