Committee for Diversity, Belonging, Equity and Inclusion

As a committee, we are developing programs and initiatives that involve and draw from the many resources and voices in our community. Already, we work together with the Diversity Scholarship Committee and plan to create other subcommittees.

We will keep the AEDP community informed of these changes and developments as we evolve, in addition to updating the resources on this page.

To contact the committee, please email dbei.committee@aedpinstitute.org

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Meet the DBEI Committee: AEDP Community Members

Joshua DeSilva, PsyD, CGP

Joshua DeSilva, PsyD, CGP (they/them) is a licensed psychologist in Virginia and DC and identifies as a nonbinary Latine person of queer experience. Their family immigrated from Venezuela and maintains strong ties to Latin America. Growing up in the Midwest as a first generation American and attending college and graduate school as a first generation student has powerfully impacted their sense of the importance (and difficulty) of empowering diverse groups to live and learn in spaces that have historically been oppressive and unwelcoming. Professionally, Dr. DeSilva (Josh) is the Associate Director and Director of Training at American University Counseling Center. Josh feels lucky to be a part of the future of psychology in this role. They were appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to serve as a Member of the Virginia Latino Advisory Board and currently serve as Vice Chair of the Board. Outside of training and community advocacy work, Josh’s private practice focuses on antiracist and identity-affirming care with LGBTQ+ clients, male-identified and nonbinary clients, BIPOC clients, and communities affected by chronic health conditions. Josh completed their pre-doctoral internship in psychology at Howard University Counseling Services in Washington, D.C., and they have completed the 2-year training program in group psychotherapy at the Washington School of Psychiatry. Their group and consulting work focuses on inclusion of historically marginalized voices and leadership development for leaders of color. Josh holds a Doctor of Psychology degree from George Washington University, is a Registrant in the National Register of Health Service Psychologists, and is a Certified Group Psychotherapist. They are passionate about using AEDP to understand identity, intersectionality, and how to heal from identity based wounds. Josh is very clear that the focus of therapy should be on liberation rather than on adjusting to oppression and sees experiential therapies as bridges to achieving that goal with clients.  

“I am truly in love with food. It has always been a great way to dive into new cultures. Cooking (but mostly eating), baking, reading, and travel to new places keeps me grounded. My partner and I also love word games and trivia. We can’t go to sleep without doing a crossword puzzle to unwind.”

Jacqueline Lynch, PhD

I describe myself as a British Nigerian, heterosexual cis woman with strong Yorkshire pride, a military historian and author husband, two amazing kids and a pet collection. I am also dyslexic, and my children have dyspraxia and are hypermobile, and I am used to navigating an ableist world with children who often feel disabled by others’ view of them. I qualified with a doctorate in clinical psychology in 1994 and have worked almost exclusively with children ever since, being the director and manager of an independent therapy service for children and their families who are or looked after by the local authority, adopted or in kinship placements. However, I have recently developed a passion for AEDP and love the links between this and working with children.

“In all my work and career, I have been driven by the need to hear the silent and give voice to the unheard in our society, and to be able to put a voice to the pain within. I am passionate about equity, and as a woman whose identity is deeply embedded in the beauty of my colour, this is particularly played out in the forum of racial equity and finding a voice of my own that will be heard, and raising up others so that they feel empowered and included.”

James Santos

As a member of the DBEI committee, James Santos provides a passion and presence to promote diversity, belonging, equity and inclusion. James Santos has worked in many multicultural settings in downtown Lousiville, KY, and led trips internationally where he provided pastoral care and education, helping groups navigate new cultural and spiritual experiences.

James’s areas of competency and experience include being a practitioner, educator, and facilitator of diversity and inclusion in various contexts. In addition to his private practice work at Cornerstone Care, James serves as a corporate chaplain and life coach at Manna Inc. providing emotional and spiritual care.

“Originally born in the Philippines and raised in the panhandle of Florida, I love reading, writing, playing the piano, mountain biking, trail-running, drinking a good pour-over coffee, connecting with friends, playing cards with my 5 kiddos, and eating out with my beautiful wife, Terra.”

Connie Rhodes, affectionately known as the Peace Promoter, is a graduate of the University of Chicago with a concentration in Behavioral Sciences and Psychology. While at the University of Chicago, she had the honor to complete advanced studies with experiential psychotherapy pioneer Dr. Eugene Gendlin. During her time with him she developed her client centered therapy approach and learned the art of focusing and imagery.

Connie is the founder and executive director of Restoration Incorporated, a premier faith-based human service agency. She is also the lead consultant for Culturally Competent Consulting, helping organizations with their diversity, equity and inclusion needs. Connie is a trailblazer in diversity equity and inclusion work. She uses a holistic approach that uses indigenous, cultural and spiritual healing practices to create communities that promote anti racism and belonging.
 
Connie has facilitated countless trainings spanning over 25 years. In addition to DEI, her expertise includes youth violence prevention and healing community trauma. Her vast experience in the social service arena includes her 16 years at BUILD Inc. where she worked in some of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods, and her work in Minneapolis helping young victims of gun violence.
 
Connie uses the AEDP modality to help bring healing and decrease aloneness for marginalized communities, such as in her role as a certified Circle Keeper. Connie has received awards from the Cook County Probation Department for her work with young women, the City of Minneapolis Local Public Health Hero Award with the Next Step team, and the 2017 Amy Aim Humanitarian Award from ILCC for her work impacting youth in our community. She is an advocate for restoring peace and hope in our communities via her strong faith in God.
 
The AEDP Institute has partnered with Connie and Culturally Competent Consulting  to support the Institute’s commitment to antiracism and further our initiatives in diversity, equity and inclusion.

“I love traveling, being in Nature, speaking Spanish, cooking, listening to music and poetry and engaging with loved ones.”

Kate Halliday, LCSW, Faculty

Kate Halliday, LCSW is a psychotherapist based in Ithaca New York. She has been in private practice since 1998 after a number of years spent in community human service agencies and teaches AEDP Essential Skills (ES1).

Over the course of a long career, Kate has been influenced and enlivened by a wide variety of experiences and teachers. She began her career as a nursery school and elementary school teacher, and went on to train as a clinical social worker. A writer and a pragmatist, she was initially drawn to Solution Oriented and Narrative therapy. A longing to feel more effective in treating trauma led her to train in EMDR in 2000, and in 2009 she began learning AEDP. Like many of us in the AEDP community, Kate fell in love with the model from the first moment she saw Diana Fosha present a videotape; and in the years since, Kate has enjoyed every moment of AEDP-related experience.

Kate’s commitment when she was a Certified Supervisor working in a Northern New York State community had been to represent the people she and regional supervisees serve: these include economically struggling members of diverse and marginalized groups. A member of the LGBT community, Kate has worked with gay and transgender people since she became a therapist. As an aging cis-female, she is personally aware of the cultural disempowerment that comes for that demographic.

“I live in a high saddle of land in the hills outside Ithaca New York, with my wife, three dogs, and (currently) 10 chickens. My connection to the land and the beings who inhabit it supports and replenishes me. One of the highlights of my day is the time after dusk when I cross the driveway to put away the chickens, and can notice where the moon is rising and locate my favorite constellations as they begin to pierce the darkness. Silence and darkness restore me.”

Lynne Hartwell, Administration

Lynne has spent most of her working career in product development and project management with significant work and life experience in Asia. She is the only member of the DBE&I Committee who is not a mental health professional. Lynne has been involved with the institute since 2014 playing many behind the scenes roles including helping to launch and oversee the efforts of AEDP Institute Scholarships including the Diversity and Pay What You Wish Scholarships. Lynne has been active on DBEI committee since Oct 2019 and participated in the “Groundwater” antiracism training with the Racial Equity Institute (REI) and a 14 week online training for non-Black therapists in anti-Black racism developed by Dr. Mosley and a group of clinical psychologists.

“I am an avid tree lover, I love boating, walking, biking, taking the long way home, night skies, expansive landscapes and cross-cultural collaboration. I am deeply engaged and committed to the DBE&I mission for AEDP and beyond.”

Karen Pando-Mars, MFT, Faculty

As a member of the DBEI Committee Karen Pando-Mars also holds a role as liaison between DBEI and the Director and Admin team of the AEDP Institute. This role is to support bi-directional communication channels between the advisory function of the DBEI committee and the action planning of the Institute. Karen draws upon her experience as AEDP senior faculty since 2009 with her passion and dedication to Diversity, Belonging, Equity and Inclusion, especially in the classroom.

Prior to this role, between 2011 and 2018, she was chair of the Education Committee and served on the Executive Committee of the AEDP Institute. In 2016, in an Essential Skills course she was teaching, there was a call for more representation and diversity in the training videos, and among the participants. One of the AEDP Institute’s responses was to develop the diversity scholarship program. Her areas of competency are being a clinician, teacher, writer, and community builder in the SF Bay area’s AEDP West and as an emissary to Israel.

Karen has familial roots in Peru and Argentina and grew up in the suburbs of New York City. She is a cisgendered, heterosexual, white woman, who continues to study the influences of her privilege and class, to lessen their unconscious bias and power in service of DBEI values in the AEDP community and in the world in which she lives.