The Panelists:

W. Keith Sutton, Psy.D. is in private practice in San Francisco and Corte Madera where he works with children, adolescents, families, couples, and individual adults using CBT, EMDR, Family Systems, and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT).  Dr. Sutton is the director of the Institute for the Institute for the Advancement of Psychotherapy where he teachers workshops for relicensed and licensed clinicians, and works 15 clinicians who see clients in San Francisco, Marin, the East Bay, Peninsula, and South Bay.  Dr. Sutton is also the director of Bay Area Community Counseling, which is a nonprofit dedicated to providing effective treatment to those in financial need, and trains MFT, CSW, & PCC associates.  He is also the host of the podcast, Therapy On the Cutting Edge where he interviews clinicians who are innovating and integrating and moving the field of psychotherapy forward. 

Veronique Thompson, Ph.D. is a tenured faculty at the Wright Institute in Berkeley and the Clinical Director at the Carl B. Metoyer Center for Family Counseling, East Oakland. There she and her colleagues are piloting a program, the Umoja Reentry Family Unity Project, to support families with formerly incarcerated parents.  She has experience working with adults and families, as well as adolescent status offenders, and her theoretical orientation combines developmental, systems, social justice therapy, and narrative therapy perspectives. Dr. Thompson is a past teaching associate for the University of California, Berkeley in general psychology and minority mental health, as well as a fellow in the Berkeley Teacher Training Program.  In addition to her work mentioned above, she also maintains a private practice. 

Aaron Gonzales, MA, LMFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Having received his Master’s of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling with Honors, as well as a BA in Psychology from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, he has worked in a plethora of settings during his career as a therapist. In addition to his private practice, he has experience working with children, adolescents, adults, families, and individuals, in school based, clinic, and hospital settings. During his graduate work he held two internships at Spokane Falls Community College and Spokane Community College working with a wide array of students with such issues as: anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorders, and personality concerns. He was also a safe space and ally for communities such as: LGBTQ+, deaf, immigration consideration, and disenfranchised cultural considerations. He has been practicing psychotherapy since 2015 in California. Aaron started his career with children and adolescents at San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and did pro bono work with Luma Behavioral Consultants. He has held multiple therapy positions at San Mateo County such as regional clinics, in-home-services, field based therapy, psychiatric emergency services, and managing a regional clinic. Aaron has coordinated and managed at risk youth while providing treatment planning, assessments, and presented in front of multiple disciplinary teams. Currently he helps manage a regional clinic and work with severely mentally ill adults who qualify for Medi-Cal services.

Pooja Mamidanna, M.A, M.S., LMFT, graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology with her M.A in Marriage and Family Therapy and M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Christ University (Bangalore, India). Pooja is a Board Member of the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA). Pooja was Chair (2019-2021) of the Division of South Asian Americans (DoSAA) within AAPA. Pooja is Co-Chair Campus Representative of Division 45 within the American Psychological Association (APA) and is part of the Division 45 Presidential Task Force, Fighting Racism with Cross-Racial/Ethnic Solidarity: Toward Being an Accomplice. Pooja currently is a second-year Ph.D. Clinical Psychology Student at the California School of Professional Psychology. Pooja currently works at a private practice in San Francisco (Therapy Now SF). Pooja’s clinical experience includes substance use, crisis residential treatment facilities, and community mental health outpatient clinics (children, adolescents, adults, families, couples, and the elderly population). Pooja works from a globally social justice and trauma-informed care lens. Pooja is ardent in discussing diversity issues such as race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and culture. Pooja’s research interests include multicultural psychology, decolonizing therapy, BIPOC mental health, South Asian mental health, grief, loss, intergenerational, and complex trauma.