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Topic: Family Dynamics

Shawn Worthy

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Shawn Worthy, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Human Services at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Worthy began his career as an instructor at Northern Illinois before working in many clinical settings for behavioral and therapeutic services. He joined MSU Denver in 1995 and received tenure in 2002. Worthy has served as the chair of the Human Service Department, as well as the interim vice president of the Student Services Division and has also worked as the director of Mentoring and Summer Bridge Programs with Student Services at MSU Denver. He currently serves as the MSU Denver NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative. Worthy has also worked as a clinician and psychotherapist at the Children’s Hospital of Denver and The Urban League of Denver.

He has done research and published work extensively about sports psychology on how all levels of skiers cope with fear. Additionally, Worthy has conducted research on domestic violence, teen suicide and other issues related to children and families. He has worked clinically with adults and teens infected with HIV. Worthy has researched, published and presented at many conferences and workshops striving to understand diversity as it pertains to engaging people of color. He currently serves on several community boards and commissions, which focus on youth and violence.

Worthy received his doctorate and master’s in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University.

Eileen Starr

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Eileen Starr was born and raised in Newark, Delaware and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Delaware; Maryland; Colorado). She received her PhD and Master’s Degree in clinical social work from Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, and did her dissertation research in Northern Ireland. While in Northern Ireland, Eileen also facilitated seminars dealing with challenging families and children/adolescents in the Social Work Department at Queen’s University, Belfast, NI.

Eileen has been a community social work practitioner most of her career at Upper Bay Counseling and Support Services Inc. (UBCSS), a private, non-profit agency in Cecil and Harford Counties in Maryland. At UBCSS, Eileen developed and was the supervisor of the School Based Mental Health Program (SBMH). She continues her private practice through tele-psychiatry with Mid-Atlantic Behavioral Health (Delaware) on a part-time basis. Eileen has been an adjunct professor since 2000 teaching undergraduate and graduate social work classes at Widener University, Chester, Pa, Salisbury University, Md. and the University of Delaware in the sociology and criminal justice departments.

Eileen is behavioral in her teaching style and clinical work, describing her style as “very interactive in partnership with her students, clients & families to help them meet their goals established in the classroom and in the therapeutic process.” She believes a reciprocal therapeutic relationship cultivates the best possible outcomes in her students as well as her clients.

In her “off time,” Eileen enjoys outdoor recreation and has coached and officiated girls’ basketball at the Middle and High School levels, taking her High School teams as an assistant and head coach to regional and state championship games. She is hoping to coach again in the Denver area.

Randyl (Randi) Smith

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Randyl (Randi) Smith, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her areas of expertise include professional ethics, service-learning, and human sexuality.

Smith is a licensed psychologist and a licensed clinical social worker. She has been working in the mental health field since 1987, providing services in a variety of settings ranging from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization to school-based counseling to home-based family therapy. Smith has her own private practice where she focuses on adult and adolescent treatment, and on marital/couples therapy. She is the chair of the Psychologist Examiner Board for the State of Colorado. Smith has worked with various community partners since she started teaching, including Colorado High School Charter, New Foundations Nonviolence Center, the Denver Rescue Mission, Urban Peak Denver, the Karis Community and CHARG.

Smith received her doctoral in counseling psychology from the University of Denver in 1999 after completing her doctoral internship at Denver General Hospital (now Denver Health Medical Center). She also received a master’s in social work from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s in human ecology from Cornell University.

Susie Ryder

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Susie Ryder, M.S.W., is the director of undergraduate and graduate field education in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Ryder started her career in social work at Cleo Wallace Centers where she worked for 7 years in various positions including inpatient social worker, residential clinician, inpatient manager and clinical director. She then continued her work with children, adolescents and families at Mental Health Partners for 16 years. At Mental Health Partners, Ryder was the solution focused therapy trainer for the center for several years and most recently senior program manager for the Prevention/Intervention and School Based programs in the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain School Districts with oversight of 35 therapists.

She has been a faculty field advisor, admissions reader, integrative seminar co-leader and lecturer in the continuing education for advanced clinician program at Smith College School for Social Work. In addition, Ryder has a private practice in Boulder working with individuals, couples and families. She currently serves on the board of a suicide prevention program for adolescents and offers presentations in Boulder county on this topic.

Ryder received her Master of Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work and a bachelor’s from Oberlin College. She is a licensed social worker and a licensed addiction counselor.

Marc Rodriguez

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Marc Rodriguez, M.A., is the Parents as Teachers Coordinator and Parenting Coordinator in the Family Literacy program at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His areas of expertise include K-12 education, parenting skills, Sheltered (ESL) Instruction, and educational administration.

Rodriguez has been with MSU Denver for 10 years. In addition to working at MSU Denver, Rodriguez works as a Teacher Effectiveness Coach at Denver Public Schools.

Rodriguez received both his master’s degree in educational administration and his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from University of Colorado – Denver in 1995 and 1990, respectively.

Marina Pereira

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Professor Marina Pereira has taught graduate courses in the Graduate Social Work program as MSU Denver. She has taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 1999.

Professor Pereira is well versed in topics of mental health and families. She has special interest in issues of acculturation, diversity and first-generation Latino students. She was an advisor for the Student Association of Social Workers (SASW), a student organization that helps students develop and increase their sense of civic responsibility and community engagement by service learning activities.

Before teaching at MSU Denver, Pereira worked in the areas of medical social work and mental health, where she specialized in treating and advocating for children and families with a history of domestic violence, sexual and physical abuse.

Ann Obermann

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Ann Obermann, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of social work at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Since 2016 she has taught courses in direct family practice, family therapy, trauma, mental health assessment, trauma interventions and child maltreatment. In addition, she enjoys training child welfare and mental health professionals on topics such as trauma, adolescent development, leadership and supervision as well as family engagement.

Obermann is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Colorado and has extensive social work practice experience working in human service management, community mental health and with at risk families and adolescents in both child welfare and mental health environments. She also managed an intensive evidence based program where she created and facilitated different trainings for online social work instructors to prepare them for socially just educational experiences. Obermann is also the coauthor of the book, “101 Careers in Social Work”.

Obermann received her Ph.D. in social work from the University of Denver in 2017, her master’s in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002 and her bachelor’s in social work from St. Olaf College in 1997.

Katherine Miller

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Katherine Miller, M.A., is an affiliate professor in the Gender Institute for Teaching and Advocacy at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is an award-winning activist and educator, with extensive experience in victim advocacy for survivors of interpersonal violence and human trafficking.

In addition to teaching undergraduate students at MSU Denver, Miller also serves as the Victim Services Coordinator at the Phoenix Center at Auraria (PCA), supervises the Colorado Network to End Human Trafficking (CoNEHT) statewide hotline and serves as an active board member for the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT). She has provided prevention education through the Blue Bench, trauma therapy at the Aurora Strong Resilience Center, psychoeducation and process groups with women in rural Southern India living with HIV, and provided direct services to students in crisis at the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services. Miller is committed to infusing intersectional feminism and praxis into advocacy work at the PCA, building campus coalitions to support survivors, and dismantling systems and cultural norms that perpetuate violence.

Miller earned her master’s in International Disaster Psychology from University of Denver and a bachelor’s in Psychology, Women’s Studies and History from Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Tricia Hudson-Matthew

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Tricia Hudson-Matthew, Ed.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Human Services and director of the Center for Addiction Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She teaches about Legal and Ethical Issues in the Helping Profession, Family System, Motivational Interviewing Conflict Resolution, and Decision-making Skills.

Hudson-Matthew performs clinical work at a private practice with individuals with substance abuse, couples counseling, and children ages 5 and up as a certified play therapist. Prior to joining MSU Denver, she worked as a therapist and clinical case manager at the Mental Health Center of Denver. Hudson-Matthew was also the clinical director and child and family therapist at the Council on Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

Her scholarly interests are in ethics between therapists and clients, mental health, and addictions. She has given presentations and published her work about mental health, ethics, domestic violence, self-esteem, addiction, grief and loss, and motivational interviewing techniques.

Hudson-Matthew received her educational doctorate in Counseling Education and Supervision from Argosy University in 2012, a master’s in Clinical Behavioral Healthcare from the University of Northern Colorado in 2004 and a bachelor’s in Human Services from MSU Denver.

Christina Huber

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Christina Huber, Ph.D., is an professor in the Department of Economics at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She teaches courses in development economics, environmental economics, natural resource economics and econometrics.

Huber’s main research interests include issues of maternal and child health in developing countries, economics of the family and determinants of student academic performance. She has published in the Journal of Human Capital, Demography, the Southern Economic Journal and Applied Economics, among others.

Huber received her doctorate and master’s in economics from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2008 and 2003 respectively and a bachelor’s in anthropology and environmental studies from Grinnell College in 2000.

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