We are so excited to welcome our new ACEPT EC Members! We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks for the devoted service of our trasitioning EC members:
Outgoing EC Members:
Anmol Satiani (Past-President & Student Financial Concerns Committee Chair)
Rachel Nitzarim (Treasurer)
Caroline Novotny (Secretary)
Lauren Nichols (Guidelines Committee Chair)
Bonnie Hassan (Student Involvement Committee Chair)
Transitioning:
Kasey Schultz-Saindon (to President-Elect)
Gwen Grant (to Past-President)
Remaining:
Mirka Ivanovic (Professional Development)
Please see below for a brief Bio for each of our new Executive Committee Members:
President-Elect: Dr. Misty Mann
Misty Mann, Psy.D. is the Director of Training in the School Psychology program and is a licensed Clinical Psychologist. Dr. Mann completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. For the past decade, Dr. Mann has served as training faculty in various Psy.D. programs and has successfully supported students with training, applications, and preparing for their careers post-graduation. Her professional clinical and research interests include perinatal/reproductive mental health, eating disorders and obesity, veterinarian mental health, and integrated primary care.
She has also been an active member of ACEPT and previously served on the EC as Secretary. She is looking forward to the opportunity to serve on the EC again and building on the amazing progress previous ECs have put into place and to continue supporting the wonderful training community in the Chicagoland area.
Secretary: Dr. Melisa Bailey:
Melisa B Bailey (she/her/hers) is the Associate Director of Training and Development for the Behavioral Health Dept at Howard Brown. In this role, Melisa oversees the graduate student clinical training program for Masters and Doctoral level students and supports staff in obtaining terminal licensure. Melisa received her Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and has worked in community mental health, college counseling, and private practice. She has been affiliate faculty at The Chicago School and adjunct faculty at Adler University and has taught Diversity, Systems Theory, and coursework in LGBTQ care. Clinical interests include training and supervision, identity development connected to sexuality and gender, parenting and family creation in queer relationships, and affirmative care for trans and gender expansive individuals.
In my own words, I work hard to ensure that the training program at Howard Brown functions to train students and not see them as just part of our workforce. I see clinical training as a time to help students develop and hone their clinical voice AND it is a time to learn about creating sustainable practices that help students stay in the field. As someone who has worked serving the LGBTQ community for most of my career, I have a goal to increase the number of LGBTQ competent clinicians in the world so that clients in these communities can get good care wherever they go. I am often looking for ways to increase that goal and to support trainees, therefore joining the leadership team for ACEPT feels like a way to help support students and training sites at a broader level.
Treasurer: Dr. Gregory Harms
For most of my career, I have had an interest in both psychology and financial management. I earned my Bachelor’s in psychology at North Park University in the late 90’s and worked at many local human service/mental health agencies after that. I earned my MBA at Keller Graduate School of Management during that time in order to build my managerial skills but found myself gravitating towards the accounting and finance courses. Since finishing the MBA I have often only half-jokingly stated that if I had not chosen psychology as a career, I would have been an accountant. Shortly after finishing the MBA I began teaching undergraduate accounting and finance at American Public University, and continued with that for about 10 years.
More recently I was a visiting professor in Accounting & Financial Management at Nexford University. However, despite this interest in financial management, I continued to primarily enjoy my clinical work and went back to school again for a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling and became an LCPC in a group practice. I then decided to complete this educational path and pursue a doctorate and went to Adler for a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Organizational Development, bringing all of my professional interests together. I finished the program in 2016 and after completing my post-doc, focused on the group practice and teaching. In 2019 I was contacted by the Director at Diamond Headache Clinic, where I had done both pre-doctoral practica and my post-doc, about taking over as the Director of Behavioral Medicine/Training Director and gladly accepted the opportunity as I had enjoyed my training experiences there and hoped to be able to continue Diamond’s tradition of quality training as well as convey my own enthusiasm for this work and share my professional experiences with students and future psychologists. I have been at Diamond since 2019 and have worked now with several cohorts of trainees. I have found our ACEPT membership to be quite valuable and would love to get more involved. With my experience in both business and psychology I feel that the Treasurer position would be a great fit with my experience.
Guidelines Committee Chair: Dr. Reema Obaid Ross
Reema Obaid Ross is the Campus Director of the Office of Placement & Training as well as the Director of Clinical Training for the Department in Forensic Psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She obtained her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology in 2011 and became a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in 2013. Dr. Obaid Ross completed her post-doctoral fellowship in Academic Community Leadership at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and Mt. Sinai Hospital: Under the Rainbow Program. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center Behavioral Health Services. Prior to obtaining a doctorate degree, she completed a master's of science degree in Developmental Psychology from Illinois State University. Dr. Obaid Ross has trained and worked in various settings, including inpatient, outpatient and residential facilities, working with children, adolescents and adults. Her primary interests include training and supervision as well as clinical work with children and families, underserved populations, trauma and attachment theory. Dr. Obaid Ross currently has a small private practice in Chicago working with adults.
Student Involvement Committee Chair: Dr. Plamena Daskalova
Plamena Daskalova (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Director of Training at Allow Wellness, a multidisciplinary group practice based in downtown Chicago. Prior to joining Allow Wellness, Plamena completed a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. As part of her program, Plamena had the privilege of working and training in both community and UCC settings. Among these included Heartland Alliance, Trilogy Behavioral Healthcare, Advocate IL Masonic’s behavioral health clinic, and three university counseling centers in the Chicagoland area. She completed her predoctoral internship and her postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). Plamena’s clinical interests include identity and career development, adjustment, acculturation and enculturation, relationships, mood concerns, and trauma. Research-wise, she conducts studies related to education and career development, immigration, and supervisionnand training. As Director of Training, Plamena is excited to build on and share these interests with emerging professionals. She is thrilled to join the ACEPT community and to serve as the Student Involvement Committee Chair!
Student Financial Concerns Committee Chair: Dr. Patti Kimbel
Dr. Patti Kimbel is currently a Clinical Associate Professor and the Director of Clinical Training for the Psy.D. Program at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Dr. Kimbel is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who has a private practice in Lake County where she has practiced for the past 20 years. Previously, she was the Director of Behavioral Health for Vista Health where she worked for 18 years. Dr. Kimbel has extensive experience educating and training clinicians and has expertise in suicide assessment and treatment of trauma, depression, and addictive disorders. Dr. Kimbel is also a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. Currently, she serves as the President of the Board of the Lake County Suicide Prevention Task Force and has been a member and volunteer of the Task Force since its inception nearly 10 ten years ago.
