Leadership, Faculty, & Supervisors
Sentio University’s leadership, staff, faculty, and supervisors share a passion for clinical training and a deep commitment to scholarly innovation.
Dr. Tony Rousmaniere, President and Program Director
Tony Rousmaniere, Psy.D. is the CEO and COO of Sentio University, and the Executive Director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He is also President of the Psychotherapy division of the American Psychological Association, and the author of over 20 books on Deliberate Practice and psychotherapy training. He is co-editor of two book series: The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books) and Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills (Elsevier). In 2017, he published the widely cited article in The Atlantic Monthly, “What your therapist doesn’t know”. Dr. Rousmaniere supports the open-data movement and publishes his aggregated clinical outcome data, in de-identified form, on his website at www.drtonyr.com. He is a licensed psychologist in California and Washington.
Mackenzie Stuart, Senior Deliberate Practice Trainer and Faculty
MacKenzie Stuart, LMFT, is a Senior Deliberate Practice Trainer and Faculty at Sentio. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who works with adults, couples, partners, and families. She specializes in nontraditional relationship structures, including polyamory and other forms of consensual nonmonogamy, as well as chronic depression and suicidality. Her other clinical interests include psychosis, psychopharmacology and drugs, LGBTQIA2-S and GNC/non-binary communities, kink and BDSM practices, and sex work. MacKenzie enjoys psychodynamic case conceptualization, the enneagram, biofeedback, narrative and solution-focused interventions, and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) skills. She is a member of core faculty at The Wright Institute in Berkeley and leads a private practice in Alameda.
Peter Awad, Student Services Coordinator
Peter Awad received his Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from California State University, Long Beach. He is Egyptian-American and has extensive research experience working with veterans, first responders, and individuals at risk of suicide. Peter is passionate about meditation, mindfulness, and psychedelic integrative therapy, and he also works as a psychometrist at the Center for PCS and PTSD Treatment.
Dr. Alexandre Vaz, Chief Academic Officer and Faculty Supervisor
Alexandre Vaz, Ph.D. has extensive experience in academic leadership and is the cofounder of the Deliberate Practice Institute. He provides workshops, webinars, and advanced clinical training and supervision to clinicians around the world. Dr. Vaz is the author/co-editor of over a dozen books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training and two series of clinical training books: “The Essentials of Deliberate Practice” (APA Press) and “Advanced Therapeutics, Clinical and Interpersonal Skills” (Elsevier). He has held multiple committee roles for the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). Dr. Vaz is founder and host of Psychotherapy Expert Talks, an acclaimed interview series with distinguished psychotherapists and therapy researchers. He is a licensed clinical psychologist in Portugal.
Jason Brand, Senior Deliberate Practice Trainer
Jason Brand, LCSW is a Lead Deliberate Practice Instructor and trainer at Sentio. He is Certified in Deliberate Practice Supervision through the International Deliberate Practice Society. In his private psychotherapy practice Jason specializes in supporting the growth and development of men in an increasingly complex world. His work with men includes facilitating a group for fathers of young children. In his couples work, he is certified in PACT (The Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy) and serves as a faculty member at the PACT Institute. Jason lives in Berkeley with his wife of twenty years and their two teenage daughters. Find out more about Jason on his website: www.jasonbrand.com
Dr. Jordan Harris, Deliberate Practice Coaching Director
Jordan Harris, Ph.D., LMFT-S, LPC-S runs the Sentio Deliberate Practice Coaching program. He is the lead author of the book Deliberate Practice in Multicultural Therapy. Dr. Harris is also co-developer of the Numerapy Model, a coaching program teaching therapists how to leave community based work and start their own solo counseling practices. Dr. Harris runs a solo counseling practice (Harris Couples Counseling, Marriage Therapy, & Private Practice Coaching) in Northwest Arkansas where he specializes in working with couples.
Mikaela Abundez, Director of Student Services
Mikaela Abundez is the Director of Student Services for Sentio University and Clinic Director for Sentio Counseling Washington. She holds a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Touro University Worldwide. She is trained in a diverse range of therapeutic modalities, including Emotionally Focused Therapy, Schema Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, among others. Mikaela has prior experience with mental health start-ups, including her work with Foresight Mental Health, where she managed several clinics throughout California.
Administration
Faculty & Clinical Supervisors
Rocky Allemandi
Rocky Allemandi, LMFT, received his Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of California. He has spent his career in the public mental health system as a clinician, clinical supervisor, and program manager. His focus has been on providing school-based mental health services and supporting youth and families involved in the foster care system. He is passionate about providing high-quality behavioral health services to adults, children, youth, and families.
Layla Inés Davis
Layla Inés Davis, LCSW, received her Master of Social Work from San Diego State University and is a bilingual (Spanish) and bicultural Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of California. In addition to her work as a mental health provider in an outpatient psychiatric clinic, she performs psychiatric evaluations in the emergency department and teaches child development at the community college level. She is a Feedback Informed Treatment Certified Trainer and a Cognitive Processing Therapy Provider.
Margaret Petersen
Margaret Petersen, LMFT, received her Master of Arts in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the Stat of California. Margaret is also a Certified EFT Therapist and EFT Supervisor-in-training, specializes in relationships and all the many ways relationships can become so tricky to navigate at times with individuals, couples, and families in her private practice in Pleasanton, CA. Margaret has served on the Board of the Northern California Community for EFT (NCCEFT) since 2012 and is the Speaker Liaison for their Quarterly and Annual events. She has served on the Diversity Committee and Scholarship Committee of NCCEFT and has presented topics on EFT, couples, and sexuality to the community. Margaret truly enjoys helping clinicians become their most authentic therapeutic selves and she is honored to become part of the Sentio community!
Julia Tisdale
Julia Tisdale, LMFT, received her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist from the Bay Area. She works primarily with anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship issues. Julia uses short-term dynamic and emotion-focused frameworks to help guide her work. Julia also specializes in ketamine-assisted therapy and psychedelic integration.
Cristina Biasetto
Cristina Biasetto, LCSW, received her Master of Social work from the University of California Berkeley and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of California. Cristina is the clinical supervisor and manager of the University of California San Francisco Trauma Recovery Center, which provides trauma-focused therapy and case management to survivors of interpersonal violence in San Francisco, CA. For about ten years, as a trilingual clinician (Spanish, Italian, and English), her clinical work has focused on the assessment and treatment of severe trauma, particularly among survivors who have experienced migration. At the University of California San Francisco, she is also the Mental Health Director of the Health and Human Rights Initiative, which works to expand access to pro-bono forensic psychological evaluations for asylum seekers. In addition to her clinical work, she serves as Adjunct Faculty at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA, where she teaches graduate-level courses on the complexities of clinical care in community mental health; family violence and protection; and crisis, disaster, and trauma counseling.
Sharon Mead
Sharon Mead, LMFT, received her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of California. She specializes in couples therapy, couples counseling, marriage therapy, marriage counseling, individual therapy, and psychotherapy, multicultural/intercultural couples. She has advanced training Emotionally Focused Therapy and Level 2 training Gottman Method Couples Therapy. Before becoming a therapist, she worked for 13 years in software development and management at a large Bay Area technology company.
MacKenzie Stuart
Mackenzie Stuart, LMFT, received her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of California. Mackenzie works with adults, couples, partners, and families and specializes in nontraditional relationship structures, including polyamory and other forms of consensual nonmonogamy, as well as chronic depression and suicidality. Her other clinical interests include psychosis, psychopharmacology and drugs, LGBTQIA2-S and GNC/non-binary communities, kink and BDSM practices, and sex work. MacKenzie enjoys psychodynamic case conceptualization, the enneagram, biofeedback, narrative and solution-focused interventions, and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) skills. She is a member of the core faculty at The Wright Institute in Berkeley and leads a private practice in Alameda.
Inês Amaro
Inês Amaro, MS, received her Master of Science in Clinical and Health Psychology, Cognitive-Behavioral and Integrative Psychotherapy, from the University of Lisbon and is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Portugal. Inês has both worked in the community setting as well as private practice. As an integrative therapist, she seeks to combine several psychotherapeutic influences with an experiential and relational focus. Inês has specialized in Emotion Focused Therapy and continues her training this approach as well as in Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy. She is also a member of the International Deliberate Practice Society and the Portuguese Emotion Focused Therapy Society.
Jason Brand
Jason Brand received his Master of Social Work with an emphasis in Community Mental Health from California State University East Bay and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of California. Jason is a Senior Deliberate Practice Trainer at Sentio. He is a podcaster, husband and father who works primarily with couples and men. He is certified in PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy) and hosts The Human Nurture Podcast that explores the learning process of becoming a couples therapist. He also facilitates Fathers’ Forum, a men's group for fathers of young children (birth to 5 years old). Jason lives in Berkeley with his wife of twenty years, his teenage daughters and their two dogs.
Madeleine Miller-Bottome
Madeleine Miller-Bottome, PhD, received her Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology from the New School for Social Research in New York and is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the State of California. Dr. Miller-Bottome is an attending clinical psychologist at Sutter Health California Pacific Medical Center in the Department of Psychiatry where she provides individual and group psychotherapy and consultation services to children, adolescents, and adults in the outpatient clinic and inpatient psychiatric unit. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Miller-Bottome is a core faculty member of the psychiatry residency program and the post-doctoral health psychology fellowship. In addition to clinical supervision, she provides didactics on therapeutic communication skills and trauma-informed care. Dr. Miller-Bottome is a Part-Time Adjunct Faculty Member at the University of San Francisco's Clinical Psychology PsyD Program, where she teaches courses on clinical interviewing and evidence-based treatment. Dr. Miller-Bottome has an extensive background in attachment and psychotherapy research. She specializes in relational psychodynamic psychotherapy, attachment-based interventions, including Mentalization Based Treatment for Children (MBT-C), and therapeutic alliance-focused training.
Naomi Tabak
Naomi Tabak, PhD, received her Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami and is a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY 26153) in the State of California. Dr. Tabak is the director of the psychology training clinic at the University of California, Irvine's Department of Psychological Science. Dr. Tabak has worked in doctoral education and training since 2016, where she has supervised clinical psychology Ph.D. students and has taught doctoral-level courses in evidence-based psychological treatments. Dr. Tabak specializes in working with adults with depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder, and applies an open and culturally responsive approach to her clinical work. She utilizes evidence-based treatments, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches. She is also a registered provider of Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD.
Dr. Joel Jin
Joel Jin, PhD, received his Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology from Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology. He is as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at Seattle Pacific University with experience in educational delivery and course development. His subject expertise includes psychology of Asian American populations, perfectionism, and mindfulness-based interventions. Dr. Jin is a co-author of the book Deliberate Practice in Multicultural Therapy.
Dr. Micheal J. Mullard, LMFT
Micheal J. Mullard, PhD, LMFT, received his Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and his Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Trinity College of Graduate Studies. He is the lead clinician in creating an integrated clinical supervision program for Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA). He provides training workshops in clinical supervision and facilitates supervision groups for OCHCA. Michael is passionate about outcomes research, particularly in measuring changes in supervisee skill levels and cognitive complexity in case conceptualization. He integrates qualitative and quantitative research methods to provide a comprehensive record. Michael also focuses on documenting the creation of clinical supervision programs in public mental health agencies, addressing the unique challenges inherent in providing clinical supervision in such settings.
Dr. Tracey Prout
Tracy Prout, PhD, received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Fordham University and a certificate in psychodynamic psychotherapy from the Institute for Psychoanalytic Education at NYU Medical Center. She completed advanced research training with the International Psychoanalytical Association and Duke University's Center for Spirituality, Theology, & Health. Dr. Prout also holds a master's degree in counseling from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and graduated from Wellesley College with a double major in psychology and political science. She serves as co-chair of the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Fellowship Committee and the Research Committee of APA’s Division 39. As the principal investigator for several studies related to RFP-C, Dr. Prout supervises all graduate students involved in these projects. She teaches psychodynamic psychotherapy in the School-Clinical Child Combined Doctoral Program, supervises advanced graduate students in the psychodynamic psychotherapy practicum, and leads the psychodynamic psychotherapy lab at Ferkauf.
Advisory Board
Mark D. Terjesen, Ph.D
Dr. Terjesen is a leading expert in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. He is Past-President of the Division of International Psychology of the American Psychological Association and was program director of the School Psychology program at St. John’s University.
Jordan Bate, Ph.D
Dr. Bate runs the Attachment and Psychotherapy Process Lab at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. She is an expert in child and adolescent therapy and treating perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD).
Hanna Levenson, Ph.D
Dr. Levenson is a leading teacher and supervisor of Brief Dynamic Therapy. She is the author of more than 75 papers, two books, and three professional videos.
James Boswell, Ph.D
Dr. Boswell is an expert in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy who publishes extensively in the areas of psychotherapy process and outcome and measurement-based care. He is president of the North American Chapter of the Society for Psychotherapy Research.
Tracy Prout, Ph.D
Dr. Prout is an expert in child and adolescent therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and Deliberate Practice. She is co-chair of the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Fellowship Committee and co-chair of the Research Committee of APA’s Division 39.
Vidar Husby
Dr. Husby is a specialist in clinical psychology, psychotherapy supervisor, and head of the clinic at Favne Psychological Assistance in Oslo, Norway. He is on the governance committee of the International Deliberate Practice Society.
Denise Ernst, Ph.D
Dr. Ernst is a leading expert in Motivational Interviewing (MI) training, supervision, and research, with a specialty in MI analytic training. Dr. Ernst serves in leadership roles at the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).
Jennifer Manuel, Ph.D
Dr. Manuel serves in leadership roles at the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). She is a leading expert in Motivational Interviewing (MI) training, supervision, and research, with a specialty in MI scientific coding.
Shelley McMain, Ph.D
Dr. McMain is a leading expert in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and runs the Borderline Personality Clinic at CAMH. She has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers and is co-author on a Deliberate Practice book for DBT.
Joan Farrell, Ph.D
Dr. Farrell is an expert in Schema Therapy and Coordinator for Training and Certification on the Executive Board of the International Society for Schema Therapy. She developed and directed an inpatient schema therapy program for borderline personality disorder.
Wendy Behary, Ph.D
Dr. Behary is a founding fellow and supervisor of The Academy of Cognitive Therapy in New York. She was the President of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) from 2010-2014.
Elisabet Rosén
Dr. Rosén is a clinical psychologist in private practice, and is an associate supervisor and teacher at the University of Umeå, Sweden. She is on the governance committee of the International Deliberate Practice Society.
Guest Lecturers
Sentio Board
Owen Gintis
Governing Board Member
Owen Gintis is an entrepreneur who has been the owner, primary investor, and Board Member of a pioneering solar energy company in California since 2016. Mr. Gintis has experience with investment monitoring, information technology, and organizational growth and restructuring with a focus on prioritizing ethical business practices.
Justin Norris, J.D.
Governing Board Member
Justin Norris, J.D. has more than 15 years of higher education experience serving in student affairs and fundraising roles. Justin currently serves as Portfolio Executive Leader for CampusWorks, Inc., where he leads strategic planning and digital transformation initiatives for colleges and universities across the country. In addition to his current role, he also volunteers as a trainer with the National Coalition Building Institute that helps engage high schools, colleges, and universities in prejudice reduction and equity work.
Contact Us
Mikaela Abundez
Director of Student Services
310-916-9378