Class of 2017
Ana Paula Garay
Ana Paula is a recent graduate of an MFT program currently living in San Francisco. Her professional interests are working with couples and the Latinx community. She has been working with this community for over 5 years in mental health settings (case management, Head Start, San Francisco's Department of Public Health) mostly around family functioning, depression, anxiety and PTSD. She is looking forward to working with children and their families on her path to licensure.
Ayli Carrero Pinedo
Ayli is a first-generation Peruvian immigrant pursuing a doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of North Dakota. As a Spanish-English interpreter during her undergraduate, she recognized the need for Spanish-speaking psychologists and the dearth of competent mental health services. This experience solidified her passion on racial/ethnic minority psychology and guided her decision to pursue a degree in Counseling Psychology focused on mental health access, stigma and issues precipitated or aggravated by the process of migration. Her commitment to become a culturally competent and multi-culturally sensitive bilingual psychologist drove her to apply and participate in the PASEO program.
Betsy Varner
Betsy is a master's student in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Social Psychology at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She received a bachelor's degree in Spanish, Psychology and Religion from Manchester University and spent a semester abroad in Ecuador. Her research interests include interpersonal violence, cultural competence, and social justice advocacy. PASEO was an amazing opportunity for her to practice and develop both clinical and Spanish language skills. She hopes to continue to develop the skills she gained at PASEO to ultimately be able to provide services to Spanish-speaking clients in the US.
Daniel Balva
Daniel is a recent graduate of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling master's program at Florida International University. Being able to intertwine both Spanish and psychology through the PASEO program has been an incredible experience for Daniel, and he plans to improve upon these skills in order to provide counseling services to under-serviced populations in Central and South America in the near future.
Eileen Twohy
Eileen Twohy (PhD) is a pediatric psychologist at Children's Hospital Colorado (CHC) and an assistant professor at University of Colorado School of Medicine. Eileen is a Qualified Bilingual Staff (QBS) member at CHCO, where she serves on the consultation/liaison and provides outpatient evaluation and intervention. Her interests include working with suicidal patients, interdisciplinary treatment for children and adolescents with comorbid psychiatric and medical diagnoses and behavioral healthcare access for underserved populations. Participation in the PASEO program deeply enhanced Eilieen's facility with clinical Spanish as well as her awareness of global mental health concerns
Hillary Haspel
Hillary Haspel, MSW, graduated from the University of Denver's Graduate School of Social Work in 2017 with a Certificate in Social Work with Latin@s. She graduated from the University of Texas in 2015 with BA in Psychology and minor in Spanish. Hillary is passionate about working with children and their families who have experienced trauma. She is currently working at the Mental Health Center of Denver's intensive day treatment program as a bilingual child and family therapist.
Kate Benjamin
Kate Benjamin graduated from Whitman College in 2014 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Spanish. Since graduating, she has worked as a research coordinator in the Psychology Department at the University of Washington on several different studies involving the dissemination and implementation of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, the evaluation of effectiveness and feasibility of school-based interventions, and the identification and prevention of adolescent self-harm and suicide. She intends to pursue a graduate degree counseling or clinical psychology.
Jessica Kenny
Jessica Kenny is a doctoral candidate in clinical health psychology at the University of Colorado, Denver. She has a passion for working with under-served youth and families facing a variety of physical and mental challenges. Her research is focused on relational and familial factors that both impede and improve health outcomes, as well as understanding how to best integrate behavioral health services into medical settings. Jessica is determined to continuously build her Spanish competency so that she will be able to provide clinical services to Spanish-speaking youth and families throughout her career.
Scott Barrera
Scott Barrera is a master's student in Counseling Psychology at Ball State University. His primary research interests focus on identity development among the Latinx population with the United States. His long-term career goal is to provide mental health services in Spanish to Latinx population. PASEO provided him with the opportunity to improve his clinical skills in Spanish while also receiving direct service hours. He is grateful to have had the opportunity to learn about Peruvian culture while exploring his own Latino identity.
Rebecca Kirchner
Rebecca Kirchner is a doctoral student in the intellectual and developmental disability/clinical psychology joint track program at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Her research interests include cognitive and behavioral therapies for children with autism or intellectual disabilities and comorbid mental health diagnoses as well as the overlap of autism symptoms in genetic syndromes. She is so thankful for her PASEO program experience, and hopes to continue to improve her Spanish language skills to eventually provide culturally sensitive psychological services to children and their families.
Kelsey Kuperman
Kelsey Kuperman was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and is currently a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Oregon. She has worked as a therapist with young adults at the University Counseling and Testing Center and children and families at the Child and Family Center in Eugene. After receiving invaluable clinical training and practicum experience through PASEO, Kelsey now provides therapy in Spanish at Centro Latino Americano in Eugene. Her current research and clinical work focuses on understanding and increasing access to culturally sensitive mental health services for Latinx and Spanish-speaking families.
Triny Rios
Triny A Rios is a recent graduate from Loyola Marymount University, California with her MA in Counseling with an emphasis in mental health. Born and raised in Coachella Valley, she has a strong connection with immigrant communities, is very proud of her Mexican heritage, and strongly identifies as Chicana. She is passionate and dedicated to working with Latinx communities especially immigrant mujeres and will start accumulating hours towards her Practicing Clinical Counselor License (LPCC) in a bilingual community setting. She is very appreciative to PASEO for the opportunity to learn from a passionate group of mental health professionals on an international level.
Sarah Lucas
Sarah Lucas is a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. After completing her hours for clinical licensure at a non-profit community mental health agency in Cincinnati, she was delighted to gain acceptance to PASEO in order to build her competence to eventually be able to work in community settings with Latino clients. She also aspires to continue toward this goal by returning to complete her bachelor's in Spanish at the University of Cincinnati. In her free time, she enjoys anything active, cheering on FCs Barcelona & Cincinnati, and comedy in all forms.