Speakers

Skip Simpson

Avoiding the Malpractice Snare

(CEU Presentation) 

Attorney Skip Simpson is nationally recognized for his expertise in suicide and repressed memory cases. He lectures nationally on “Avoiding the Psychiatric Malpractice Snare.” He is a current Board of Director, and Faculty for the QPR Institute.  Mr. Simpson was a member of the Board for the American Association of Suicidology for 8 years. He reviews 70-80 suicides cases annually for litigation; he usually accepts six for prosecution.

Dr. Katrina Rufino

Risk, Theory, and Treatment

(CEU Presentation) 

Katrina Rufino is a tenured associate professor at the University of Houston – Downtown as well as a licensed psychologist in Texas. She holds dual appointments as a Senior Research Scientist at the Menninger Clinic, as well as an adjunct faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine. After completing a doctorate in clinical psychology, Dr. Rufino’s expertise in suicide was enhanced during a combined clinical and research postdoctoral fellowship at the Menninger Clinic. In addition to her expertise in the assessment and treatment of suicide, she also utilized novel statistical methods and research design methodology in clinical research to examine serious mental illness, particularly inpatient treatment outcomes. She also enjoys teaching Abnormal Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and mentoring undergraduates in research.

Rachel Daniels

A Resilient Life to Live and Give

(CEU Presentation)

Rachel Daniels is the owner of Consulting and Counseling with Rachel, opened in 2019 and focusing on inclusive preventative mental health and wellness, offering telemental health services, and including yoga and meditation among her practices. She received her bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Southern Mississippi and her master's degree in social work from Jackson State University, where she has been a field instructor/supervisor for social work interns since 2009 and an adjunct instructor in Jackson State University’s undergraduate social work program since 2014.

Starting her career at the Mississippi Department of Human Services as a social worker investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect, she began work in 2005 as a forensic interviewer and has assisted in the development of a statewide peer review program for forensic interviewers. She has interviewed over 1700 suspected victims and witnesses of abuse and neglect as part of multidisciplinary team investigations and has been accepted as an expert witness in several courts across the state. Rachel has also assisted in the development of Mississippi’s grant-funded multidisciplinary team enhancement pilot project.

Dr. Courtney Worley

A Clinicians Guide to TeleMental Health

(CEU Presentation) 

Dr. Courtney Worley is a board-certified clinical psychologist serving in the Department of Veterans Affairs as Training Coordinator for their national training in Written Exposure Therapy. Dr. Worley is an affiliate of the University of Alabama’s Alabama Research Institute on Aging and is also currently a staff psychologist with the VHA VISN 4 Telemental Health Hub providing Evidence Based Psychotherapies for; PTSD, Depression, Insomnia, and Nightmares.  She completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at The University of Alabama, with specialized coursework in health and geropsychology with her internship being completed at The University of Florida Health Sciences Center in medical psychology. Prior to her graduate work in psychology, she completed a master’s degree in public health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Worley enjoys training and consultation in Evidence Based Psychotherapies and has served as a consultant for EBPs in the United States and with international groups. Dr. Worley has also collaborated virtually with the National Center for PTSD on projects that include telehealth delivery across the continuum of care. Dr. Worley has completed a special detail assignment with the NCPTSD’s Tech Into Care Project aiding dissemination of mobile apps and websites to support mental health recovery and was a subject matter expert in the development of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) Coach 2.0, a mobile app to support CPT delivery.  

Dyelicia Vasquez

Mental Health and Suicide among School-age Youth

(CEU Presentation) 

Dyelicia Vasquez is the Project Director at NFusion Metro System of Care in Hinds, County, where Hinds Behavioral Health Services is the foundation of her career and academic goals. Mrs. Vasquez is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker that graduated from Mississippi College with her bachelor’s in social work, and from Jackson State University with her master’s in social work. She is currently attending Jackson State University to obtain her PhD in the Philosophy of Social Work with a focus on clinical practice during COVID-19. Mrs. Vasquez has worked in mental health for the past 14 years and is passionate about her work with youth and families who need intensive outpatient services to address their mental health and substance abuse disorders. She is committed to serving those youth and families she encounters to ensure their life is the focus and their pain is addressed in a therapeutic manner.

Dr. Linda Oshin

Treatment Engagement with Youth of Color

(CEU Presentation) 

Linda Oshin is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. She earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Yale Department of Psychiatry and her postdoctoral fellowship at Rutgers. Her program of research focuses on the social context of depression, emotion dysregulation, and suicidality among adolescents and young adults of color. Specifically, she studies ethnic-racial identity, family racial socialization, cultural values, and treatment engagement. Her research goal is to make mental health treatment more effective and accessible to youth of color. Dr. Oshin is working on a number of projects promoting mental health interventions among youth of color who are at risk for suicide and examining barriers to mental health treatment at multiple ecological levels.