Faculty Research Interests

Heather Beeson, DMFT

DMFT, Marital and Family Therapy - Loma Linda University, 2019

• Program evaluation research
• Program design and development
• Community mental health
• Clinical work with sexual and gender minority populations
• Prevention and early intervention programs
• Professional mentoring
• Self-of-the-therapist

Bryan Cafferky, PhD

PhD, Marriage and Family Therapy — Kansas State University, 2015

• Meta-analysis
• Structural equation modeling
• Qualitative research
• Bowen family systems
• Family violence
• Military families

Elizabeth J. James, DMFT

Doctor of Marital and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2023

• Child and adolescent
• Pregnancy, prenatal, and postpartum depression
• Attachment and bonding
• Family systems
• Relationship issues
• Trauma and EMDR
• Neurodiversity/neurodivergence
• Behavioral issues
• DIR/Floortime and ABA
• Clinical supervision and mentorship
• Advancement of marriage and family therapy
• Person of the therapist

Zephon D. Lister, PhD

PhD, Marriage and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2010

• Couples and chronic illness
• Medical family therapy/integrated behavioral health
• Religion and family functioning
• Global mental health
• Low dose interventions for acute and low resource settings

Lena Lopez Bradley, PhD

PhD, Marriage and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2013

• Couples therapy
• At-risk youth
• Anger management
• Crisis intervention and trauma
• Clinical training and supervision
• School-based programs
• Mandated clients
• Program development

Michelle A. Minyard-Widmann, MS

MS, Child Life Development/Child Life — University of La Verne, 1995

• Child development
• Stress and coping in the hospital environment
• Grief and loss
• Program development

Shondel Mishaw, DMFT

DMFT, Marital and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2024

• Community mental health
• Self-of-the-therapist
• Clinical supervision and mentoring
• Needs assessment
• Family and community violence
• Grief and loss

Winetta A. Oloo, PhD

PhD, Marriage and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2006

• Recovery-oriented care
• Clinical supervision
• Adolescent and transitional-aged youth development
• Treating severe mental illness

Ashley Park, DMFT

DMFT, Marital and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2022

• Behavioral health integration
• Chronic illness
• Stress
• Grief and loss
• Attachment
• Self of the therapist
• Family systems

Nichola Ribadu, DMFT

Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2008

• At-risk youth
• Group homes for at-risk youth
• Program development
• Staff development and trainings (group home, managed care, community mental health)
• Community mental health
• Professional mentoring
• Narrative therapy
• Diversity
• Self-of-therapist

Alisha Saavedra, MA

MA, Psychology (emphasis in Child Development) — California State University, San Bernardino, 2009

• Child development
• Stress and coping in the hospital environment
• Grief and loss
• Clinical training and supervision

Kristen Watkins, DMFT

DMFT, Marital and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2025

• Grief and loss
• Child development
• Play therapy

Jacqueline M. Williams-Reade, PhD

PhD, Medical Family Therapy — East Carolina University, 2011

• Medical family therapy
• Adult and pediatric illness
• Palliative and hospice care
• Maternal mental health
• Burnout
• Grief and loss
• Qualitative research
• Women's professional development in academia

Monique E. Willis, PhD

PhD, Marital and Family Therapy — Loma Linda University, 2014

• Caregivers and chronic illness
• Intersectional justice, health equity, and wellness
• Person of the therapist and self-care
• Black and brown women's leadership in academia
• Qualitative research

Hector M. Betancourt

PhD, Psychology — University of California, Los Angeles, 1983

• Social, cultural, and health psychology
• Cognition (attribution)-emotion processes in interpersonal and inter-group behavior
• Role of culture in psychological processes and behavior
• Culture, diversity, and behavior in health and social issues
• Cultural and psychological factors in social inequities and health disparities

Maya Boustani

PhD, Psychology (Child and Adolescent Clinical Science) — Florida International University, 2016

• Child and adolescent evidence-based treatments
• Mental health prevention and promotion
• Community-based research
• Dissemination and implementation research

Kendal C. Boyd

PhD, Psychology — Fuller Theological Seminary Graduate School of Psychology, 1999

• Psychology of religion and spirituality
• Cognitive behavior therapy

Colleen A. Brenner

PhD, Psychology — University of Indiana, Bloomington, 2006

• Serious mental illness (focus on schizophrenia and bipolar disorder)
• Clinical neuropsychology
• Electroencephalography (EEG)
• Resiliency, self-efficacy, overall health, and well-being in serious mental illness
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp)

Patricia M. Flynn

PhD, Psychology — Loma Linda University, 2005

• Cultural and health psychology
• Health disparities and inequities
• Cultural and psychological factors in health behavior and outcome
• Cultural competence training in graduate medical education
• Implicit bias in patient-provider clinical interactions

Richard E. Hartman

PhD, Behavior, Brain and Cognition — Washington University, 2001

• Behavioral neuroscience with an emphasis on improving the brain's resiliency against neurodegenerative conditions (e.g., Alzheimer's, stroke, traumatic brain injury) via a variety of therapeutic strategies, but especially diet/nutrition

Grace J. Lee

PhD, Clinical Psychology — Fuller Theological Seminary Graduate School of Psychology, 2009

• Clinical neuropsychology
• Cognitive aging
• Neurodegenerative disorders
• Neuroimaging correlates of cognition and behavior

Holly E. R. Morrell

PhD, Clinical Psychology — Texas Tech University, 2007

• Combustible cigarette use
• E-cigarette use
• Video game addiction
• Advanced multivariate analysis

Kelly R. Morton

PhD, Life-Span Developmental Psychology — Bowling Green State University, 1992

• Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), negative emotions, and physical health outcomes
• Stress and health
• Social support and health
• Religion and health
• Care quality in primary care
• Primary care psychology
• Dietary intake and morbidity and mortality

Aarti Nair

PhD, Neuropsychology — San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, 2015

• Autism spectrum disorder
• Early-onset psychosis
• Neuroimaging
• Social cognition
• Translational neuroscience
• Pediatric neuropsychology

Cameron L. Neece

PhD, Clinical Psychology — University of California, Los Angeles, 2011

• Developmental psychology
• Childhood disorder (emphasis on intellectual disabilities, autism, and disruptive behavior disorders)
• Parenting and family processes
• Treatment outcome research (focus on mindfulness approaches)

David B. Newman

PhD, Social Psychology — University of Southern California, 2019

• Well-being
• Social psychology
• Personality psychology
• Health psychology
• Emotions
• Ecological Momentary Assessment
• Multilevel modeling

Bridgette J. Peteet

PhD, Clinical Psychology — University of Cincinnati, 2005

• Multicultural psychology
• Substance use prevention and intervention
• Health disparities and inequities
• Cultural consciousness/equity and inclusion training

Janet Sonne

PhD, Clinical Psychology — University of California, Los Angeles, 1981

• Ethical and legal issues in professional practice of clinical psychology (ethical/legal standards; ethical/legal decision-making; therapist misconduct)
• Interpersonal dynamics in the psychotherapy dyad
• Supervision/consultation
• Adult and child sexual abuse
• Adult and adolescent eating disorders
• Adult and adolescent suicide

Tori R. Van Dyk

PhD, Clinical Psychology — University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2016

• Pediatric health psychology
• Pediatric health behavior promotion and intervention
• Sleep
• Pediatric pain and headache/migraine
• Child and adolescent mental health
• Integrated behavioral health

David A. Vermeersch

PhD, Clinical Psychology — Brigham Young University, 1998

• Psychotherapy outcome
• Psychotherapy quality management
• Therapist effects on outcome
• Effects of therapist/patient feedback on outcome
• Reducing deterioration in psychotherapy
• Effectiveness and patient-focused research
• Outcome test construction

Qais Alemi, PhD

PhD, Social Policy and Social Research — Loma Linda University, 2013

• Psychosocial needs of populations affected by political violence
• Stigma, prejudice, racial, and religious discrimination
• Immigrant and refugee acculturation, adjustment, identity, and resiliency
• Mental health help-seeking behaviors

Kelly Baek, PhD

PhD, Social Policy and Social Research — Loma Linda University, 2018

• Mental health
• Culturally-sensitive interventions
• Program development and evaluation
• Community-based research

Monte Butler, PhD

PhD, Social Work — University of Utah, 2003

• Social work administration
• Medicare

Kimberly R. Freeman, PhD

PhD, Clinical Psychology — Loma Linda University, 1999

• Child mental health
• Assessment
• Childhood trauma
• Adolescent self-harm
• Community based wellness

Donna Gallup, EdD

Organizational Change and Leadership — University of Southern California, 2019

• Workforce development in human services, particularly with vulnerable populations

Talolo Lepale, DSW

Doctor of Social Work - University of St. Thomas, 2025

• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)
• Individual psychotherapy
• Team building
• Psychosocial oncology
• Medical social work
• Working with adults and older adults
• Trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, and end-of-life

Susanne Montgomery, PhD

PhD, Health Behavior/EPI — University of Michigan, 1987

• Research design and analyses
• Translational research (clinical and applied)
• Community involved and based research
• Health disparities research
• Program evaluation and evaluation research
  • Research design and analyses
  • Translational research (clinical and applied)
  • Community involved and based research
  • Health disparities research
  • Program evaluation and evaluation research

Gabriela Navarro, MSW

MSW, Social Work — Loma Linda University, 2017

• Individual psychotherapy
• Medical social work
• Trauma, anxiety, depression, and end-of-life
• Adolescent mental health
• Domestic violence
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Motivational interviewing
• Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Larry Ortiz, PhD

PhD, Sociology — State University of New York, Buffalo, 1987

• Race and ethnic studies
• Critical theory
• Latino/a issues
• Community practice
• Program evaluation
• Social justice practice

Lynn Raine, PhD

PhD, Social Work — Smith College, 2019

• Mental health
• Trauma
• Psychodynamic therapy
• Latino/Latina therapy
• Social work education

Alex Dubov, PhD, DrPH

PhD, Health Care Ethics — Duquesne University, 2017
DrPH, Public Health — Loma Linda University, 2025

• mHealth interventions
• Behavioral economics
• Medical decision-making
• Conjoint analysis
• HIV prevention
• Implementation science

Susanne B. Montgomery, PhD

PhD, Health Behavior/EPI — University of Michigan, 1987

• Research design and analyses
• Translational research (clinical and applied)
• Community involved and based research
• Health disparities research