Meet the Staff
Jill Richards, Psy.D.
Director of CAPS
17 Senior Street
Chicago School of Professional Psychology (CSPP-Chicago). Dr. Richards is responsible for providing leadership and oversight to all aspects of Counseling, ADAP & Psychiatric Services (CAPS). Special interests include use of Psychodynamic principles to understand individual, systemic and institutional functioning, professional identity development through the lifespan, and young adult struggles with severe mental health concerns.
Mark J. Forest, Ph.D.
Associate Director/Clinical Training
17 Senior Street
Texas Christian University. Dr. Forest provides oversight to all aspects of the clinical training programs at CAPS. Special interests include affective disorders, anxiety disorders, adjustment reactions, ACOA issues, sexual orientation issues, relationship concerns (leads LGBTQ support group, dissertation support group), couples therapy, mens issues, trauma and loss, psychotherapy training and supervision. Provides ongoing consultation to career services.
Lisa Laitman, MSEd, LCADC
Director of Alcohol and Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)
17 Senior Street
Director of the Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) within the Rutgers Health Service and CAPS. She is recognized as for her work in developing assessment and intervention services for students at risk for alcohol and other drug problems and for creating an on-campus recovery support community that includes the Recovery House. In existence since 1988, the Recovery House; an on campus residence hall for students in recovery from addictions, is the first of its kind on a college campus in the US. She is a Senior Researcher with the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, and serves on the University Alcohol Policy Committee, the CAPS Leadership Group and has several publications. She has a thirty-year career in the substance abuse field in both administrative and clinical roles.
Michal Saraf, Psy.D.
Associate Director/Clinical Services
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University, GSAPP. Special Interests: Co-occurring disorders, addiction, supervision, training.
Najmi Shaikh, M.D.
Director of Psychiatry
17 Senior Street
Government Medical College, Nagpur, India. Internship, Residency at UMDNJ, Newark, NJ. Theoretical orientation: eclectic. Special interests: affective disorders, psychotic disorders, first-generation immigration issues, gender identity issues, professional identity issues in young adults. Additional languages: Urdu, Hindi.
Christine Adkins-Hutchison, Psy.D.
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University GSAPP. Special interests: Issues of race, ethnicity, minority groups, and underserved populations. Consultation and outreach to faculty, staff, and students regarding cross-cultural issues. Ongoing consultation with Educational Opportunity Program and Sexual Assault Services. Groups for Women of Color.
Michelle Deering, Ed.D.
Staff Psychologist
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University, Graduate School of Education. Theoretical orientation: Psychodynamic, Object Relations/Attachment Theory Approaches. Specialized Training: Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR-Certified Therapist) & certified in Evolving Thought Field Therapy. Special Interests: sport psychology, peak performance, & sport injury recovery; trauma recovery; spiritual and religious issues, including working with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim students; college transitions, adjustment issues, & coping strategies; multicultural issues (particularly for Black Men); relationship dynamics; supervision and training. Provides ongoing consultation to career services & the Rutgers Religious Life Association membership. Facilitates therapy and support groups for holistic (mind, body, spirit) approaches to interpersonal issues and for spirituality support.
Irina V. Efremova, M.D.
Staff Psychiatrist
17 Senior Street
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry,UMDNJ-RWJ Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. M.D. from I. P. Pavlov Saint Petersburg State Medical University, St. Petersburg, Russia. Internship, Residency and Fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City. Board Certified in Adult Psychiatry. Professional interests: affective disorders, cross-cultural issues, professional identity development in young adults, burnout prevention. Additional language: Russian.
Irene Gabrial, M.D.
Staff Psychiatrist
17 Senior Street
The Faculty of Medicine Cairo University, Egypt. Psychiatric residency at Albert Einstein Medical center Philadelphia, PA. Child and Adolescent psychiatry and Geriatric psychiatry fellowship training at UMDNJ-RWJ Medical School, NJ. Board Certified in Adult Psychiatry. Professional interests: pervasive developmental disorders, affective disorders.
Siobhan Gibbons, Ed.D.
61 Nichol Avenue
Rutgers University. Special interests: mood disorders; borderline personality disorder; mindfulness approaches; cultural diversity especially immigration and identity development; working with Muslim, Middle Eastern and South Asian students; outreach, training and supervision; working with science, math and engineering students.
Frank L. Greenagel Jr., LCSW, LCADC, CJC
Recovery Counselor
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University. Frank oversees the Recovery House and coordinates activities for students and alumni in recovery. Special Interests: addiction & recovery, adolescents, criminal justice, family therapy, military.
Nicky Isaacson, LCSW, MSS
Clinical Social Worker
17 Senior Street
Bryn Mawr College--Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. Special Interests: transition and adjustment in early adulthood, sexuality (including sexual dysfunction, sexual health, sexual orientation and gender expression), behavioral health issues involving medical conditions, anxiety disorders; outreach and collaborative care models, research on group therapy in college counseling settings.
Susan Janes, D.O.
Staff Psychiatrist
17 Senior Street
Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, Kirksville, MO. Psychiatry residency at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ. Board certified in Psychiatry. Professional interests: depression, anxiety.
Barbara Kachur-Karavites, LCSW, LCADC
Senior Substance Abuse Counselor
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University. Special interests; Co-occurring disorders, addiction, ACOA, trauma, supervision.
Brian Kaye, LCADC, MA, MSW
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University. Special Interests: Addiction and recovery, ACOA and family of origin issues, anger management, coping skills, harm reduction skills.
Mary E. Kelly, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Staff Psychologist/Suicide Prevention Specialist
17 Senior Street
Seton Hall University. Special interests: Community approaches to suicide prevention, crisis intervention, outreach, psychology of work, psychology of gender, trauma, PTSD and other anxiety disorders, grief and loss, ACOA.
Racquel San Juan, D.O.
Staff Psychiatrist
17 Senior Street
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ. Psychiatry residency at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ. Board certified in psychiatry. Professional interests: depression, anxiety, international students.
Brian Shannon, Ph.D.
Staff Psychologist
17 Senior Street
Wayne State University. Special interests in graduate students (leads graduate student group); short-term psychotherapy; international students; creativity.
Diane Simmons, Psy.D.
Staff Psychologist
61 Nichol Avenue
Rutgers University. Special interests: women’s issues, psychotherapy training and supervision, depression, abuse and trauma, crisis intervention, cultural diversity.
Martha Temple, Psy.D.
Staff Psychologist
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University, GSAPP. Special interests include attachment and trauma, identity issues, Aspergers, multicultural and cross-generational concerns.
E. (Ellen) Shane Uber, LCSW, MSW
Clinical Social Worker
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University. Special interests: Resiliency, family coaching with college students, immigration and acculturation issues, lifecycle transitions, ethnicity and family therapy, accessing and linking people with community resources, case management, crisis intervention and case stabilization, use of genograms as assessment and intervention tool.
Rebecca Warrington-Kretch, LCSW, MSW
Clinical Social Worker
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University. Special interests include: affective disorders, chronic mental illnesses, anxiety, domestic violence, crisis intervention, adjustment disorders, men's issues, relationship issues. Case Management. Networking with medical and psychiatric hospitals. Groups: Anger management (especially with men), stress management, anxiety/phobia, support groups, high risk.
Patricia M. Woodin-Weaver, Ed.D.
Staff Psychologist
17 Senior Street
Rutgers University. Special interests: transition and adjustment issues; relationship issues; crisis intervention, case management and stabilization; mood disorders; learning differences; adult learners, training/development program design, chronic mental health issues, including community implications; resilience and creativity.
Audra Yacka, Psy.D.
Staff Psychologist
17 Senior Street
Pace University. Special interests: transitional and adjustment issues; crisis intervention and stabilization; mindfulness techniques.
Dana Cohen, Psy.D.
Post-Doctoral Associate
17 Senior Street
Jessica Shimberg, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Associate
17 Senior Street
Yair Kramer
Pre-Doctoral Intern
17 Senior Street
Cliff Moore
Pre-Doctoral Intern
17 Senior Street
Nirav Soni
Pre-Doctoral Intern
17 Senior Street
Sarah St. Onge
Pre-Doctoral Intern
17 Senior Street

