Clutter
& Hoarding AddictionPathways Speakers Bios & Information
Patrick
Arbore, EdD
Dr. Arbore is the founder and the Director of the Center for
Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief Related Services (CESP), and serves
as the Director of Professional Development at Institute on Aging.
He is also a Senior Lecturer in the Human Services Division at Notre Dame
de Namur University in Belmont, CA.
See Dr. Arbore's CV
Patricia
A. Areán, PhD
Patricia A. Areán is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry
at UCSF and is a licensed Clinical Psychologist. She is currently the
director of the NIH funded Community Academic Research Training Alliance
Fellowship Program, Co-Facilitator o the UCSF Department of Psychiatry
Mentorship Program, and the Chair of the UCSF Psychiatry Diversity Committee
and a member of the Chancellor's Committee on Faculty Life and a member
of the American Psychological Association's Committee on Aging and the
National Institute of Mental Health research review committee. Her research
focus is on the recognition and treatment of mental disorders in older
adults and minority populations, particularly in recognition and treatment
of depression that is identified in non-mental health settings. Dr. Areán
has published several articles on the recognition and treatment of late
life depression and anxiety, as well as methods for recruiting and retaining
older, minority elderly into longitudinal research. She has been funded
by several agencies, including SAMHSA, NIMH, NIA, and the Hartford Foundation.
She was a psychotherapy expert for the IMPACT study, a multi-site trail
of stepped care for depression in older primary care patients, and for
the PRISMe study, an 11 site study of the integration of mental health
care for the treatment of depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse in older
minority medical patients. She is currently funded by NIMH to study the
impact of psychosocial interventions in low-income, ethnic minority older
adults with depression, severe mental illness and substance abuse. She
also works as a consultant to counties implementing either PST or IMPACT
models into the public sector. Her work has won national recognition,
resulting in an early career award from the American Psychological Association,
a Mid-career Award from NIH for her work on disseminating evidence based
practices to low-income older adults with memory impairments and The Award
for Achievements in Diversity in Mental Health from the American Association
of Geriatric Psychiatry.
See
Dr. Arean's CV
Silvia
Austerlic, MA
Silvia Austerlic has been part of Hospice of Santa Cruz County since 2005. As the Grief Support Specialist and Cultural Liaison, Silvia acts as a cultural liaison for access to HSCC programs and services. Her primary roles involve providing grief support services; and supporting access to, understanding of, and appropriate utilization of hospice services. Another role focuses on community outreach and engagement with the Latino community to promote awareness of advance health care planning and HSCC services, to support access and optimal end of life experience. She has also designed and facilitated cultural competency trainings and presentations locally, regionally and nationally. Silvia is a member of the Bioethics Committees at HSCC and the Watsonville Hospital, and of the Strategic Advisory Committee of the "Spreading Palliative Care in Public Hospitals" Initiative.
See
Ms. Austerlic's CV
Helen
Chen, MD
Helen Chen, MD is a Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of
Geriatrics at UCSF. She received her MD from Brown University and completed
her residency and fellowship training in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics
at UCSF. She has worked in interdisciplinary team settings in home care
and long term care and she is currently the Chief Medical Officer of the
Center for Elders' Independence, a PACE organization in Oakland, CA. Her
interests include ethnogeriatrics and caring for diverse populations,
particularly at the end of life, and teaching geriatrics to generalists.
Margriet
DeLange, MA
Margriet DeLange, MA, Gerontology, teaches at San Francisco State University,
Foothill College, and J.F. Kennedy University on a wide variety of aging
topics. Margriet is the Founder and Director of StoriesUnfolding offering
services of life review. Her lectures and speaking engagements, as well
as her group leading and workshop offerings, have a strong focus on healthy
aging, combining the physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects
of growing old. Through the Department of Aging and dependent Adult Services
in Santa Clara County, Margriet is the Community Organizer for Protecting
Our Elders: an Interfaith Response to Elder Abuse and Neglect, funded
in part by the Archstone Foundation. Her combined backgrounds in Psychology
and Gerontology, her international experiences, and her interfaith work
have made her a desired presenter on aging topics from a holistic perspective.
More information on her work through StoriesUnfolding and Protecting Our
Elders can be found at www.storiesunfolding.com
and www.protectingourelders.org.
See Ms. DeLange's CV
Monika
Eckfield, RN, MSN
Monika Eckfield, RN, MSN is currently a PhD candidate at the UCSF School of Nursing. Her background is in Gerontological Nursing and Psychology. She is a John A. Hartford Foundation Scholar, which recognizes doctoral students with great potential to contribute to gerontological nursing and geriatric nursing education. Monika's research is on the onset, experience and effect of hoarding behaviors in older adults. She is a member of the San Francisco Task Force on Compulsive Hoarding and has developed multiple trainings for various audiences on the topic of hoarding behaviors. She has been recognized as a leader in her field by the Women Health Care Executives of Northern California, the Freedom From Fear mental health advocacy organization, and the Nurses' Educational Funds, Inc. among other organizations. Monika's overall goal is to develop a career that includes three components: working as an educator for schools of nursing and other health care organizations; engaging in research on mental health issues affecting older adults; and directly improving the lives of older adults through her involvement with community based organizations.
See
Ms. Eckfield's CV
Elizabeth
Edgerly, PhD
Elizabeth Edgerly, PhD, is Chief Program Officer of the Alzheimer's Association,
Northern California & Northern Nevada as well as a clinical psychologist.
Dr. Edgerly oversees all chapter programs for persons with dementia, their
families and professionals. She is instrumental in the development of
new programs to better meet the needs of persons with dementia throughout
Northern California & Northern Nevada. Dr. Edgerly is also the lead presenter
and national spokesperson for the Alzheimer's Association's Maintain Your
Brain program and has appeared on television, radio and in numerous national
and local publications, speaking on this topic. In addition to her work
with programs, she staffs the chapter's Medical Scientific Advisory Council.
Dr. Edgerly is a graduate of the University of Maine, Orono; she completed
her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at State University of New York at Binghamton,
NY in 1994. After completing her postdoctoral fellowship at Palo Alto
VA Medical Center, she consulted with the Interdisciplinary Team Training
and Development Program with the center. Dr. Edgerly joined the Alzheimer's
Association in 1995. Dr. Edgerly has had her work published in numerous
scientific journals including the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
and the Journal of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment.
See Dr. Edgerly's CV
Erika
Falk, PsyD
Dr. Falk is Director of Institute on Aging's Geriatric Assessment
and Psychological Services. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with
specialized training in geropsychology and refugee mental health. Prior
to joining the IOA in 2006, she provided training in mental health to
refugees in West Africa. She currently directs the San Francisco Elder
Abuse Forensic Center, a public/private partnership with SF's Police
Department, District Attorney's Office and Adult Protective Services.
Dr. Falk provides training on such topics as neglect, financial abuse,
and violence awareness and prevention in late life.
See
Dr. Falk's CV
Marita Grudzen, MHS
Marita Grudzen, MHS, is Deputy Director and a founding member of the Stanford
Geriatric Education Center, a national center in ethnogeriatrics within
Stanford University School of Medicine. Ms. Grudzen was co-recipient with
Chaplain Bruce Feldstein, MD, of the Templeton Award(2001-06) for the
medical school curriculum they have developed, Spirituality and Meaning
in Medicine. As Adjunct Faculty, she teaches at the Pacific Theological
School of Theology and is a faculty member of ACCESS to End of Life/Visons/Inc.
In addition to several leadership roles in gerontological professional
organizations, she is Chair of the Advisory Council for Stanford Medical
Center’s Clinical Pastoral Education Program. Prior to her academic career,
Marita was a Catholic nun (a member of the Maryknoll Sisters), and provided
care in long term and acute care settings.
Recent publications include Vital Connections in Long term Care
(2004 with Barton, J. and Zielske, R.) and “Discerning the Spirit in the
Rhythms of Time” ( chapter in Aging and the Meaning of Time.,2001.with
Oberle, J.). Ms. Grudzen served as religious editor for Vol. III of
Doorway Thoughts, Religious and Spiritual Issues in Cross Cultural Care
of the Older Adult. ( 2008).
See Ms. Grudzen's CV
Catherine Kritzer
Catherine Kritzer is a recovering hoarder and client who graduated after three years from the Linda Reed Day Treatment Program. She has served on the Marin Hoarding Alliance for two years and the Quality Improvement Committee for Community Mental Health in Marin County for three years.
Rabbi
Elliot Kukla
Rabbi Elliot Kukla is a rabbi at the Bay
Area Jewish Healing Center in San Francisco providing spiritual care
to those struggling with illness, grieving or dying. He also teaches pastoral
care to interfaith seminary students at Starr King School for the Ministry
in Berkeley. Elliot was ordained by Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles
in 2006. He trained in chaplaincy at the University of California at San
Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, specializing in mental health at Langley
Porter Psychiatric Institute. He regularly speaks and writes on mental
health issues in the Jewish community and the need to dispel stigma. His
articles on spirituality and healing are published in numerous magazines
and anthologized widely.
Carol
Lucchese, MS
Carol Lucchese, MS is a Social Worker with Adult Services, County of Marin.
She works with IHSS and Project Independence and has experience with the
elderly and disabled population. She has been a long standing member of
the Hoarding Alliance of Marin
Jay Luxenberg, MD
Dr. Luxenberg's current position is the Director of Medical Services at
the Jewish Home, San Francisco. This is a 430 bed skilled nursing facility
with an acute geropsychiatric hospital unit. Until 1996 he was the Director
of the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship at University of California, San
Francisco. His academic rank is Clinical Professor, School of Medicine,
University of California, San Francisco. He teaches medical students,
medical residents, and Geriatric Fellows, as well as lecture at UCSF continuing
education programs. He teaches students at UC Berkeley as well. Dr. Luxenberg
had a private practice of geriatric medicine from 1987-1996. After completing
a fellowship in geriatric medicine, he spent 1984-87 as a Medical Staff
Fellow in the Section on Brain Aging and Dementia, Laboratory of Neurosciences,
at the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda,
MD. He is currently the editor of the web page and serves on the Board
of Directors of the International Psychogeriatrics Association. He is
also on the Board of Directors of On Lok, Inc. and On Lok Health Services,
which provide comprehensive health care to indigent and low income seniors
in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Luxenberg has published many research
papers, reviews and book chapters. His most recent book is "Residential
Care - Your Role in the Health Care Team". His research interests relate
to dementing illnesses and changes that occur in the brain as part of
healthy aging. He is particularly interested in the behavioral problems
and sleep alterations associated with dementing illnesses.
Captain
Cindy Machado
Captain Cindy Machado is the Animal Services Director for Marin Humane Society in Marin County, California. After completing her formal education and specializing in animal sciences, Machado began her career as an animal services officer with MHS over 26 years ago. She is in charge of administering the animal services contract for Marin County and all of its cities as well as supervising the activities of the Field Services Department at MHS. She coordinates and supervises the Basic and Advanced Animal Law Enforcement Academies held at the Marin Humane Society. Captain Machado has a strong interest in and expertise with animal cruelty cases and is utilized as a national expert. She specializes in cases involving animal hoarders and their investigation. In 2007, she became a founding participant of the Hoarding Alliance of Marin, a coalition of agencies dedicated to finding solutions to assist hoarders and responding agencies in Marin County.
Beth
MacLeod, LCSW
Beth MacLeod is a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare,
with an emphasis in Gerontology. She has worked in the field of geriatric
social services and mental health services in hospitals, community-based
non-profits, and home health in San Francisco, and is now Director of
Clinical Supervision at Family Service Agency, Senior Division. In her
private practice, MacLeod also specializes in work with older adults and
caregivers, doing psychotherapy and consultations. She has taught at both
UC Berkeley SSW and SFSU Gerontology Program. In her first career, Beth
was a writer and editor, work she continues to pursue whenever possible.
See
Ms. MacLeod's CV
Alexandra
Matthews, PhD
Alexandra Matthews PhD (PSY 16219) is a psychologist in private practice
in Mill Valley, CA. She does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with children
and adults with a wide range of disorders, including anxiety and mood
disorders. Dr. Matthews is on the clinical faculty of the University of
California, San Francisco Department of Psychiatry, where she teaches
and supervises the psychiatry residents in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Joanne Merjano, BSN, RN, PHN, Adult
Protective Services and In Home Supportive Services, Adult Services, Marin
County Department of Health and Human Services
Joanne Merjano is a Public Health Nurse who has worked for several Home Care Agencies. She has resided in Marin County for 35 years and has been employed by the Marin Adult Services Department for close to 11 years. She works with APS & IHSS cases, as well as Project Independence cases. She has been part of the Hoarding Alliance of Marin since its conception and worked together with the Police and Consumers on creating the Marin Hoarders Alliance Field Guide, a tool that is used to assist community members concerned with hoarding issues.
Bruce L. Miller, Jr. (B.J.), MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
B.J. was born and raised principally in Chicago. He studied Art History as an undergraduate at Princeton University. After several years working in both the art and disability-rights non-profit communities he enrolled at UCSF where he completed his MD as a Regents Scholar in 2001. He completed his internal medicine residency at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara where he served as chief resident. His interests in medicine generally relate to how people cope with life-altering illness. He sees connections between art, spirituality, and medicine insofar as all relate directly to the human condition and focus serious attention on the notion of perspective. He is interested in the philosophical underpinnings of medicine and end-of-life care. "I see great value in reciprocation between patient and doctor; I believe there is a vast therapeutic potential to be found within this relationship and exchange, and I believe it can be gleaned in a moment." B.J. completed a fellowship in palliative medicine at Harvard Medical School with his clinical duties split between the Massachusetts General Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Gail Mosconi, LCSW, Shelter Plus Care
Coordinator, Marin Housing Authority
Gail Mosconi, MSW, LCSW has worked with children, adolescents, families and adults in many different settings for over 30 years. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara and her Masters Degree in Social Work from Sacramento State University. She started the Hoarding Alliance of Marin in March, 2007. She is the Program Coordinator for Shelter Plus Care at Marin Housing Authority.
Sue
Zee Poinsett, MA, Professional Organizer
Sue Zee Poinsett began her career as a secondary school teacher. She currently works as a Professional Organizer and Coach and specializes in working with adults with ADHD and those who clutter/hoard. She has been facilitating an Adult ADHD support group for several years. She has secondary teaching credential, and two Masters degrees; one in Education and one in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling.
Cindy E. Bircher Rasmussen, LCSW, Supervisor,
Adult Protective Services, San Francisco City and County Department of
Aging and Adult Services
Cindy Rasmussen, MSW, LCSW, has been working in the field of aging for almost 20 years, and has been active in issues related to health care, advocacy, and community support for over 35 years.
She graduated Summa Cum Laude from U. C. Berkeley with her MSW in 1992.
Cindy worked in acute medical care for almost 10 years, most of which was at San Francisco General Hospital. For the last ten years, Ms. Rasmussen has been a Supervisor at Adult Protective Services in San Francisco, and currently oversees the Mental Health Unit. She has been a guest lecturer at U. C. Berkeley and San Francisco State University on elder abuse and has extensive experience with complex self-neglect cases.
Erlene
Rosowsky, PsyD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology, Department
of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
See
Dr. Rosowsky's CV
Emily
B. Saltz, MSW, LICSW, CMC
Emily B. Saltz is the founder and Director of Elder Resources, a private
practice providing a full range of geriatric care management services
for elderly clients and their families since 1992. She received her Masters
degree in Social Work from Boston University and is a past president of
the New England Chapter of the National Association of Professional Geriatric
Care Managers.
Prior to developing Elder Resources, Ms. Saltz was a staff consultant
to attorneys and clients at ElderLaw Services. She has written extensively
on issues including guardianship, caring for aging parents, and ethical
issues in aging. Ms. Saltz has led numerous seminars for social workers,
attorneys and consumers, and was a featured speaker on "Hoarding Behavior
in Elders" at several national conferences including National Geriatric
Care Managers and the American Society on Aging.
See
Ms. Saltz's CV
Nader
Shabahangi, PhD, President & CEO, AgeSong Senior Communities
Nader received his Doctorate from Stanford University, is a licensed psychotherapist,
and is cofounder of AgeSong. His multicultural background has fueled his
passion for becoming an advocate for marginalized groups and for creating
programs with the purpose of caring more comprehensively for elders. As
CEO, Nader ensures that the company's vision drives its decisions and
plans for elder care services. In 1992, Nader also founded the Pacific
Institute, a nonprofit organization that defines its mission as one of
helping elders live meaningful lives. Nader is a frequent guest lecturer,
including presenting at international conferences focusing on aging, counseling,
and dementia. In 2003 he authored Faces of Aging, a book challenging stereotypical
views of the aging process and of growing old. In 2008 he co-authored
Deeper Into the Soul, a book aimed at de-stigmatizing and broadening our
understanding of dementia. In 2009 he co-authored Conversations With Ed,
a book challenging readers to look at dementia in different ways. When
not devoting himself to his efforts with AgeSong, Nader enjoys writing,
teaching, process-oriented psychology, and reading poetry.
Karyn
Skultety, PhD
Karyn Skultety is the Director of Behavioral Health for Institute on
Aging's On Lok Lifeways. Dr. Skultety received her doctoral degree at
the University of Massachusetts, and completed both an internship and
postdoctoral fellowship in geropsychology at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare
System.
Mark Vanderscoff, Deputy Public Guardian, Public Guardian's Office, Marin County; all members of The Hoarding Alliance of Marin
Mark Vanderscoff has worked in the community for many years as a program director for Buckelew Programs, managing residential treatment programs for mentally ill adults. He presently is the Supervising Deputy Public Guardian for the Marin County Public Guardian office and works with the HOPE Team a program for seniors with Community Mental Health in Marin County. He has been a longtime member of the Hoarding Alliance of Marin.
Mind, Body, Spirit: Pathways to Improving Health
