Faculty

Professor Bussolari is a full professor in the counseling psychology department, who teaches in a clinically focused program with students who are earning graduate degrees in marriage and family therapy and professional clinical counseling. She has published in numerous journals and edited books on the topics of grief — specifically pet loss, chronic illness, and positive coping.

A licensed practicing psychologist in California since 2006, Professor Bussolari has worked as a school...

Belinda Hernandez Arriaga is a Faculty Coordinator for the Masters In Counseling MFT program at USF's South Bay location. Belinda has a doctorate in Education, and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with eighteen years experience working in community mental health, with a specialization in child trauma and Latino Mental Health. Belinda has extensive experience in county mental health where she worked in Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall mental health and San Mateo County Pre to Three High Risk...

Professor Uhler has over two decades of experience in community mental health. Her experience includes managing an adolescent alcohol and drug treatment program, overseeing after-school programs for at-risk youth, and facilitating groups on racial identity and the immigrant experience. She specialized in providing support for victims of crime, specifically child abuse and domestic violence.

Professor Uhler is the program coordinator for the Marriage & Family Therapy (MFT) program in the...

Professor Gena Castro Rodriguez is a psychologist and licensed marriage and family therapist (CA #49717) who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Sacramento State University, a master’s in counseling psychology from the University of San Francisco, and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the California Institute for Integral Studies. In clinical private practice, she specializes in trauma and young women using a control mastery and relational framework.

Professor Castro Rodriguez...

Dr. Hsiu-Lan Cheng's research examines help-seeking attitudes and mental health concerns (particularly depression, body image concerns, disordered eating) from the intersection of racial and ethnic minority psychology, objectification theory, attachment theory, and positive psychology. She is particularly interested in understanding the contextualization of mental health and psychological wellbeing within the sociocultural milieu of racism, sexism, classism, immigration, and acculturation. Dr...

Lisa De La Rue, PhD is an associate professor in the counseling psychology department. Professor De La Rue’s research adopts a social-ecological framework, which aims to delineate the gendered, cultural, and contextual associations of violence and victimization. Much of her research has focused on supporting people who have been impacted by violence and/or mass incarceration, with a focus on increasing access to trauma-responsive and culturally-responsive services. She has largely focused on the...

Dr. Daniela Domínguez is an associate professor in the counseling psychology department, where she coordinates the Marriage and Family Therapy program at the Santa Rosa Location. She is a licensed psychologist and professional clinical counselor with a special interest in liberation psychology, anti-racism, migrant justice, and gender and sexuality matters.

Dr. Leyla Pérez-Gualdrón is an associate professor of the Department of Counseling Psychology at USF. She holds a licensure in psychology from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas, Venezuela. During her training in Venezuela, she provided mental health services and counseling in a variety of settings, including inner city schools K-12. She has a master's degree and a PhD in counseling psychology from Boston College. She has conducted group interventions in school settings such as a...

Jason D. Reynolds (Taewon Choi), PhD is an associate professor in the counseling psychology department. His research focuses on the areas of transracial adoption, identity development, names, mentorship, racial and ethnic socialization, qualitative research and psychobiography, social justice training, and the treatment of complex trauma. He enjoys mentoring and learning from his graduate students.

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of San Francisco, Professor Reynolds worked as...

Patricia Rojas-Zambrano, Ed. D, LMFT: Born and raised in Colombia, Patricia is psychotherapist, educator, a community advocate, and an artist. Her research explores issues of decolonization in education and psychology using somatic, arts-based and other qualitative methods. Patricia has spent 30 years working in community mental health and social justice issues in Colombia and with immigrant and refugee communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also works with the Misak indigenous community...

Christine Yeh is professor of counseling psychology at the USF School of Education, and recently completed a 5-year term as co-director of the USF Center for Research, Artistic, and Scholarly Excellence (CRASE). Her research and service focuses primarily on developing, implementing, and evaluating culturally responsive school and community based programs for historically targeted communities.

Professor Yeh has received numerous grants and fellowships to support her research including a 5-year...

John is a native Southern Californian, born and raised in the Los Angeles area. He decided to become a therapist while working as a missionary in South Africa when he was nineteen, and realized he loved helping others. Working concurrently in local government while attending Pacific Oaks College, John started training at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and finished his internship at the Southern California Counseling Center. Once licensed and retired from government work, John started a private...

Patty Cowick, MFT, is a licensed therapist of 28 years who has worked in a variety of settings: public schools, community mental health and private practice. She has been teaching at USF for the past 20 years. She teaches in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program and the School Counseling Program. Her courses include: Group Counseling, Theory and Practice, Parent and Child Therapy, Psychopathology, Life Transitions, Cross Cultural Counseling and Fieldwork Supervision. Her teaching style...

Marissa Floro, PhD (she/her) is an adjunct faculty member in the counseling psychology department. Dr. Floro attempts to connect her research in intersections of identities, her clinical work primarily serving QTBIPoC, and her teaching under the ultimate goal of dismantling systems of oppression for the liberation of all.

Dr. Ramsey Khasho is a licensed clinical psychologist and Chief Clinical Officer at Children’s Health Council in Palo Alto, California. He is a clinical assistant professor (affiliated) at Stanford University School of Medicine, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and an adjunct faculty member at the University of San Francisco, School of Education, Counseling Psychology Department. Dr. Khasho is also Traineeship Coordinator for USF's South Bay Campus. He teaches Traineeship I and II and has...

Dr. Pardis Khosravi is a licensed psychologist who specializes in working with adolescents and transitional aged youth. She is currently the Clinical Director at Children's Health Council, a community mental health agency services children, teens, and young adults with mental health and learning challenges.

Dr. Khosravi has provided therapeutic and assessment services in a wide range of settings, including community mental health, schools, intensive outpatient programs, residential treatment...

Professor Hamaseh Kianfar is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of California Davis, a Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of San Francisco, and a Doctoral degree in Organization and Leadership from the University of San Francisco.  

Professor Kianfar has worked with the adult and juvenile criminal justice system, the psychiatric emergency unit, and in community mental health for over 18 years.  In...

Alyssa Kianidehkian is a Bay Area native and proud USF alum, as well as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in working with children/adolescents, families, and young adults. Alyssa has 10+ years of experience working with youth and families in a wide range of community-based settings, including school-based, wraparound, outpatient programs, and in residential treatment centers. She has extensive experience providing individual, family, and group therapy in these settings.

Gibrán Méndez, LMFT is an adjunct professor of counseling psychology. He holds licensure in marriage and family therapy from the Board of Behavioral Sciences and is the director of quality improvement at Stanford Sierra Youth and Families in Sacramento, Ca. During his work as a therapist, he provided community-based mental health services to youth from birth to 20 years of age and their families to reduce barriers and empower families to solve serious challenges together. He has a master’s...

Dr. Rafael Padilla is an adjunct professor at USF, exclusively teaching the South Bay MFT students. He teaches Law and Ethics, Counseling Methods, Relationship Counseling, and the Traineeship class during the 3rd year of the program. His area of expertise is Forensic Psychology and he is often in court testifying as an expert witness in Family Court matters. Dr. Padilla has been qualified as an expert on child development, child custody, parenting plans and many other categories.

Colette Reid-Horn is a New York native from a strong Caribbean background with more than twenty-five years of experience in higher education and mental health. She has also called California home for the past nineteen years. Colette proudly exudes her cultural values and beliefs in the work that she engages with. She believes in the Jamaican motto of her parent’s rich heritage, “Out of many, one people.” Colette is a licensed clinical social worker and credentialed counselor. She invests her...

Litsa has been a part-time faculty member in the marriage and family therapy program at the Santa Rosa Campus since 2019. 

In addition to her teaching, Litsa is the owner and co-founder of the Santa Rosa Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy a private group practice specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders using evidence based treatments as well as providing intensive training for post degree masters clinicians pursuing their hours for licensure.