Faculty
The faculty of the University of Washington Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology: Prevention & Treatment program include nationally recognized experts in the field of child psychology. Faculty leadership are affiliated with the UW Department of Psychology, the UW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Center for Child & Family Well-Being at the UW.
Faculty Leadership
Lynn Fainsilber Katz, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Director
Lynn Fainsilber Katz, the director of the Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology: Prevention & Treatment program, is a research professor in child clinical psychology and developmental psychology in the Department of Psychology and associate director of the UW’s Center for Child & Family Well-Being. A licensed clinical psychologist and nationally recognized expert in the area of family relations, Katz has 35 years of experience working with children and families on issues relating to marital conflict, parenting and family relationships. She has received over $10 million of funding from the National Institutes of Health for her work on domestic violence, parenting, childhood aggression, adolescent depression and family adjustment in the context of pediatric cancer. Katz earned her doctorate in psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and joined the UW faculty in 1992.
Liliana Lengua, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Program Consultant
Liliana Lengua is the Maritz Family Foundation Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology and director of the UW's Center for Child & Family Well-Being. A licensed clinical psychologist, Lengua studies the effects of adversity on children, examining risk and protective factors that contribute to children’s resilience or vulnerability. She's been an investigator on several federally funded research projects, including those examining the development of executive function; the effects of neighborhood, family and peers on adolescent substance use; and childhood risk factors for the emergence of adult mental health problems. More recently, Lengua developed well-being promotion programs for parents, youth, young adults and professionals who work with children and families, and she’s evaluating a task-sharing approach to deliver these programs. A member of the UW faculty since 1996, Lengua earned her doctorate from Arizona State University.
Georganna Sedlar, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Associate Director of Clinical Training & Community Engagement
Georganna Sedlar is a licensed clinical psychologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the UW School of Medicine and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology. Her clinical activities include evaluation and consultation at Harborview Medical Center's Foster Care Clinic, clinical supervision of psychology graduate students and psychiatry fellows, and clinical consultation to community mental health providers. Sedlar also serves as a consulting psychologist for Washington state’s Foster Care Assessment Program. She’s involved in workforce development and enhancement projects, including the Integrated Health Care Training Program, a Washington state-funded initiative to train psychiatrists and health care providers in evidence-based, integrated behavioral health care; and CBT Plus, a statewide program to train community-based mental health providers in delivering evidence-based practices for children in cognitive behavioral therapy for trauma, anxiety and depression. Sedlar earned her doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I value our students’ enthusiasm, empathy, curiosity and commitment to improving the lives of children and adolescents. It’s so rewarding to see students grow in the program — I’m honored to be a part of it. I’m constantly learning from my students and growing as a teacher and a human.
Beth Yu Simpson, MSW, LICSW (She/Her)
Associate Director of Educational Access & Student Well-Being
Beth Yu Simpson is a licensed clinical social worker and lecturer at the UW School of Social Work. She’s the principal and founder of Adoption Identity Race Exploration (AIRE), an organization that offers therapy, consulting and community organizing for BIPOC adoptees. A transracial/national Korean adoptee, Simpson is passionate about healing justice and supporting marginalized individuals and communities, especially those impacted by adoption, foster care and racial trauma. Her work is grounded in the healing found through ancestral connection, identity reclamation and collective liberation. Simpson has over two decades of experience in child welfare, teaching and community collaboration, including 10 years as a teaching associate for the UW SSW Child Welfare Training and Advancement Program (CWTAP) before joining PSYCAP. She also volunteers and consults with organizations serving adoptees and youth experiencing the child welfare system or housing insecurity. Simpson earned a master of social work at the UW.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
Teaching allows me to co-create with students a space of reflection, connection, growth and transformation. I strive to foster a learning environment where we’re all learners and teachers, modeling the work of equity and justice as a shared, evolving practice. Sharing this impactful journey with students is a meaningful part of my work.
Teaching Faculty
Lily Assaad, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Lily Assaad is a licensed clinical psychologist and a faculty member in the UW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Department of Psychology. As a clinician, Assaad specializes in treating suicidality and self-harm using comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy (DBT); treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure therapy (PE); and treating anxiety-related disorders using exposure therapies like exposure and response prevention (ExRP) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and exposure for social anxiety. She takes an egalitarian and validating approach to supervising her trainees. She encourages trainees to approach her for help and to risk implementing difficult evidence-based therapies without fear of rejection and shame due to mistakes. Assaad completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at Purdue University, a residency at the UW and a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
It’s deeply fulfilling and meaningful to me to be able to walk alongside students as they explore and apply DBT. Seeing students begin to apply the principles of DBT to change the lives of the individuals and families with whom they are working brings me joy that only a few other experiences can parallel.
Christy Brady-Smith, Ph.D., MSW, LMHC (She/Her)
Christy Brady-Smith is a licensed mental health counselor, developmental psychologist and lecturer for the Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology program. She’s deeply committed to bridging research and clinical practice and brings an interdisciplinary lens to her teaching. At Columbia University, she contributed to the national Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, studying how early environments, parenting and policy influence child development. Before transitioning into clinical work, she founded Nature Nurture Knowledge, an educational company that helps parents and teachers better understand and support children at each developmental stage. In Brady-Smith’s private practice, she specializes in evidence-based treatments for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions in children and teens. She earned a master of social work at the UW and a doctorate in developmental psychology at Columbia University.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
Teaching in this program feels deeply meaningful because it brings together developmental science and the art of clinical practice. I love helping students see how theory and research can directly inform their work with children and families. I’m especially drawn to conversations about context — how systems, culture and lived experience shape development — and how we can better serve children and communities that have been historically marginalized.
Molly Cevasco, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Molly Cevasco is a clinical psychologist who works in the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she specializes in providing services to individuals with complex mental health needs, trauma and autism. Cevasco has worked to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate DBT services in Spanish as the DBT program expands its services to culturally, linguistically and socioeconomically diverse clientele. She also specializes in providing trauma-focused interventions for neurodiverse children and teens with varying cognitive and language skills. Cevasco earned her doctorate in psychology from the UW and is a board-certified behavior analyst.
Mariah Corey, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Mariah Corey is a postdoctoral fellow at Seattle Children’s Hospital, specializing in the treatment of anxiety and related disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Tourette’s and body-focused repetitive behaviors. Her prior research focused on identifying the protective factors for Black communities experiencing ethnic and racial discrimination. Driven by a commitment to equity and cultural humility, she seeks to bridge research and practice, ensuring that treatments and clinical programs are evidence based, while tailored to meet the unique needs and strengths of diverse communities. In addition, Corey is passionate about teaching and mentoring and finds joy in supporting students as they develop into confident and skilled clinicians. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Washington.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
Teaching in the program has been a great way to build community! I love the exchange of information that happens in the classroom, and I really value the way students share resources and experiences to support each other's learning and growth. While my role is to teach, I always walk away having learned something myself, which continually helps me grow as both a clinician and an educator.
Erjing Cui, LMHC, LPC (She/Her)
Erjing Cui is a licensed mental health counselor in Washington and Oregon with extensive research and clinical experience working with anxiety and related disorders, depression, and Asian and Asian American populations. She is passionate about providing evidence-based treatment through a multicultural and social justice lens, with a focus on advancing care for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Cui currently serves as president of OCD Washington and is on the nominating committee of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Council of the International OCD Foundation. Cui co-founded Bravewave Collective, an effort dedicated to OCD and related disorders. She has also spoken internationally on Asian and Asian American adolescents’ mental health and has been featured in The New York Times, Reuters and other media outlets. Cui has a master's degree in mental health counseling from Boston College.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I love teaching in this program because it brings together students who are passionate, thoughtful, and committed to making a real difference in the lives of children and families. It’s a privilege to support future therapists in developing their clinical voice and experience, while staying grounded in ethics, cultural humility and evidence-based care.
Dustin Ducharme, Ph.D. (He/Him)
Dustin Ducharme is a licensed psychologist and clinician at The Bellevue Center for DBT & CBT. He specializes in the treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults, with expertise in anxiety, depression, emotion regulation, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and executive functioning challenges. Ducharme’s clinical work is grounded in the belief that the best outcomes emerge when clients are empowered to define their own goals and are intentionally supported in generalizing therapy skills in the real world. A particular passion is his growing practice of evidence-informed rock climbing dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and social anxiety programs. He has a strong commitment to promoting self-determination in therapy and draws on experience across educational, residential and outpatient settings. Ducharme completed his doctorate in school psychology at Georgia State University.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I love teaching behavioral psychology because behavioral change lies at the heart of growth — in ourselves and in our clients. Exploring behavioral principles can be personally enlightening and professionally essential. It’s also an area of psychology that naturally aligns with the scientist-practitioner model, allowing practitioners to bring a practical, testable framework into evidence-based treatment.
Sheena Friesen, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Sheena Friesen is the attending psychologist for the Child Inpatient Program of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital and assistant professor in the UW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. She has clinical expertise in disruptive behavior disorders, comprehensive assessment, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), exposure therapies, parent training and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Friesen has taught and supervised doctoral and master's level students for several years. She received her doctorate in school psychology from the UW.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I am passionate about building a more skilled mental health workforce — one that integrates evidence-based practices with radical genuineness and deep attunement to the unique individual and their socio-ecological context. For me, teaching is one way to address the pressing mental health needs of youth in our communities by equipping the next generation of providers with validated tools and treatments.
Paige Harris, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Paige Harris is a licensed clinical psychologist and clinical instructor in the UW Department of Psychology. Before entering private practice, she was director of the Anxiety & Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Program at Cadence Child & Adolescent Therapy. She has specific expertise in the treatment of youth anxiety, OCD and related disorders, and is a Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)-certified provider. She also specializes in working with LGBTQ+ youth and their families, including young people who are exploring or questioning gender and/or sexual identities. Harris deeply values serving families and supporting new clinicians through teaching and supervision. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology at the UW.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I thoroughly enjoy working with our students. They are passionate, think deeply about this work and love kids and teens. Our students will truly make such a difference in the lives of the young people they will work with across their careers.
Elizabeth Hubert, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Liz Hubert is a licensed psychologist working in Seattle. She specializes in treating adolescents and young adults with anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and mood disorders. Before moving to private practice full time, she was a clinical supervisor and psychologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital. At Seattle Children’s, Hubert’s primary clinical focus centered on providing care for youth in the Anxiety Intensive Outpatient program. Throughout her training and career she has enjoyed providing supervision and training to other clinicians and students. Hubert earned her doctoral degree from the UW.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I enjoy providing a safe space for students to practice their counseling skills and build confidence in their therapeutic abilities.
Marisa Keller, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Marisa Keller is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in working with families across the lifespan, from perinatal mental health care, to childhood and adolescence, to parenting children of all ages. Her areas of focus include working with individuals experiencing significant emotional, behavioral and interpersonal dysregulation; suicidality, self-harm and other impulsive and/or life-threatening behaviors; perinatal mood and anxiety disorders; and trauma therapy. She is a DBT-Linehan Board of Certification certified clinician and also has a certification in perinatal mental health. As a cis-gender, bisexual, multiracial individual, she is passionate about the synthesis between decolonizing, anti-oppressive psychology and evidence-based treatment. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University.
Joshua Leblang, Ed.S., LMHC, LCPC (He/Him)
Joshua Leblang is a licensed mental health counselor and clinical professional counselor and serves as an adjunct lecturer in the UW Department of Psychology. He has over 30 years of experience specializing in adolescents and their families and also is an approved clinical supervisor. Leblang has worked extensively across the United States and internationally, providing training and consultation on effective interventions for youth and families involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. His expertise has led him to present across the U.S. and in Norway, Australia, New Zealand, England and Wales. For 14 years, he served as a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the UW, where he continues to consult on program development to reduce teen gun violence. Leblang brings a deep commitment to improving outcomes for young people and their families through evidence-based, compassionate and culturally responsive care. He earned a master of education and a specialist degree in marriage and family therapy at the University of Florida.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I love sharing my knowledge and experiences, as well as helping prepare students to develop the skills they need when they begin working.
Larissa Mancil, Ph.D., MBA (She/Her)
Larissa Mancil is a licensed clinical psychologist and the director of clinical operations at Ryther, a community mental health center in Seattle. Her practice has focused around dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) practices for youth and adolescents as well as young adults. She is also passionate about the integration of technology into the behavioral health field and aims to use technology to increase access to care for marginalized communities as well as treatment efficacy. She enjoys teaching, mentoring and training students and new clinicians.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I appreciate teaching in this program because of the commitment to evidence-based practice with marginalized youth. I aim to help students feel confident in pushing their clients toward change and integrating the family and natural supports into therapy services.
Anthony Osuna, Ph.D. (He/Him)
Anthony Osuna is a clinical psychologist and acting assistant professor in the UW Department of Pediatrics, based at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. He specializes in the assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities (ASD/IDD) in adolescents and adults. His research focuses on digital inclusion, internet safety and the development of technology-based interventions that promote social connection and well-being among neurodivergent populations. Osuna is the creator of SELFI (Safe Engagement and Learning for Internet), an internet safety and skills intervention designed to help adults with ASD/IDD navigate online spaces securely and meaningfully. A first-generation college graduate and BIPOC scholar, Osuna is committed to advancing health equity and mentoring students from underrepresented backgrounds in psychology. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and completed advanced clinical training at the UW School of Medicine.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I love teaching in this program because it allows me to bridge clinical science and real-world practice. I’m especially passionate about training future clinicians who are committed to equity, inclusion and culturally responsive care.
Minu Ranna-Stewart, LICSW (She/Her)
Minu Ranna-Stewart is a licensed clinical social worker, clinical supervisor and director at Harborview Abuse & Trauma Center. She has over 25 years of social work experience in various settings, from direct service to leadership positions. Her areas of specialization include evidence-based service planning and permanency planning for child welfare, individual and family-based mental health treatment for youth and adults, and mental health training and research. Ranna-Stewart is particularly committed to educating future clinicians and the professional development of new clinicians. In her practice, she emphasizes the importance of providing culturally competent care by incorporating race, ethnicity and other significant identities as essential elements in prevention, service planning, intervention and treatment. Ranna-Stewart earned a master of social work at the UW.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I have long been committed to supporting the development of early-career behavioral health clinicians. Teaching in this program allows me to educate future child and adolescent clinicians by integrating theory with practical application, collaborating with respected colleagues, and promoting inclusive care that reflects identity, culture, systemic influences and lived experiences.
Gabi Sepulveda, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Gabi Sepulveda is a clinical psychologist and acting assistant professor in the UW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. She works at Echo Glen Children’s Center and the Adult Neurodevelopmental Wellness Program, where she provides support for youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are currently involved in the legal and correctional systems. Sepulveda specializes in the intersection of autism and trauma, particularly in understanding and supporting autistic youth who have experienced traumatic events. Her work centers on reducing barriers to care and expanding access to culturally responsive resources, especially for neurodivergent individuals from Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Sepulveda earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Idaho State University and completed her clinical internship at the UW.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I like teaching the Critical Thinking about Research and Ethics course because it encourages students to question the information they encounter and think critically about the field of psychology. I encourage the exploration of the work that still needs to be done, especially in addressing marginalized communities' needs and decolonizing how psychology is taught and practiced. It’s rewarding to help students see how they can contribute to creating a more inclusive and culturally competent discipline.
Stephanie Thompson, Ph.D., ABPP (She/Her)
Stephanie F. Thompson is a research scientist at the UW Center for Child & Family Well-Being. Her research focuses on promoting emotional health in individuals during pregnancy and scaffolding responsive parenting across children’s development. Thompson’s work is framed around the belief that supporting parental mental health creates the foundation for children’s cognitive, physical and emotional well-being. Thompson earned her doctorate in child clinical psychology at the UW.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I enjoy teaching the Assessment & Diagnosis of Child Psychopathology course because I love imparting strategies for solving the diagnostic puzzle, especially to understand what is maintaining or aggravating a client's symptoms.
Cindy Trevino, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Cindy Trevino is an assistant professor in the UW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and an attending psychologist at Seattle Children's. She specializes in early childhood mental health, Latino mental health, and working with children with complex medical needs, including children with conditions ranging from cleft palate to genetic syndromes. She enjoys working with parents and giving them the tools to best support their child or teen! Trevino’s research focuses on identifying and preventing the impacts of social risks and adversity on child behavioral health in underrepresented populations (e.g., rural and Latinx families). She earned her doctorate in school psychology from the UW.
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Stacy Shaw Welch, Ph.D. (She/Her)
Stacy Shaw Welch is a clinical psychologist and an affiliate assistant professor in the UW Department of Psychology. An innovator who is passionate about the research and treatment of anxiety disorders, Welch cofounded the Evidence Based Treatment Centers of Seattle (EBTCS) and started the Anxiety Center of Seattle, the Child Anxiety Center of Seattle and the first intensive outpatient treatment program for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder in the region. She served in executive and clinical director roles at these centers for 15 years. One of Welch's great joys is mentoring students, and she was proud to hand over the directorships of each center to former postdocs and trainees when she left in January of 2021 to help launch a nonprofit. Welch assumed a role as the clinic director of Rogers Behavioral Health in Seattle, a not-for-profit hospital specializing in evidence-based treatment for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and other conditions requiring intensive outpatient or partial hospitalization. Welch resumed practicing, supervising and training in her private practice in Fremont. Welch has published numerous scientific articles in the anxiety disorders area as well as in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and enjoys training and teaching other clinicians. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the UW.
Tricia Wiltse, MA, LMHC (She/Her)
Tricia Wiltse is a licensed mental health counselor and has more than 20 years of experience working with youth who have been involved in multiple systems. For eight years, she worked with adolescents in the residential setting, then went on to provide therapy specializing in childhood sexual abuse. She was a clinical evaluator for Washington state’s Foster Care Assessment Program while also providing therapy services through private practice. She next spent more than a decade in a clinical supervisor and expert role, implementing an evidence-based practice for adolescent youth and their families. She’s currently working with people with disabilities to address barriers to attaining and maintaining successful employment. She holds a master's degree in counseling psychology from St. Martin’s University.
Why I Enjoy Teaching
I love teaching in this program because the students' passion and commitment to learning and applying evidence-based treatments inspire hope. Their dedication to making a positive impact in the lives of children and adolescents contributes to the broader healing, growth and well-being of our communities.