Skip Links

Find an Expert View All Stories

Topic: High-Risk Youth Issues

Shawn Worthy

By

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

By

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.

Aaron Richmond

By

Aaron S. Richmond, Ph.D., serves as the Associate Director at the Center for Advanced STEM Education and professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

With almost a decade of professional teaching experience, he has taught over a dozen different psychology and education courses. Richmond has garnered several awards for excellence in teaching and mentoring, including the Psi Chi Excellence in Teaching Award, the Psi Chi International Regional Faculty Advisor Award for the Rocky Mountain Region and the Society for Teaching of Psychology Jane S. Halonen Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is a member of several professional associations. Richmond served as the Vice President for Programming for the Society of the Teaching of Psychology and is past-president of the Northern Rocky Mountain Educational research association. He currently holds several positions on editorial boards including the journals Teaching of Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, and the Journal of Experimental Education.

In more than 70 peer reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters Richmond has explored effective pedagogical approaches to instruction in both k-12 and higher education. He specifically investigates cognitive and elaborative processes, model teaching competencies, the efficacy of instructional strategies, and various other topics in the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Richmond received his doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Nevada-Reno in 2006, a master’s in applied cognitive psychology from Montana State University in 2002 and a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of Montana in 1999.

Marina Pereira

By

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.

Andrew Mrkvicka

By

Andrew Mrkvicka, M.S.W., is an adjunct faculty in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Tricia Hudson-Matthew

By

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.

Elisa Fadum-Montoya

By

Elisa Fadum-Montoya, MSW, is an adjunct faculty in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Larry Curry

By

Larry Curry, Ph.D., LCSW, CAC III is a licensed Clinical Social Worker, and a former professor in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University Denver. He is a national and international speaker trainer and presenter in the areas of child welfare, family preservation service and addictive behaviors. He also specializes in domestic and internal adoptions, and cross cultural adoptions.

He is also the Founder/CEO and Clinical Director for The Curry Center, LLC located in Aurora Colorado. This agency operates as a private outpatient mental health clinic, offering in home services to some of the most troubled families and children within the Denver/ Aurora communities.

Annie Butler

By

Lynann “Annie” Butler is a professor in the Human Services Department and interim chair of the Rita and Navin Dimond Department of Hotel Management at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a Certified Addictions Counselor Level III and received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Colorado State University and a master’s degree in Counseling from the University of Colorado at Denver.

She founded Professional Counseling Services, Inc. in Denver in 2002, providing a six-week intervention program for students facing suspension from high schools in five different school districts. She has worked in the field since 1991, and has shared her “wisdom, mistakes and humor with students” at MSU Denver since 2002. In 2012, she was the Human Services nominee for the US Professor of the Year Award, and has also received the Teaching Excellence Award from the Faculty Senate at MSU Denver.

On her recent sabbatical, she traveled to Laos to research Hmong refugees and the Hmong Cultural Center in St. Paul, MN, the largest comprehensive museum about the “secret war” in Southeast Asia, which began in 1963. She has recently completed and submitted Walking With Tigers, a book about a Hmong refugee whom she first met while recruiting guest speakers for her classroom.

;