Bio

Ryan began their professional journey as an AmeriCorps Member serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness at Francis House Center of Sacramento. During master’s and doctoral-level training, Ryan completed practica at multiple private practices, college and university counseling centers, school-based health centers, and inpatient and outpatient medical centers. They also provided home-based healthcare for individuals with disabling health conditions and those receiving hospice care.

They completed predoctoral internship at The Ohio State University’s Counseling and Consultation Service and subsequently received their doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology with a minor in Integrated Behavioral Healthcare from New Mexico State University in 2021. They completed the HIV/LGBTQ Health Psychology Fellowship (2-year postdoctoral fellowship) with the Department of Psychiatry & Health Behavior at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University in June 2023. This fellowship provided them with the opportunity to work alongside Infectious Disease physicians at Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program-funded clinics while offering training and supervision to medical and psychology students and residents. They also provided gender-affirming mental healthcare to uninsured transgender and gender-diverse patients at the Equality Clinic of Augusta.

Ryan honed their research skills during their training by working with a number of different research teams around the country and serving as a research assistant on NIMHD, NIDA, and NIAAA-funded studies pertaining to substance use, sexual behavior, and serious mental illness. Ryan is currently funded through four mechanisms, all supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): the HIV/AIDS, Substance Abuse and Trauma Training Program (HA-STTP 2021-2023 cohort; R25DA035692) at the University of California, Los Angeles, the Lifespan/Brown Criminal Justice Research Training Program on Substance Use, HIV, and Comorbidities (CJRT 2022-2024 cohort; R25DA037190), the JEAP Initiative Training Institute (2023-2025 cohort; R24DA051950), and the Brandies-Harvard SPIRE Center Substance Use Disorder Systems Performance Scholars Program (2023-2024 cohort; P30DA035772). They have published both qualitative and quantitative work relating to access to mental health care, college student mental health, K-12 student mental health, mental health literacy, trauma, marginalization, HIV prevention, LGBTQ health, and peer support. They are launching a program of research focused on ameliorating the syndemic of justice involvement, trauma, substance misuse, and infectious disease transmission in rural and remote settings upon beginning their work at UND in August 2023.

Ryan is an experienced instructor of undergraduate and graduate courses in psychological assessment, addictions counseling, counseling theories, counseling skills, statistics, and research methods. They greatly enjoy providing clinical supervision to counseling and psychology students, as well as medical students and psychiatry residents. They provide continuing education for healthcare professionals, as well as clinical and research supervision and training. Recent invited presentations have pertained to trauma-informed care for people living with HIV, trauma-informed care in psychiatric outpatient settings, inclusivity in patient care, and mindfulness-based approaches to treating substance use disorders. They also enjoy offering preventive, educative, and developmentally-focused outreach efforts to patient groups and community members.

Ryan is passionate about improving access to and quality of care for individuals who face marginalization and oppression. They have trained and worked in Nebraska, California, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Ohio, and Georgia. As a psychologist, they were trained as a generalist and have extensive experience providing healthcare services to adolescents and adults who identify as Black/African American and Latino/a or Latinx; people with disabilities; sexual and gender minorities; and people with low income.

Ryan is active in service in several positions with the American Psychological Association (APA) and APA divisions (e.g., Division 17, 44, 31), and enjoys serving on the editorial boards of the Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion, the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, The Counseling Psychologist, Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, and the Journal of Counseling Psychology.