MEET THE MHSPD Team 

Dr. Eric C. Chen is a Professor of Counseling Psychology at Fordham University. He received his PhD in Counseling Psychology from Arizona State University. At Fordham he has served as PES Division Chair (2003-06), Vice Chair (2019-20) and Interim Chair (2020), and as Training Director of the PhD Counseling Psychology program (2010-12). He is the coordinator of the master’s Mental Health Counseling program. His current professional and research interests center on group counseling and stigmatized identities of marginalized individuals, and, in particular, undocumented immigrant students and LGBTQ individuals. To date, he has mentored more than 40 doctoral dissertations. He has served on the editorial board of several journals, including the Journal of Counseling Psychology (2002-2009) and Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, for which he also served as an Associate Editor from 2007-2010. Dr. Chen serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy (Division 49 of the APA) where he also chairs the  Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee. Dr. Chen has been the recipient of several research grants and awards. He was awarded in 2016 APA Fellow status and at the APA’s 2020 and 2022 annual meetings, he was honored from APA Division 49 with the Presidential Award and a Presidential Commendation, respectively. Since 2021, he has been directing the Clinical Mental Health Services (CCMH) program funded by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to offer free telehealth services to underserved children and youth in the Bronx. He is currently serving a 3-year term as an item writer for the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), which is developed and owned by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB). The ASPPB is the association of psychology licensing boards in the United States and Canada. More recently, starting in July 2023, he started his term as a member on the Board of the Master’s in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC), which accredits master’s programs that meet standards established by the counseling profession.

Gabriela Munoz De Zubiria is an advanced Counseling Psychology PhD student. She was born in Chile to Colombian and Peruvian parents and lived in Venezuela prior to moving to the U.S. Her clinical interests include working with historically marginalized and underserved populations, and, in particular, undocumented immigrants and individuals from mixed-status families. She has worked for her externships in two college counseling centers providing short-term, individual psychotherapy to young adults as well as working in an outpatient setting with Spanish speaking individuals and families. Her identity as a Latina immigrant has strongly influenced her educational, research, and career trajectories. As a member of the CCMH program, she seeks to expand her clinical experience working with at-risk school-age children, particularly BIPOC and immigrant youth. 

Paige Guarino is a fourth-year Counseling Psychology PhD student. She graduated with her B.A. in Psychology from Middlebury College, and her first post-graduate role involved connecting low-income and marginalized individuals across the United States with full-time, benefited employment. This work sparked in Paige a passion for vocational psychology, particularly the intersections between mental health and low-income or marginalized identity statuses. Paige has since pursued this interest through her research on the intersections between work and intersectional identity factors and her facilitation of career development and critical consciousness training for historically underrepresented youth through the Changemakers and STEP programs. She has additionally worked as a clinical extern in a college counseling center, largely offering care to marginalized students, and at a hospital outpatient clinic where she served transgender youth and their families. Currently, she is a clinical extern at an inpatient and outpatient hospital, where she serves pediatric cancer patients. As an administrative assistant to MHSPD, Paige aims to continue to work in supporting the mental health and well-being of marginalized youth and the clinicians who serve them. 

Zainab Raza is a third-year counseling psychology PhD student. She earned a BA in International Relations from University of California - Davis, and an MA in International Education Development from University College London. She was part of the first MHSPD cohort, working at a high-needs high school in the Bronx. She is currently a college counselor. Her clients are primarily students of color from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. She is also a recipient of the 2024 Graduate Student Leadership Institute from the Asian American Psychological Association. Her research includes examining psychological thriving among undergraduate students of color. Her research interests also include understanding how the intersections of religious identities with gender and race/ethnicity impact young people's mental health, as well as the impact of student activism on mental health. 

Maria Sol is a 5th-year School Psychology PhD candidate at Fordham University with a strong passion for working with immigrant youth and underserved communities. She is deeply committed to advancing mental health equity, and her experiences reflect her dedication to this cause. Currently, Maria Sol is an extern at the Family PEACE Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she provides Child-Parent Psychotherapy to families of color affected by domestic violence. Alongside this, she is working on her dissertation, which explores the intersection of single motherhood and attachment theory. Maria Sol is genuinely humbled by the opportunity to join this team!