By Donna LaPaglia, PsyD, ABPP

Leadership is not a stand-alone competency in psychological training. The APA Competency Benchmarks in Professional Psychology list leadership within the systems cluster, the 15th out of sixteen competencies, as sidenote to management. At SCP we believe leadership development is central to identity formation for professional psychologists, and helps ECPs find professional direction, clarity of purpose, and confidence to pursue professional goals that increase one’s effectiveness across pursuits. The Education and Training committee led by Drs. Allison LoPilato and Misha Bogamaz, in conjunction with the Division 12 board, have created a leadership program that focuses on developing leadership identity through enhancing self-awareness of an individual’s existing leadership talents and competencies. In so doing we are expanding our focus to center our community on the inclusion, support, and mentorship of young psychologists. Our goal is to come alongside our fellows and support the gifts, talents, and unique perspectives they already possess and to facilitate the development of a strong psychologist-leadership identity. Our hope is that these fellows will be future leaders of the division and will enrich the division 12 community moving forward. And after reading their narratives, you will see that there is much to be excited about….

Qimin Liu, PhD

Qimin Liu, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Boston University in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Dr. Liu earned his Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences (Clinical Science & Quantitative Methods) from Vanderbilt University. He completed a Health Service Psychology Internship at the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Psychiatry. Before that, he received a Master’s degree in applied and computational mathematics and statistics from the University of Notre Dame and Bachelor’s degrees in philosophy, psychology, and mathematics from the University of Washington. Dr. Liu’s research focuses on (1) emotional disturbances across development (e.g., irritability, depression, suicide), (2) statistical method and software development (e.g., intensive longitudinal data models, data mining algorithms), (3) intersectional marginalization and health equity (e.g., sexual and gender minority health). Dr. Liu has diverse clinical experiences (e.g., mood and trauma/stressor-related disorders) across settings (e.g., academic medical center, VA). At Boston University, Dr. Liu currently provides clinical services through the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and directs the Quantitative Psychopathology Laboratory.

Praise Iyiewuare, MPH, PhD

Praise Iyiewuare, MPH, PhD is a Lyman T. Johnson Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Kentucky. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Vermont and completed her predoctoral internship at the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University with a  concentration in sociomedical sciences. Her research focuses on pleasure as central to healing for Black women,  particularly as related to sexual and reproductive health, experiences of trauma, and mood disorders. She has worked on a diverse array of topics in mental and public health, contributing to studies of: Black women’s sexual health and wellbeing, mechanisms of treatment for seasonal affective disorder, delivery of prolonged exposure to individuals with opioid use disorder, integration of medication assisted treatment for  substance use within primary care settings, and quality of mental health and substance use care for Veterans and military servicemembers. Praise’s clinical approach is grounded in CBT and ACT frameworks with an eye towards cultural humility and explicit exploration of the impact of systematic oppression. Her clinical experience includes working with women with mental health concerns related to reproductive life events (e.g., pregnancy, childbirth, menopause), victims of violent injury (e.g., gunshot and/or stab wounds), immigrants and refugees, and cancer patients and their caregivers.

Jared Boot-Haury, PsyD

Jared Boot-Haury, PsyD (he/they) is a licensed clinical psychologist, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, and adjunct professor in the School of Nursing and Health Professions Clinical Psychology PsyD program at the University of San Francisco. They are passionate about educating the next generation of psychologists and serve as president-elect of APA Division 12’s Graduate Students and Early Career Professionals section. Jared also serves as a certified mentor for individuals seeking certification through the World Professional Association of Transgender Health. In addition, Dr. Boot-Haury works in private practice, seeing couples and individuals using acceptance and commitment therapy and emotionally focused couples therapy interventions, and works as an LGBTQ+ Research Fellow at Palo Alto University. Dr. Boot-Haury has authored several  publications and has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on mental health and health disparities among LGBTQ+ communities and LGBTQ+ cultural competency training best practices. Their research to date has focused on improving mental health care experiences for LGBTQ+ communities and exploring minority stressors within LGBTQ+ populations with an emphasis on asexual individuals; they were awarded the 2023 APA Division 44 Transgender Research Award for their work. Dr. Boot-Haury also serves as the Policy and Government Affairs Committee Chair of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, where he focuses on translating research into practice through policies and positions that encourage more affirming healthcare practices for health professionals who work with LGBTQ+ people.

Claudia Hristova

Claudia Hristova is beginning a two-year Clinical Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neuropsychology, Cognitive Aging, and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias at the Banner Sun Health Research Institute. She has worked with the South Florida Institute on Aging and continues her involvement with the Alzheimer’s Association. She has also taught  Introductory psychology courses to undergraduate and master’s students at Ho Chi Minh University in Vietnam. Her research interests are centered on Alzheimer’s and other dementias, particularly new treatments and early diagnosis methods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she presented posters on the impact of COVID-19 on dementia progression and caregiver burden. Claudia’s major project involved developing a Telehealth treatment manual for caregivers of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, incorporating positive psychology and well-being therapy to provide therapeutic services at home. Passionate about working with older adults, Claudia is dedicated to addressing the unique challenges they face and advancing the field of neuropsychology and geropsychology.

Evelyn Cho, PhD

Dr. Evelyn Cho is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and an incoming assistant professor at the University of Oregon’s Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health and the Department of Psychology. She received her  training as a clinical child psychologist at the University of Missouri and completed her predoctoral internship at the UCLA Semel Institute. Her work aims to support high-quality delivery of evidence-based practice (EBP) to youths and families in everyday clinical settings. As a mental health services researcher, her primary research interests are to (1) understand the process and key mechanisms through which providers learn to deliver EBPs; and (2) develop implementation support tools that enhance EBP implementation for youth mental health providers. Her work has focused on gauging community providers’ use of evidence-based treatment and assessment strategies, developing clinician support tools to enhance EBP adherence, and evaluating treatment outcomes for minoritized youths. Clinically, she has received training in manualized EBPs for child and adolescent anxiety, depression, disruptive behavior, and  trauma at the University of Missouri’s Center for Evidence-Based Youth Mental Health and the UCLA Semel Institute. As a postdoctoral fellow for the NIMH-funded Youth FIRST Study, she has received training in FIRST, a transdiagnostic, principle-guided treatment for youth internalizing and externalizing concerns, and provides consultation to community clinicians in their delivery of FIRST.

Isabelle Lanser, PhD

Dr. Isabelle Lanser is a licensed clinical psychologist and co-founder of Cypress Mental Health. She is currently a Social Justice Policy Analyst at the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge working to improve the scalability and accessibility of mental health services and reduce inequities in mental health services and research. Dr. Lanser earned her B.A. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before completing her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Lanser trained extensively in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and psychodynamic therapy at the UCLA Psychology Clinic and the UCLA Screening and Treatment for Anxiety & Depression (STAND) Clinic. Dr. Lanser completed her predoctoral internship at UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services where she specialized in short-term, evidence-based treatments for students with eating disorders, unipolar and bipolar depression, anxiety, grief/loss, cannabis use disorder, and traumatic disorders. She completed her postdoctoral training at the UCLA Anxiety and Depression Research Center where she examined mindfulness as a preventative treatment for youth at risk for developing depression and anxiety disorders. Dr. Lanser has conducted research on loneliness in young adults, focusing on how mental illnesses can disrupt relationships by taking young people out of their social worlds and making it difficult for them to maintain or re-establish interpersonal connections.

Rita Rivera, PsyD

Rita M. Rivera, PsyD, is a clinical psychology postdoctoral fellow at Yale University School of Medicine. She earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Neuropsychology at Albizu University and completed her clinical residency at Duke University. Dr. Rivera has clinical & research experience working with multicultural & multilingual individuals, immigrant populations, college students, patients with neurological conditions, and trauma survivors in the United States and Latin America. Her clinical interests include anxiety and depressive disorders, trauma, neurocognitive presentations, and cross-cultural adjustment. Dr. Rivera adheres to a biopsychosocial model & integrates cognitive-behavioral, trauma-informed, and relational-cultural frameworks. Currently, she serves as the Early Career Psychologist Representative of the American Academy of Clinical Psychology (AACP) and as a board member of the APA’s Society of Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy (Div. 49). Dr. Rivera is a Hispanic/Latina/Honduran clinician, a first-generation immigrant, and a former international student.