Our Team

 

Permanent Staff

 

Steve Danish, Ph.D.

Steven Danish is Director of the Life Skills Center and Professor of Psychology, Preventive Medicine and Community Health at Virginia Commonwealth University. He previously served as Chair of the Department of Psychology and has held academic positions at Pennsylvania State University and Southern Illinois University following the receipt of his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Michigan State University.

Dr. Danish is a licensed psychologist and a Diplomate in Counseling Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology as well as a registered sport psychologist of the Sports Medicine Division of the United States Olympic Committee. He has written over 120 articles and ten books in the areas of counseling, community, and life-span developmental psychology; health and nutrition; substance abuse prevention; and sport psychology. He has received grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Cancer Institute (National Institutes of Health), the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Diving, and the Athletic Footwear Association.

Kristyn Hoy, M.P.H.

Kristyn received her undergraduate degree in sociology and nutrition from James Madison University, and earned a Masters of Public Health at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. She is now a research faculty member at the Life Skills Center with interests in adolescent health and behavior change. She is currently involved in the BRIDGE and LIFT Programs.

 

Alice Westerberg

Alice L. Westerberg has been with the Virginia Commonwealth University for 18 years and a full-time research faculty member of the Life Skills Center since 2001. She graduated with honors from VCU with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree. Her primary focus area is genealogy, health, life skills, and educational program development, implementation and survey administration. The Bridge Program is based on her original program "How Healthy are Your Roots?"

 

Support Staff

 

Gregg Albright

Gregg has a BA in psychology from UCLA, a BS in physical education from California State Northridge, and is currently working on his Masters in Education at VCU. Gregg taught (K-8) in California for 14 years in addition to co-directing Pacific Palisades Volleyball Club. Gregg is currently the assistant volleyball coach at the University of Mary Washington. He serves as a research faculty at the Life Skills Center for the LIFT program and assists on various other projects at the Center.

 

Laura Kiken

Laura has a BA in psychology from Drew University. A former professional figure skater, Laura has coached competitive and recreational skaters for 10 years. She is also a certified yoga teacher, focusing on transferring insights from yoga into daily life. Laura currently assists with the LIFT and BRIDGE Programs as well as other projects.

 

Graduate Students

 

Tanya Forneris, M.S.

Tanya is a fourth graduate student in the Counseling Psychology doctoral program and has a research assistantship with the Life Skills Center. She received both her B.A. in psychology with honors and her M.S. in sport and exercise science from the University of New Brunswick (Canada). She is the recipient of the John P. Hill Award for the Study of Adolescent Development from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Fellowship. She has research interests in life skill development and the social-emotional development of adolescents.

 

Lisa Harmon

Lisa is a graduate student in the counseling psychology doctoral program and received her undergraduate degree in psychology in 1996 from the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York. She served five years on active duty for the U.S. Army as a Quartermaster Officer and is currently a Captain in the Army Reserves. She received the Bronze Star during her deployment to Iraq. Her research interests include health promotion behavior change, combat operational stress reactions, leadership, and performance enhancement across multiple life domains.

 

J. Nile Wagley

Nile is a first year graduate student in the counseling psychology doctoral program. He received a B.S. in psychology from The University of Georgia. His background includes ten years of ropes course facilitation experience and youth program development and implementation for an inpatient, behavioral health hospital. He also spent two years working as a social service advocate for Cambodian refugees in Massachusetts. His research interests lie in implementation and measurement of the LIFT program.

 

Ian Wallace, M.A.

Ian is currently a second year student in the Counseling Psychology doctoral program. He received his B.A. in Psychology from The College of New Jersey and his M.A. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy from Pepperdine University. Ian has contributed to the construction of the BRIDGE manual as well as the BRIDGE workshop presentations. He has also implemented the goal-setting portion of the BRIDGE program. His research are in health, exercise, and sport psychology. He is also the co-editor of the book entitled You Can Get into a Psychology Graduate Program: Advice from Successful Graduate Students and Prominent Psychologists to be published by APA Books.