Meet Our Instructors


Our courses are taught by local and national professionals who are experts in their field. Our instructors employ a range of educational tools for maximum impact: lectures, assigned readings, group discussions, demonstrations and videos.

Our small class size allows you to forge connections with fellow students, and instructors alike, providing a forum for professional camaraderie, networking and referrals-even after you have completed the course.


Instructor Index:



Kristin Baber, MSW, LICSW


Kristin Baber, MSW, LICSW, received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Policy from Duke University and a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Washington. Kristie is a Children's Mental Health specialist, and completed the Certificate Program in Adoption and Foster Care Therapy in 2008.

Ms. Baber has been a practicing clinician for ten years, and in addition to her private practice, is the lead clinical social worker at the largest neurodevelopmental center in the state of Washington. Kristie teaches regularly at adoption agencies and child welfare divisions, as a field and classroom instructor at the University of Washington School of Social Work, and trains professionals of varied disciplines at national conferences including the Child Welfare League of America and the Division of Early Childhood. Since its inception, she has sat on the Advisory Board for the University of Washington's post-graduate Psychological Trauma Certificate Program. Her practice specialty is Infant Mental Health and Early Childhood Development.




Rob Baker, MA, LMFT, LMHC, CSAT


Rob Baker, MA, LMFT, LMHC, CSAT, received his Masters Degree in Counseling from the University of San Francisco in 1979. He is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist. Rob provides marriage, individual, group and family therapy sessions through his private practice, Next Step Counseling & Coaching, in Bellevue.

In addition to his private practice, Rob worked previously for 5 years with Bellevue Community Services as part of their sexual deviancy treatment program therapy team providing individual assessments, individual and group therapy services and participating in team consultations.




Renee Balodis-Cox, MA, LMHC


Renee Balodis-Cox, MA, LMHC, holds a Master of Arts degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from City University and a Master of Science in behavioral medicine from the Behavioral Physiology Institute. Renee is a licensed mental health counselor and child mental health specialist.

Currently working in private practice, Renee spend 11 years in community mental health working in a variety of roles from the chronically mentally ill, to child and family therapy, and finally becoming a clinical manager.

In addition to her private practice, Renee was president of the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association in 2007-08.  She has also conducted seminars for law enforcement on de-escalation of mentally ill individuals.  Currently she teaches graduate students in Psychopathology and Psychopharmacology. 




Rhoda Berlin, MS, LMFT


Rhoda Berlin, MS, LMFT, received her master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seattle Pacific University in 1987.  Rhoda has over twenty years of experience with special populations, consultation and program development.  She is Korean-American, one half of a biracial, multicultural couple that has raised three biracial, multicultural children.




Julia Bledsoe, MD


Julia Bledsoe, MD is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington (UW) and is one of two staff pediatricians at the UW Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Diagnostic and Prevention Network in Seattle.  She founded the UW's Center for Adoption Medicine.  She provides pre-adoption consultations, post-placement exams and ongoing general pediatric care for adopted children, although the growth of her pediatric practice is limited to siblings of children she already sees.  She has traveled to orphanges in Romania, Russia, China and Guatemala.  Dr Bledsoe has two children who were adopted from Korea.




Gusty-Lee Boulware, PhD, BCBA-D


Gusty-Lee is the co-director of PEERS Play and has over 20 years of experience providing support and intervention for children with social, communication, emotional regulation and behavioral challenges and their families.  In her practice she provides social groups, parent support and coaching, workshops, and school consultations.  She also assists families with IEP development, 504 plans, program evaluation and positive behavior support plans.  She earned her doctorate from the University of Washington where she studied developmental and behavioral best practices, infant mental health and parent-child interation.  Recently she completed her dual certification in attachment-focused thearpy and adoption and foster care therapy.  She has taught graduate level courses at the University of Washington, provides training and workshops international and has published in Focus on Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Young Exceptional Children, and Topics in Early Childhood Special Education.




Harriet Cannon, MC, LMFT, LMHC


Harriet Cannon, MC, LMFT, LMHC, receive her master's degree in counseling from Seattle University in 1985. Harriet has over 25 years of experience including mental health/chemical dependency program development, consultation, and private practice specializing in multicultural, biracial populations. Ms. Cannon has lived and worked as a clinician in South America and has rich personal experiences navigating maritial issues while raising children across cultures.

More information for Harriet can be found at: www.harrietcannon.com




Heather Carmichael Olson, PhD


Heather Carmichael Olson, PhD, an experienced presenter, is a faulty member at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children's Research Institute.  She is an attending clinical psychologist in the University of Washington FAS Clinic and directs the Early Childhood Mental Health Clinic at Seattle Children's Hospital.  In these clinical settings, she works with children and families, and has done so with great enjoyment for many years.  Her research interest and publications focus on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) intervention, the impact of parental substance abuse on child development and early childhood mental health.




Hilarie M Cash, PhD, LMHC


Hilarie M Cash, PhD, received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts in 1976, a M.A. from the University of Northern Colorado in 1982 and a Ph.D from Saybook University in 1989.

Dr. Cash has been in private practice providing general mental health services to the public since 1981.  In 1999 she Co-Founded and has been the Director of Internet/Computer Addiction Services in Redmond, WA where they provide outpatient treatment for sex addicts and their partners along with outpatient treatment programs for video game addicts.  In 2009, Dr. Cash Co-Founded and became the Co-Director of reStart: Internet Addiction Recovery Program in Fall City, WA, the first dedicated in-patient facility for video game internet addictions in North America.




Yolanda Comparan, MSW


Yolanda Comparan, MSW is the founder of Adoption Referral and Information Services (ARIS) and Adoption Success Coach (ASC), created to respond to pre-adoptive families, adoptive families and adoption professionals having a difficult time finding each other.  She has expertise in both domestic and international adoption.

Yolanda and her husband adopted their teen daughter and son at the age of 39 months while living in San Diego.  They have an open adoption with both children's birth families.

For more information on Yolanda, ARIS and ASC:

www.adoptionreferralservices.com

www.adoptionsuccesscoach.com

 




Elizabeth A. Cooper, Attorney at Law


Elizabeth A. Cooper, Attorney at Law is a partner and has been in practice with Lybeck and Murphy since 1996. Ms. Cooper focuses her active civil litigation practice on the defense of healthcare providers. She also represents clients in products liability, estate and guardianship litigation, as well as in employment and general personal injury matters. Ms. Cooper graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Political Science in 1990. She obtained her JD from Seattle University School of Law in 1995. She is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts of Oregon and Alaska. She is a member of the Washington, Oregon and Alaska State Bar Association: the King County Bar Association; and Washington Women Lawyers.




Mary-Carter Creech, MA, LMHC


Mary-Carter Creech, MA, LMHC, has worked nearly 20 years with families who have come together through foster care and adoption. Her private practice is in association with Deborah Gray, MSW, the founder of Nurturing Attachments. Mary-Carter has developed a unique therapeutic approach that partners with parents to strengthen the parent/child attachment in the beginning stages of a foster care/adoption placement using an in-home therapy model. Ms. Creech is one of the founders and instructors of the Certificate Program in Adoption and Foster Care Therapy.




Astrid Dabbeni


Astrid Dabbeni, has led youth adoption support groups, and worked and volunteered for adoption related organizations for over 14 years. Astrid's life-long interest in adoption is rooted in her own adoption at the age of four with her older sister from Colombia, South America. Astrid is the Executive Director of Adoption Mosaic, based in Portland, OR.




Julian Davies, MD


Julian Davies, MD is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington (UW) and also one of two staff pediatricians at the UW Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Diagnostic and Prevention Network in Seattle.  It is the longest-running FAS clinic in the country.  He is also the Co-Director of the UW's Center for Adoption Medicine, where he provides pre-adoption consultations, post-placement evaluations, and ongoing general pediatric care for adopted children.   2/3 of his patients were fostered or adopted.  Dr. Davies also created the award-winnning online resource for pediatrics and adoption: www.adoptmed.org.  His interest inf foster care and adoption started in Russia, where he started a summer arts and clown camp for Russian orphans.




Richard J. Delaney, PhD


Richard J. Delaney, PhD, is a nationally known speaker and author of several books on parenting challenging children. He has years of experience providing therapy to foster and adoptive families and is nationally recognized as a insightful, constructive, and creative presenter.




Marvin W. Eidinger, Jr., PhD, JD


Marvin W. Eidinger, Jr. is a licensed psychologist and attorney.  He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Washington and his doctorate in Counseling Psychology at Washington State University.  His dissertation addressed the existence of the Criminal Personality.  Dr. Eidinger has been a practicing psychologist since 1982 in clinics, hospitals and as a sole practitioner either full-time or part-time.

Dr. Eidinger wrote and produced the world's first scoring and analyses microcomputer program for the MMPI.  The technology was utilized by the California Institute of Technology for more than a decade in their counseling center.  He also worked for Rockwell International and The Boeing Company in fields of Human Resources, Ethics, Employee Surveys and Information Technology.

Dr. Eidinger completed his Juris Doctorate at Seattle University and became a member of the Washington State Bar in 2002.  Since that time, he has practiced family law as well as advocated for professionals in the field of mental health.  He is a certified mediator and collaborative attorney.  His law firm, Marvin W. Eidinger, Jr., PLLC focuses on helping small agencies and individual practitioners address HIPAA requirements.




Lisa Erickson, MS, LMHC


Lisa Erickson, MS, LMHC, provides individual psychotherapy, case consultation and clinical supervision from her office in Seattle. She is influenced by object relations and likes doing in-depth psychotherapy with a developmental perspective. She has been in private practice since 1987 specializing in working with adult giftedness, addictions, depression, Axis II diagnoses, and/or histories of physical and sexual abuse.

Lisa graduated from the University of Kansas in 1975 with a double major in psychology and human development and family life. She got her masters of science degree in counseling psychology in 1981 from the University of Kansas.

Lisa has trained other clinicians since the late 1970's. She has taught substance abuse treatment in the graduate psychology program at Antioch University since the late 1980's and professional ethics periodically since 2003. She has also taught many continuing education programs around the state.

She is the past president of the Seattle Counselors Association, the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association and is a past co-chair of the Department of Health Advisory Committee for Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists and Social Workers.

For more information about Lisa, visit her website: www.LisaErickson.net.




Scott M. Granet, MSW, LCSW


Scott M. Granet, MSW, LCSW, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA in 1976 and a Masters in Social Work from New York University in 1979.

Mr. Granet is currently a clinical social worker with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in Palo Alto, CA providing individual, couples, family and group therapy in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. He is also the director of the OCD-BDD Clinic of Northern California where he primarily sees individuals and families with OCD, BDD, Trichotillomania and other anxiety disorders.




Deborah Gray, MSW, MPA


Deborah Gray, MSW, MPA, specializes in attachment, grief, and trauma. She has spent over 15,000 hours in the last 15 years counseling children who have been fostered or adopted from the United States or internationally. Her private practice philosophy is one of empowering parents with information and techniques so that their skills and styles are used in meeting the needs of their children. Her passion is to help children and their families to develop close, satisfying relationships.

Deborah stresses practical approaches of promoting attachment, shaping behavior, and working through trauma and grief. She was a keynote speaker for the 2005 ATTACh conference and has keynoted national conferences including the Joint Council of International Children's Services, American Association of Adoption Attorneys, Midwest Adoption Conference and Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption. She is a faculty member for the University of Washington's Trauma Certificate program and has taught for Portland State University and Northwest Adoption Exchange post-graduate foster care and adoption therapy programs. She trains regularly for public and non-profit foster care and adoption programs.

Deborah Gray is the author of numerous articles and the books, Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents, Perspectives Press, 2002. and her second book, Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience after Neglect and Trauma.




Jullie Gray, MSW, LICSW, CMC, CPG


Jullie Gray is a healthcare and aging expert with over 25 years of experience.  She is the principal of Aging Wisdom, a care management and consulting firm in the Seattle area.

Jullie holds a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Washington where she specialized in healthcare.  She is licensed as an independent clinical social worker and holds certificates in the following areas: as a care manager, a professional guardian and in geriatric mental health.

She is a published author, enjoys teaching and frequently speaks to community groups.  As former Vice Chair of the City of Kirkland's Senior Council,  Jullie co-wrote and produced a multi award winning educational video about elder abuse and lead a community campaign to prevent falls among older adults.

All of Jullie's training and experience in the field supports her work as a versatile, dedicated and practical advocate for seniors and their families.




Cynthia Healey, PhD


Dr. Healey is a researcher and clinical director with the Oregon Social Learning Center (OSLC).  Prior to receiving her PhD in school psychology in 2009, she worked as a clinician and contributor on several OSLC intervention studies and community-based programs with a specialization in early childhood risk prevention and treatment.  She currently works as a research associate with the Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) team at OSLC.  Her research interests include the developmental and implementation of child-directed and family-based interventions for high-risk populations.  Specifically, she is interested in the development of self-regulation and stress reactivity in early childhood, attention and its role in development, mechanisms of resilience, parenting practices for caregivers of infants and children with intensive needs, and clinical applications of mindfulness practices.  Dr. Healey's clinical practice and research has included work with traumatized and maltreated populations, families involved in child welfare, children with developmental disabilities, infants and toddlers with prenatal substance exposure and their parents, and school-based sytems change initiatives for at-risk students.




Darla Henry, PhD, MSW


Darla Henry, PhD, MSW, is a Social Worker, Trainer, Teacher and Consultant having extensive experience in the Child Welfare field.  With a mission to build a path toward healing and belongingness/permanency for children and youth in the child welfare system, Darla established and authored the 3-5-7 Model.  Her 35+ years of working with public and private agencies, universities and governments have provided Darla with history and experience that guide her approaches to support and develop best practice programs that appeal to the hearts of workers and families who provide these permanency focused services.

Published work:

3-5-7 Model: Preparing Children for Permanency, Children and Youth Services Review, 2005
Resilience in Maltreated Children: Implications for Special Needs Adoption, Child Welfare, 1999
Resilient Children: What they tell us about coping with maltreatment, Social Work in Health and Mental Health: Practice, Research and Progress, 2002.




Randi Jensen, MA, LMHC, CCDC


Randi Jensen, MA, LMHC, CCDC received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Washington and began her career in social service as a Resource and Education Counselor working with the seriously mental ill.

Randi obtained a Washington State Certification in Chemical Dependency Counseling and Chemical Dependency Professional Certification.  She then went on to obtain a Master of Arts in Counseling from Antioch University, Seattle.  

In 2010 Randi became the Director of The Soldiers Project Northwest, a non-profit organization providing unlimited, no cost, no report mental health counseling to current and former military members, their families and concerned others.  

Randi maintains a small counseling clientele providing services to those dealing with the devastation created by substance abuse and military trauma.

Ms Jensen is the author of Just Because You're Suicidal Doesn't Mean You're Crazy: The Psychobiology of Suicide, a book about overcoming chronic suicidality through peer support.  She is currently writing The JSP3 Field Guide for Battle Buddies due to be published in June, 2013.




Lisa Mayfield, MA, LMHC


Lisa Mayfield, MA, LMHC, is a mental health counselor in the Seattle area. In addition to her private practice, Lisa is an Adjunct Faculty member at Antioch University, Seattle, and a past president of the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association. She is a geriatric mental health specialist, certified care manager and national certified counselor. Lisa is an active board member of the Western Chapter of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers and has been working in the mental health field for over fifteen years. Ms. Mayfield also teaches workshops on practice building, working with older adults and practice development. Visit her website at: www.agingwisdom.com.




Yvonne Owen, PhD


Yvonne Owen, PhD, is a clinical psychologist recently retired from Seattle University after about 30 years. She received her B.S. degree in Psychology from the University of Washington in 1967 and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington in 1978.  Dr. Owen has provided clinical supervision to Master's level students for over 30 years.  She also leads consultation groups and provides supervision for pre-licensure professionals.  She developed the diagnosis and assessment class for master's students in the mental health counseling program, and has taught this course since the manual in use was the DSM-II: she has evolved with the course in her knowledge and experience.

Ms. Owen has a new title, Professor Emerita. She maintains a private practice in Seattle and has been teaching classes for Cascadia Training for nearly 10 years.




Eva Papp, MA, LMHC


Eva Papp, MA, LMHC received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Philosophy from Purchase College of the State University of New York, and her Masters in Mental Health Counseling at Antioch University, Seattle.  Ms. Papp has been a practicing mental health therapist for 15 years, with specialties in both Integrative Medicine and Multi-Cultural counseling.  She was lead psychotherapist for a Bellevue medical group with a multi-cultural specialty, and has worked at Seattle Healing Arts, one of Seattle's premier integrative medicine clinics.  Eva continues to team treat with doctors and various treatment providers, and is sought after by clincians and clients alike for her ability to work across and with many treatment modalities.

Fun Stuff:  Eva has done field research in Siberia related to multi-cultural and indigenous psychology, and has been the consultant psychotherapist on several NIH grants related to the use of indigenous "teas" in the treatment of addiction.  Eva is currently working through a certificate program on neuropsychology at Portland State University.




Cynthia Ridgway, MA, LMHC


Cynthia Ridgway, MA, LMHC received her Master’s Degree in Psychology from Northcentral University, Prescott, AZ in 2005.  She has been working in the field of foster care and adoption for over 10 years. 

Currently she is a Counselor/Supervisor/Trauma Therapist at Bethany Christian Services in Seattle, WA where she provides trauma therapy for adopted children and their families using Bethany’s ADOPTS model.




Debbie Riley, MA


Debbie Riley, MA , is the CEO of the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E) in Burtonsville, MD. She is a marriage and family therapist and has 25 years experience with a specialty in adolescence.  She has extensive collaborations with community organizations that support at-risk teens, and co-founded Operation Runaway with the Montgomery County Police Department.  She specializes in treating the complexities of adoption and adolescence, children adopted internationally who are experiencing post-trauma stress and adjustment challenges, as well as children who struggle with complex learning and emotional needs.

Ms. Riley is an accomplished presenter nationally on adoption issues and writes for various adoption-related publications including Adoptive Families Magazine and Fostering Families Magazine. She is the co-developer of several successful treatment models including the "Adoption-Centered Therapeutic Approach: and the "Kids & Teens Adoption Network Group."

Ms Riley is the author of Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens. She and her husband are the parents of an adopted son.




Robert E. Smith, Attorney-at-Law


Robert E. Smith is a Member of the law firm Advocates Law Group, PLLC.   He received two degrees from the University of Washington, an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a graduate law degree. The entirety of this professional career has been spent in the greater Seattle area.

Mr. Smith began his career by representing a specialty hospital and its various programs.  From that time to the present, he has gradually but continually expanded the legal services he provides to an increasing number of health care providers and agencies.  Many of his health care clients are providers of behavioral health care services.

Mr. Smith is a presenter at seminars for continuing education credits for attorneys and for various groups of DOH licensed health care providers.  His trainings frequently include the privacy and security issues of HIPAA, 42 DFR Part 2, and the Uniform Healthcare Information Act.  He is available for in-house presentations to specific audiences.

His practice also includes general business law, estate administration and estate planning. 




Bruce J. Spencer, MA, LMHC, LPCC, LMSW, NCC


Bruce J. Spencer, MA, PhD, LMHC, LPCC, LMSW, NCC, has 39 years of experience as a clinician and administrator of inpatient mental health, and chemical dependency programs, including 10 years of independent clinical practice and 10 years as an adjunct professor of psychology. Specializing in ethical issues, he has over 1,000 hours of advanced education in ethics, certification in Advanced Ethical Studies. He has presented ethics seminars for 30 years and presented over 100 day-long seminars nationwide.  

Mr Spencer is licensed in Washington (LMHC), New Mexico (LPCC) and Michigan (LMSW) as well as by the National Board of Counselors.  He is currently the Ethics Consultant for the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association (WMHCA). 




Richard J. Stride, Psy.D, LPC, LMHC


Richard J. Stride, Psy.D, LPC, LMHC, has been in the counseling & forensic mental health field since 1990. He is currently the Clinical and Internal Operations Director at Catholic Family & Child Services in Wenatchee, WA.  He has been with Catholic Family & Child Services since 2003.

Dr. Stride licensed in mental health both in Washington state and Colorado as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor, respectively. He is an NCP, as well as a Board Certified Psychotherapist by the North American Association of Masters in Psychology Professional Psychologist Certification Board (PPCB), and in addition is certified by the National Board of Forensic Evaluators (NBFE), as a Certified Forensic Mental Health Evaluator and a Certified Child Custody Evaluator.

Dr. Stride has taught psychology courses at the college level and conducts workshops on ethics, professional practice, mental health forensic services and working with the legal system. His expertise is sought by attorneys and courts for consultation in legal cases and forensic services.  He has also consulted with private and non-profit agencies concerning community mental health practice and procedures. 

For more information about Dr. Stride: www.ccyakima.org




Barry F. Thompson, MD, MA


Barry F. Thompson, MD, MA, received his Medical Degree from the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, After completing a general medical internship, neurology residency, and fellowship he practiced Neurology for 14 years in Memphis, TN. After leaving practice in the late 1990's and moving to the Seattle area in the summer of 2000, Dr. Thompson ultimately went back to school to obtain a Master's degree in mental health counseling from Seattle University; along the way he became a ballet photographer as well. He currently has a private general mental health counseling practice in downtown Redmond, WA, writes a medical blog for the Seattle PI, and publishes a medical newsletter for counselors and psychologist.




Rosemary White, OTR/L


Rosemary has been an Occupational Therapist since 1972 and brings a wealth of clinical experience to every workshop she teaches throught the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.  Rosemary is a true clinician's clinician!  Rosemary received her Neurodevelopmental Therapy training in London with the Bobaths, her Sensory Integrative Therapy Training in Los Angeles with Dr. A Jean Ayres and her training in DIR/Floortime with Stanley Greenspan, MD and Serena Wieder, PhD and the faculty of ICDL.  Rosemary is the Owner/Director of Pediatric Physical and Occupational Therapy Services in Seattle, WA and Northwest Pediatric Therapy in Portland, OR.

In addition to her clinical work, Rosemary is very active in teaching and consulting throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.  You can find out more about Rosemary White by visiting: www.rosemarywhitepediatricservices.com