PsyD

"Shelly", as Dr. Middleton is known by to her friends and family, is a Sacramento native and an Alliant University alumni herself. Dr. Middleton recieved her PsyD in Marital and Family Therapy from Alliant and has been teaching here as an adjunct Professor since she graduated. She also currently works as the department Supervisor and therapist at Northern Valley Indian Health.

Dr. Middleton has experience working in various settings including private practice, community-based mental health, group homes, schools, and specializes in working with couples, women's issues, family-of-origin issues, first-generation/bi-cultural issues, boundaries, trauma, and codependency. Her preferred modalities include CBT, EMDR, Object-Relations, and Internal Family Systems.

Outside of the world of teaching and counseling, Dr. Middleton likes to spend her time with her husband and her big family. Dr. Middleton is very much into fitness and spends much of her time running, lifting weights, and boxing. She also enjoys playing the drums, watching reality TV and Marvel movies, going out with her girlfriends, and traveling.

Dr. Jason N. Linder, Psy.D., LMFT is a licensed bilingual (Spanish-speaking) therapist specializing in relationship, trauma, addiction-related, and mindfulness therapies. He is passionate about diversity, social justice, and serving underserved, multi-stressed, and disenfranchised communities. Dr. Linder also enjoys working with therapists, creators, entrepreneurs, and people who stutter. He completed his Doctor of Psychology degree at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego, his Master's in International Counseling in Mexico City at Alliant International University, and his Bachelor's in Spanish and Psychology (double major) at UC Davis. Dr. Linder is certified in the evidence-based therapy EMDR by the EMDR International Association, and trains EMDR therapists as an EMDRIA-approved Consultant and accredited EMDR-HAP facilitator. He is also close to completing his certification in EFT couple therapy. His doctoral research focused on integrating EMDR and EFT with couples. Dr. Linder has studied Psychology in Latin America and loves mindfulness meditation. Dr. Linder owns a private practice in Scripps, San Diego. Dr. Linder was recently published in the peer-reviewed APA journal Couple & Family Psychology, the Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (JMFT), and the Journal of International Systemic Therapy (JIST), as well as Psychotherapy.net, Psychology Today, Psychotherapy Networker, and Sage Research Methods Cases. Dr. Linder has also presented at professional and academic conferences. Lastly, Dr. Linder is experienced in addiction intervention services and immigration, transgender, and trauma evaluations.

Dr. Gonzalez has been practicing for the last 10 years. Currently, Dr. Gonzalez runs her own group practice where she supervises associate therapists. Dr. Gonzalez is an AAMFT Approved supervisor. She received her Masters in MFT from Syracuse University and Doctorate in MFT from Alliant International University.  

Dr. Nicole Waters is a Mental Health Specialist, has spent the last 7 years providing mental health services to school aged youth in Northern California School Districts. Nicole specializes in supporting school aged youth suffering from mental health barriers that impact their ability to gain access to their foundational educational experience. Nicole has begun taking her experience from the K-12 education system to the Graduate school level system, teaching classes for up-and-coming MFTs as an Adjunct Professor at Alliant International University, Sacramento Campus. As a person who values the idea that all children have a fundamental right to their education, regardless of the barriers they may face, working with the special education team at the school districts is very rewarding. Getting a chance to share that experience with incoming professionals of the MFT field is emerging as one of her favorite career experiences.

Jessica Holzer, received her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Alliant International University in 2012. Now a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), AAMFT Approved Supervisor, and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor (RPT-S), she specializes in Attachment Based Therapies with children, adolescents, and their families with a Solution Focused lens. Her clinical interests include play therapy, strengthening parent-child relationships, supporting parents/caregivers in understanding their own parenting and attachment needs, and supervision and mentorship of Trainees and Associate Marriage and Family Therapists.

Currently, Jessica works on the San Diego Campus as the Clinical Training Coordinator, supporting practicum students in their clinical placements and as an Adjunct Faculty for both the San Diego Campus and the Online Program. Additionally, Jessica owns her clinical practice, Connected Care Family Counseling, where she maintains an active caseload, teaches at other universities, and volunteers her time supporting families and children who are experiencing pediatric cancer diagnoses.

I am a licensed marriage and family therapist and earned my doctorate in couples and family therapy in 2015 from Alliant International University. I have been teaching at Alliant since 2017 and enjoy being part of the clinical development process for beginning therapists!  I am currently the clinical director at Stronger Together Community Services (STCS), I oversee all of the therapy programs and supervise a team of therapists. STCS is currently a practicum site for the San Diego on ground CFT program at Alliant as well as the online programs in California. I specialize in working with those in relationships, including couples and families. With regard to my clinical focus, I practice from evidence based models: EFT, AEDP, and EMDR, all of which are trauma informed and attachment focused. Essentially what this means for my clients is that we work collaboratively to determine treatment goals, I use interventions that address the underlying feelings and trauma that may be contributing to current distress, we find adaptive ways to express emotions and find relief in experiencing one’s full self and then build security in the bonds with important others around them.  

Dr. Anna Washington (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor and Associate Director of Clinical Training (DCT) of the APA-accredited clinical PsyD program on the Sacramento campus. She received her PhD in Clinical Child and Community Psychology from UMBC in 2014 and completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the UC Davis CAARE Center, specializing in trauma. Prior to joining Alliant Core Faculty in 2022, Dr. Washington worked full time as a clinical staff psychologist at the UC Davis CAARE Center, focusing on the assessment and treatment of child abuse. She has experience conducting a range of evaluations, including child welfare evaluations, competency to stand trial and risk assessments for youth involved with the juvenile justice system, and mental health diversion evaluations for adults. Dr. Washington has also provided expert testimony in criminal court cases involving child sexual abuse over 70 times. 

Dr. Washington’s prior teaching experience has primarily been in the clinical context, including seminars on Multicultural Perspectives and Evaluations, as well as providing training and supervision in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). She teaches several Core classes in Alliant’s PsyD Program and contributes to electives in the newly developed Trauma Emphasis. 

Dr. Washington’s research interests are related to trauma and chronic stress among historically underserved and minoritized populations, with a focus on systems influences such as neighborhood characteristics, policy and legislation, systemic racism, and culture. She aims to conduct research that is community-informed and social justice oriented in content and/or process (e.g., using Community Based Participatory Research). Dr. Washington welcomes collaborations with local community organizations who have an interest in answering research questions related to trauma, equity, child welfare, and juvenile justice. 

Dr. Arenella received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Charlie Norwood VA and Medical College of Georgia where she worked with military sexual trauma, eating disorders, and as part of the comprehensive DBT team. She then completed her postdoctoral fellowship as the Michael Metz Fellow in Couples' Sexual Health at the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School. There, she worked with transgender and gender diverse adults and their families, individuals and couples experiencing sexual concerns and questions, and clients struggling with compulsive sexual behavior. She also taught within the College of Continuing and Professional Studies' Human Sexuality Certificate, and provided instruction to medical students and residents at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Arenella's research and clinical interests include sexual and gender health, LGBTQ affirming practice, gynecologic cancer, and women's health and aging. She has published in International Psychogeriatrics, the Journal of Women and Aging, and The Gerontologist, and she has presented at conferences such as the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality Annual Conference. She is experienced in a number of empirically supported therapies, such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Written Exposure Therapy (WET), and Sensate Focus. Her interests also include providing sexuality and gender training to healthcare providers. 

Dr. Yufik received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York and his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley.  Dr. Yufik completed his predoctoral and postdoctoral training at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he collaborated on a number of research projects including the development of a novel couples-based treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans.  His clinical and research interests involve working with empirically-based assessments of posttraumatic stress disorder and personality disorders.  He has published and presented research examining the diagnostic structure of PTSD in a variety of journals included the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and Psychological Services.  Dr. Yufik has experience in a variety of empirically-supported therapies including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Dr. Monica Whitlock has a Ph.D. in Sociology and Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Southern California.  She is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California and Washington.  Dr. Whitlock has worked in higher education for the past 30 years, as an educator, a researcher, an administrator, and a clinician.  Most recently, Dr. Whitlock provided consultation through Washington State University to school districts and social service agencies to develop trauma-informed systems of care, and to increase educator capacity to manage the changing needs in the workplace.  She built a university counseling center and developed a university-wide suicide prevention and response plan to create a system of support for students experiencing mental health crises.  Her clinical work has focused on emerging adulthood, couples therapy using Emotion Focused Therapy, and working with families with adult children.

Early in her career, she was a member of the faculty in the criminology and criminal justice program at Arizona State University.  During these years, she managed several federally-funded grants designed to identify risk and protective factors among youth at risk of joining neighborhood street gangs.  She received a grant from the US Department of Education to examine individual, family, school and neighborhood factors associated with resistance to gang joining.

Dr. Elizabeth Watters is a licensed marriage and family therapist who graduated with their doctoral degree in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of Iowa. As an EMDR trained therapist, Dr. Watters specializes in working with trauma and complex PTSD and providing gender affirming services for LGBTQ+ individuals. Dr. Watters‚ research focus on examining the relationships between childhood trauma and biopsychosocial outcomes across the lifespan utilizing quantitative methodologies. They are particularly interested in resilience factors that can help mitigate the negative long-term effects people experience.