Presenter Information
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In-person workshops offered in Pocatello, Idaho Falls and Meridian. Webinar options are also available. Continuing education credits are supported at 3, 6, 12 and 15 credit/hour increments.
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Presenter Biographies
Aileen Tierney, MS, LPC, NCC is a licensed professional counselor and licensed school counselor currently in the ISU Ph.D program for counselor education and supervision. She works with children and teenagers and enjoys utilizing play-based and creative arts techniques in her clinical work. She has clinical experience in child-centered play therapy (CCPT) and sandtray therapy techniques for young clients across developmental stages. She enjoys being creative and expressive both clinically and as her personal self-care!
Anna Baird-Udy, MS, NCC, LPC is an ISU graduate who originally hails from sunny California. She has a strong background in Feminist Counseling Theory, with a trauma lens emphasis. She was certified in EMDR during the completion of her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Anna is passionate about amplifying the voices and experiences of historically excluded persons and working with diverse populations. She enjoys spending time in the sun, at the beach, and in the water any chance she can get. She is honored to be a second year doctoral student at ISU. Go Bengals!
Hannah Brinser M.A., LPC, NCC is a doctoral student in the Counselor Education and Counseling program at Idaho State University. She received her M.A. in School Counseling from Gonzaga University in 2020 and her B.S. in Psychology from Western Washington University in 2018. She is a certified school counselor and nationally certified counselor (NC). Her research interests include leadership and advocacy in school counseling, cultivating trauma-informed schools, and training effective school counselors.
Cameron Staley is a clinical psychologist at Idaho State University. In his TEDx talk, Changing the Narrative Around the Addiction Story, Cameron shares details from his research and counseling experience regarding helpful ways to talk about sexuality and how to effectively reduce unwanted pornography viewing through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). To learn more, visit Dr. Cameron Staley's website: https://cameronstaley.com/
Ngonidzashe Mpofu, Ph.D., M.Ed., CCMHC, CRC, NCC received her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and her M.Ed. in the dual emphases of Clinical Rehabilitation and Clinical Mental Health in School and Communities from the Pennsylvania State University – University Park. She recently joined Idaho State University faculty as an Assistant Professor within the Department of Counseling and the Program Coordinator of Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling. Dr. Mpofu’s primary line of research focuses on workplace wellbeing, sustainable community health practices, and quality of life across the lifespan of diverse populations and in various settings around the globe. She is an author and co-author of several book chapters and articles in leading titles within the rehabilitation, mental and community health, and human resources fields, attending and presenting on these topics at local, regional, national, and international conferences. Dr. Mpofu is a professional workplace wellbeing consultant to organizations, creating and facilitating operation plans aimed at the recruitment and retention of regional and front-line managers, team leaders, and staff workers, centering on employee career skills development and training.
Leslie Stewart, PH.D., LCPC, is a licensed clinical professional counselor and associate professor in Idaho State University's Department of Counseling. Her areas of expertise include animal assisted interventions in counseling and supervision, trauma-informed counselor preparation, Motivational Interviewing, and counselor training with experiential and expressive modalities. Before beginning her career in counseling and counselor education, Dr. Stewart facilitated therapeutic horsemanship as a Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH, Intl.) instructor. Since then, Dr. Stewart has incorporated animal assisted interventions (AAI) with dogs and rabbits in college counseling and juvenile detention settings. At Idaho State University, Dr. Stewart directs the Certificate Program in Animal Assisted Interventions in Counseling, offers AAIs in her clinical supervision, and incorporates AAIs in her teaching across the CACREP Core. Dr. Stewart is the primary author of the American Counseling Association Competencies for Animal Assisted Therapy in Counseling while currently serving as the chair of Ethics and Standards for the Human-Animal Bond Advisory Board (HABAB), and a subject matter expert consultant of the American Psychological Association's Human Animal Interaction Division. Dr. Stewart shares her life with several species of animal family members including dogs, rabbits, mice, a cat, and a ball python. In her free time, Dr. Stewart volunteers at a local zoo that houses injured or unreleasable native wildlife species and enjoys hiking, camping, kayaking, and wildlife viewing in the beautiful Rocky Mountain wilderness.
Timothy J. Hakenewerth, Ph.D., LPC (MO), NCC, is a counselor educator and assistant professor at University of Illinois Springfield. Dr. Hakenewerth has maintained a scholarly agenda focused on clinical supervision, including a recent qualitative study on simultaneous supervision and recurring national and international conference presentations. Dr. Hakenewerth spent several years in Idaho and has delivered over 80 hours of clinical supervision trainings over the last 5 years in Idaho, as well as online. He has supervised counselors in agencies, training clinics, and academic settings. His clinical experience includes work in three states, in college counseling centers, training clinics, family-focused clinical agencies, and community mental health agencies.
Kimberly Leishman, LPC, NCC is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and a National Certified Counselor (NCC). She completed a Bachelor of Arts in both Sociology (2012) and Social Work (2017) and a Masters of Counseling in Clinical Mental Health (2020) at Idaho State University. Her clinical focus is trauma-based practice, she is trained in both EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and TF-CBT (Trauma Focused - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). She primarily works with survivors of domestic violence, sexual based offences, and child abuse at a local non-profit agency. In addition to interpersonal based trauma, other professional research interests include religious trauma, animal assisted interventions, counselor supervision, and wellness. Outside of school and professional work she enjoys the outdoors, traveling, new adventures, and enjoying time with her people.
Pam Vance, LPC, CRC (she/her) is a first-year doctoral student in Counseling Education and Counselor Supervision at Idaho State University. Her professional interests include de-stigmatizing disability, increasing actionable allyship practices, and exploring disability identity with clients. She works to integrate eco counseling practices with clients to explore their connection to themselves and their environments. Currently, she works in a small counseling practice in Boise, Idaho and as a graduate teaching assistant at Idaho State University-Meridian. Pam recently graduated with her master’s degree in clinical rehabilitation counseling which emphasizes disability wellness and disability counseling competencies. During her studies, she interned as a counselor- in-training at Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and Ada County Treatment Center. She has presented at ICA and WACES conferences about disability allyship and multicultural considerations in disability. Prior to her master’s degree, she worked with individuals experiencing psychiatric disabilities, learning disabilities, and developmental disabilities. Currently, she supervises CRC master’s students while also working professionally with clients who experience chronic pain and other chronic conditions.
Marisa Rapp, PhD, LPC (ID), NCC is a Core Faculty member for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Capella University and an adjunct instructor at Gonzaga University. Marisa is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Idaho. Past clinical experience has included working with adolescents struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring disorders at a residential treatment facility in southeast Idaho. She has experience facilitating trauma-informed counseling groups, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), family therapy, and individual counseling to a wide range of clientele. Currently, Marisa provides individual, couples, and group counseling in an outpatient setting in downtown Coeur d’Alene. In her personal time, Marisa enjoys backpacking and hiking the endless trails of North Idaho with her partner and their golden retriever, Cedar.
Peter Mortola, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Counseling, Therapy and School Psychology Department at Lewis and Clark College's Graduate School of Education and Counseling. He is the author of Windowframes: Learning the art of Gestalt play therapy the Oaklander way (Routledge/Gestaltpress, 2006), the culmination of 10 years of inquiry and research on Violet Oaklander’s methods of both child therapy and adult training. Windowframes has been translated into German, Spanish, Romanian, Italian and Korean. He is also the co-author of BAM! Boys Advocacy and Mentoring: A leader’s guide to facilitating strength-based groups for boys (Routledge, 2008), and The Bear Inside (19th Avenue Press, with Illustrator Mark Molchan), a children's book about managing strong emotions. The Bear Inside has been translated into Spanish, Bulgarian, Russian, and Sinhala versions.
ShaRhonda Stevenson (She/her) is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of the cheesesteak! She has some southern influences from North Carolina as well. She attended Drexel University for her undergraduate degree in Psychology. She then attended Immaculata University and earned her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is very excited to begin this new journey at ISU. In her experience she has worked with children to teens on the spectrum with behavioral disorders. Most recently she has worked with adults diagnosed with physical disabilities as well as adults diagnosed with substance use disorder. She is passionate about issues that impact marginalized populations. She enjoys spending time with her orange tabby Pumpkin and anything that involves her being social as she is a big extrovert.
Dr. Mark Young is an Associate Professor at Gonzaga University where he serves as Director of the Marriage and Family Counseling program in the Department of Counselor Education. His research interests are healthy couple relationships and live supervision. He has written several articles and book chapters in the area of couples counseling and supervision. He maintains a small, yet active, private practice with an emphasis on couples counseling.
Elizabeth (Liz) Stephenson is the Clinical Director of the Rexburg Eating Disorder Center in Rexburg, Idaho. Liz received her Masters in Counseling at Idaho State University. She is an LCPC and also a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. She is also trained in EMDR and Accelerated Resolution Therapy for trauma. Liz loves to travel with her spouse to foreign countries, read books, slalom waterski, and bake in the sun. She has four children and five grandchildren - all of whom live too far away.
Michael Whitehead, PhD, LMFT, RPT-STM received his B.S. in Marriage, Family, and Human Development from Brigham Young University in 2007, his M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Brigham Young University in 2009, and his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Michigan State University in 2016. The combination of his training in child development and Marriage and Family Therapy help give Dr. Whitehead a unique view of the family, how problems develop, and are treated. He primarily works with the whole family to find solutions to problems that are manifesting in one or more of the family members. Dr. Whitehead is currently in full-time clinical practice at Aspen Grove Family Therapy in Twin Falls, Idaho. He also teaches part time in Northcentral University’s Marriage and Family Therapy program. He has presented at the local and national level on topics ranging from parenting, behavior management, divorce, general family therapy, and play therapy. He also co- authored a chapter on treating disruptive behavior disorders in the upcoming series “The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy”. His passion is making sure children with disruptive behavior disorders are treated compassionately and effectively.
