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.
Director
(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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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
• MFT 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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