IARTC Membership Committee

Dr. Lili Burciaga is a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC) and certified clinical trauma professional (CCTP) with over 15 years of experience in the mental health field. She has worked in numerous settings with youth and adults as a mental health professional, counselor, training coordinator, psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and mental health consultant.  Her background has been in community mental health, hospitals, juvenile detention, and primary care, where she has served marginalized populations in the city of Chicago and surrounding suburbs.  Presently,  she is core faculty in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Lewis University. She also provides bilingual, on-site critical incident response as a consultant across Illinois and surrounding states.  

Amy Banko MS, CPRP is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions at Rutgers University. In addition to providing course instruction, Ms. Banko serves as a lead trainer and consultant at the Integrated Employment Institute of Rutgers. Within this role, Ms. Banko facilitates trauma informed, career services training and technical assistance to enhance practitioner competencies and program outcomes throughout New Jersey. Previously, Ms. Banko was a clinical contributor on a NIDILRR funded employment and trauma study. She is currently Co-Investigator on two NIDILRR funded projects related to postsecondary education, trauma, and students with mental health conditions. Additionally, she is coauthor of a best practices manual for providing career services to transition age youth. Ms. Banko obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychiatric Rehabilitation and her master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Rutgers University. She is currently attending her doctoral studies at Kean University for Counseling and Supervision with a focus on the treatment of trauma. 

Hannah M. Coyt, Ph.D., LPCC-S, NCC, CCMHC has been a licensed counselor in Kentucky since 2000. She has worked in the mental health field for over 21 years with various populations including SMI adults, children, adolescents, geriatric clients, veterans, families, couples, and substance use. Additionally, Dr. Coyt has been a board-approved supervisor since 2001 and serves on the Kentucky LPC licensure board. Dr. Coyt has also served on various counseling association committees, such as ACES, AMHCA, KMHCA, KCA, MLA, SACES, and Chi Sigma.

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Dr. Coyt serves as an assistant professor at Western Kentucky University, as well as an adjunct role for Lindsey Wilson College. She has presented at local, state, regional, and national conferences, and has publications regarding work with the Appalachian culture and the roles of the counselor educator in crisis situations. Her presentations include topics such as grief, addictions, assessment of substance use, suicide, Appalachian women in higher education, law enforcement culture, and geriatric issues. Her current research interests include grief work, barriers to law enforcement officers seeking mental health services, assessment tools in counseling, and substance use.

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Dr. Coyt also works as a counselor in a part-time capacity, specializing in trauma work for grief and loss, first responders, and substance use. Dr. Coyt is a trained EMDR provider.

Kim is a full-time Graduate student at Lewis University, pursuing a M.A. in School Counseling with LPC track option. Currently, Kim is completing her internship at a local high school in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, while also working as a Client Coordinator for Dr. Erica Shick at Better Wellness Counseling, specializing in trauma counseling for adult survivors. 

Kim is an advocate for mental health awareness and believes in ending the stigma around these struggles by talking openly and freely about the topic, in a safe, judgment-free environment. 

Kim values both her education and the established relationships with her professors, by joining the DEI Steering Committee, assisting with the revision of Illinois School Counseling Standards with Mr. Lee Harsy and collaborating with Dr. Lisa Brown to present on the importance of Perseverance development at the state-wide conference.  

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Kim is ASCA-certified in Trauma and Crisis Management in addition to being a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Specialist. 

During her downtime, Kim enjoys spending quality time with her husband, Matt, and two kiddos, Ben (3) and Hannah (1). 

Kim finds it to be a great privilege to serve on the IARTC Membership Board. 

Dr. Michele Pinellas is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Counseling Program at the University of West Georgia. Dr. Pinellas’ expertise focuses on trauma, substance abuse, suicide risk, child and adolescent social and emotional issues, and grief and loss. Dr. Pinellas has worked as a Professional School Counselor utilizing a trauma-informed lens throughout her work with students in person, in school settings, at home, and virtually. Her research and clinical work have included increasing resilience in minority youth who have experienced chronic adversity, holistic therapeutic interventions for youth, and school counselor advocacy.  Dr. Pinellas is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Georgia, a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern (RMHCI), and Professional School Counselor in Florida. She has over eight years of experience working in the mental health profession.

Cathy Hutson, M.A., LPC-Associate, brings her unique experience and dedication to the field of mental health and counseling. With a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Amberton University in Dallas she focuses on empowering and supporting individuals through their healing
journeys. Cathy’s professional development was significantly enhanced by her internship at a Dallas-based domestic abuse outreach center, where she provided individual and group counseling via telehealth to survivors, adeptly handling the diverse cultural and emotional needs of her clients.
Currently, she is in the process of EMDRIA-approved EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) basic training, Cathy is deepening her expertise in trauma therapy. Her commitment to this field is also deeply personal; as a beneficiary of the transformative effects of EMDR therapy herself, she is a passionate advocate for survivors of abuse. This personal
experience with EMDR therapy enriches her professional practice, fueling her empathy and dedication to assisting those who have experienced trauma. Cathy’s role in the counseling community is marked by her steadfast support for resilience and recovery in individuals who have endured trauma

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, National Board Certified since 2014, Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor since 2016, Development plan for Certified clinical Counselor & Certified Preventions Specialist since 2021. I am a Ph.D. doctoral candidate in Counseling and Advanced Human Behaviors at Capella University and Ph.D. Student at Walden University CES. I work as a clinical therapist supervisor at Quality Behavioral Health MAT Sterling Heights, MI, as a leading clinical community therapist at Tri-County Counseling LLC Madison Heights, MI, and as a Flex-Path Tutor at Capella University. My area of expertise is traumas, addictions, and co-occurring diseases. I believe that trauma in its complex multi-dynamic and multi-vectorial interactions at the micro and macro levels impacts each unique neuronal-hormonal cascade at the levels of central and peripheral nervous system reverberating bio-genetic echoes in generations to come. I found out working in the community mental health clinic and hospitals that trauma and addictions are pervasive intertwined issues- that is why firmly believe that trauma in its many shades and intensifies much be must training for any mental health provider and more so for the counselor, that is why I decided to chair the International Addiction Conference in Barcelona 2019, and published articles regarding early trauma, trauma, and addictions, etc, to raise awareness, to educate, to empower, to advocate, to treat and assuage sufferings as healthy individuals create healthy families, and healthy families create healthy communities, healthy communities create a healthy better world.

Dr. Rachael D. Goodman, LPC, is an Associate Professor in the Counseling Program at George Mason University. Dr. Goodman’s expertise centers around trauma, stress, and trauma-informed care. Dr. Goodman utilizes a justice issues lens throughout her work, with an emphasis on historical/transgenerational trauma, systemic oppression/marginalization, immigrants and refugees, and disaster response/community outreach. Her research and clinical work has included outreach and trauma counseling among minoritized communities, particularly those that have experienced oppression or natural/human-made disaster.

Dr. Goodman provides consultation and professional development to schools and agencies on issues related to trauma, stress, and trauma-informed care; compassion fatigue and burnout; and community and self care. She is Past President (2017-2018) of Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ), a division of the American Counseling Association (ACA), and currently serves as the CSJ Representative to ACA’s Governing Council. Dr. Goodman is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the District of Columbia.

Dr. Tara Jungersen Ph.D., LMHC, CCMHC, NCC is a Professor and Immediate Past Chair of the Department of Counseling at the Nova Southeastern University College of Psychology. She completed her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Tennessee, and her M.Ed. in Counseling at the University of Virginia. She is a Florida Licensed Mental Health Counselor, with both individual and group work experience in private practice, community mental health, substance abuse, schools, and jails. She provided crisis services to individuals, universities, organizations, first responders, and schools during and after local emergencies (e.g., gun violence and other fatalities), and published on the topic of trauma and crisis. Her clinical work includes directing a clinic with a high-volume of domestic violence cases. Her research interests include domestic violence, trauma, and treatment access for underserved populations. She has presented nationally and internationally on clinical topics including mass shooting response, gender violence, and suicide. She co-developed the Survivor Therapy Empowerment Program, a trauma-informed treatment program for survivors of gender-based trauma. In her former chair role, she was responsible for academic, accreditation, compliance, fiscal, and human resources management for an academic unit spanning several campuses and formats. She has a has a sustained record of service and leadership in professional organizations and is currently elected to the board of the Broward Domestic Violence Council. She served as the Membership Chair for the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision from 2013-21. She is a Florida Qualified Supervisor, a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, and a National Certified Counselor.

Jordan Grassé, MA, has her master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, with a minor in American Sign Language from the University of North Florida. Jordan has presented at numerous conferences on the topics of trauma, resilience, and supportive online interventions with youth and adolescents. Jordan is the Master's student representative for the Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC) as well as a representative on the ACC conference planning committee and for the annual virtual conference for The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She is also the Senior Associate Editor for the Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC) Newsletter. Jordan is the Past-President of Theta Chi Sigma, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s official chapter of Chi Sigma Iota International honor society. Jordan started working as a graduate assistant in the Spring of 2020 and continues to assist her peers. Her interests in the field of counseling include trauma, high-conflict divorce, anxiety disorders, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (all within the population of youth and adolescents), as well as Emotionally Focused Therapy with couples and families.