Our Network
Chelsea Junio Ph.D.
Collaborator
Dr. Chelsea Grant Junio is the Director and an educational consultant at the Nurturing Environments Institute. She completed her graduate training at Lehigh University where she received a M.Ed. in Special Education and Ph.D. in School Psychology. Dr. Junio completed a predoctoral internship and served as the Director of Treatment and school psychologist of a school-based partial hospitalization program at the Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit #21 in the Lehigh Valley.
Subsequently, she completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Devereux’s Advanced Behavioral Health Center for Effective Schools where she provided school consultation, coaching, and professional development in the greater Philadelphia area. Dr. Junio served as an Assistant Research Professor at Rutgers University where she provided support to the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.
Additionally, she has been an adjunct faculty at Lehigh University, Rutgers University, and Montclair State University. Her research and clinical interests include systems-level consultation for positive behavioral support and social emotional learning programs, coaching of classroom management skills and behavioral interventions, and the application of positive behavioral supports to improve outcomes for students and staff.
Tamique Ridgard Ph.D.
Collaborator
Dr. Tamique Ridgard is a licensed psychologist who specializes in working with children and families to address a range of behavioral and emotional needs (e.g., tantrums, ADHD, anxiety, trauma).
Currently, Dr. Ridgard works as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Fordham University. Dr. Ridgard earned her Bachelor of Science in psychology at Yale University and her Doctor of Philosophy in school psychology at Lehigh University. She then completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Devereux Center for Effective Schools and her post-doctoral fellowship in the Child Welfare Program at Westchester Institute for Human Development.
Dr. Ridgard has provided services for children from birth through adolescence in a variety of settings, including schools, school-based health clinics, outpatient mental health clinics, pediatric primary care centers, home visiting programs, and child welfare services.
Dr. Beth Custer
Collaborator
Dr. Beth Custer’s career has focused on the use of positive behavior supports. She earned a dual Bachelor of Science in elementary education and special education in 2004 from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Upon completion, she immediately began working as a full-time emotional support teacher at a residential treatment facility for students who require more intensive supports due to significant mental health needs.
In 2009, she completed her Master of Education in special education from Alvernia University and also obtained a position as a district-level, special education, behavior support coach for Exeter Township School District in Reading, Pennsylvania. While at Exeter, she worked with teachers, administrators, families and other staff to support students who exhibited challenging behaviors during the school day. She continued her educational experience by enrolling in Lehigh University’s doctoral program in special education. While earning her Ph.D., she gained experience through grants that allowed her to work with students and families who requested intensive behavioral supports.
Currently, she serves as a Training and Consultation Specialist at The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities. In this role, Beth promotes the use of positive behavioral supports through training and technical assistance with schools involved in the NJ Positive Behavior Supports in Schools project, which is a partnership between the New Jersey State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, and The Boggs Center.
Sean O’Dell, PhD
Collaborator
Sean M. O’Dell, PhD, LP, HSP-P is a pediatric school psychologist, researcher, and consultant working to advance innovations in population behavioral health through dissemination and implementation of high-quality interdisciplinary care. O’Dell has devoted more than 10 years to innovations in therapy, research, and clinical training working in health systems implementing pediatric integrated behavioral health care and precision health initiatives. He has authored more than 25 publications and book chapters and has delivered more than 50 presentations, workshops, and symposia at professional conferences. Dr. O’Dell has delivered continuing education trainings and invited lectures to a range of professionals in school, medical, and industry settings on a variety of foundational and advanced topics related to clinical and research skills, as well as professionalism and wellbeing.
Dr. O’Dell maintains a private practice in Harrisburg, PA, and provides research and clinical consultancy through Nurturing Environments Institute. He also sits on the steering committee for the national Pediatric Integrated Primary Care Research Consortium. He is currently serving as President of the Child, Adolescent, and Families SIG of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.
Alexander Alperin Ph.D.
Collaborator
Dr. Alexander Alperin is an adjunct faculty member and supervisor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP), Rutgers University. Previously, he served as an Assistant Research Professor at GSAPP, where he was a member of a research team whose primary focus was on the professional development of paraprofessionals in their work with students with behavioral needs. Dr. Alperin's 30 publications and presentations (which include national workshops/webinars on psychological trauma) have been well received. He is the lead author of the first systematic review of school outcome literature on behavioral interventions with middle school students exhibiting disruptive behaviors, which will soon appear in the School Psychology Review.
His research interests include examining trauma informed practices in clinical contexts and organizations (e.g., schools, universities, hospitals), the emotional experience of students and adults diagnosed with learning disabilities, and evidence-based behavioral interventions for students with externalizing behavioral disorders. He is a licensed psychologist in New York and New Jersey, and in the full-time private practice of psychotherapy with adolescents, adults, and couples in Teaneck, New Jersey. A nationally registered health service psychologist and certified school psychologist, Dr. Alperin received a Certificate in Psychoanalytically Oriented Psychotherapy from the New Jersey Institute for Training in Psychoanalysis and a Certificate in Evidence-Based Approaches to Addiction Treatment from the Center for Motivation and Behavior Change.
Amy Oliveira Psy.D.
Collaborator
Dr. Oliveira graduated from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, and completed her pre-doctoral internship at Nurturing Environments Institute. Dr. Oliveira has worked as a consultant to paraprofessionals, providing training on classroom behavioral interventions.
Amy has interests in the areas of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Restorative Practices (RP). She spent a year working with diverse elementary schools where she organized lessons in various areas of SEL, consulted with school climate and character committees, and lead a group for students to enhance motivation and organizational skills. For 2.5 years, Amy was also involved with a research team that focused on RP, where she led multiple leadership teams.