Robert Geffner, Ph.D. ABPP, ABPN
Founding President
Robert Geffner, Ph.D., is: Founding President of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute in San Diego, CA; Founding President of Alliant International University’s (AIU) Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT); Clinical Research Professor of Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology, AIU, San Diego; Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in California and Texas; Editor of three internationally disseminated journals and Co-Editor of one; and former clinical director of a large private practice mental health clinic in East Texas for over 15 years. He has a Diplomate in Clinical Neuropsychology and one in Family Psychology. He served as an adjunct faculty member for the National Judicial College for 10 years, and was a former Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Tyler for 16 years. Dr. Geffner is the President of the Trauma Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association. He has been a researcher, trainer, practitioner, and consultant for more than 30 years.

Publications include treatment manuals (e.g., Treatment of Women Arrested for Domestic Violence, 2002; Ending Spouse/Partner Abuse, 2000), co-edited books concerning family violence and child maltreatment (e.g., Children Exposed to Violence, 2008; Identifying & Treating Youth Who Sexually Offend, 2005; Identifying & Treating Sex Offenders, 2004; Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on Children, 2003; Domestic Violence Offenders, 2002; Bullying Behavior, 2001; The Cost of Child Maltreatment, 2001; and Children Exposed to Domestic Violence, 2000), and numerous book c
hapters, journal articles and research papers concerning family violence, trauma, sexual assault, child abuse, family and child psychology, custody issues, forensic psychology, neuropsychology, and diagnostic assessment. He has also served on several national and state committees
dealing with various aspects of family psychology, family violence, child abuse, and family law. He has presented over 450 keynote addresses, plenaries, workshops, and seminars at international, national, regional, and state conferences or meetings.

Sandi Capuano Morrison, M.A.
Executive Director
Sandi Capuano Morrison received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder in Psychology with a focus in Women’s Studies in 1996. Her commitment to domestic violence survivors began after volunteering at a battered women’s shelter as part of a course on Gandhi’s philosophy of ahimsa, nonviolent resistance, and satyagrapha.

Sandi was a victim advocate at Boulder County Safehouse and then Children’s Counselor at Alternatives to Violence domestic violence shelter before moving to Boston in 1998 and graduating from Boston College with her Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology in 2000. It was at BC that Sandi became certified as a Batterer Intervention Program Facilitator and assisted with research on the process and efficacy of offender programs. She became the Program Director of the IMPACT Batterer Intervention Program and ran offender groups for 5 years in Boston suburbs.

After moving to San Diego in 2005, Sandi managed the countywide domestic violence & sexual assault 24-hour hotline & volunteer program and then the city of San Diego’s Rape Crisis Center at the Center for Community Solutions. In that position she was a member of both the San Diego Sexual Assault Response Team and the Sex Offender Management Council and became certified by California’s Office of Emergency Services as a Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault counselor. She was also a Trauma Intervention Program (TIP) volunteer.

Sandi is committed to empowerment-based, survivor-informed programs & processes as well as offender accountability. She has interests in Restorative Justice, Holistic Healing, Cultural Competency, Human Rights and Social Justice.

Malou Indon
Administrative Manager
Marketing and Events Coordinator

Malou Indon is the Marketing and Events Coordinator of the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT), in San Diego, CA.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from St. Louis University, Philippines.  Prior to joining IVAT she spent more than 19 years in the pharmaceutical industry.  She started as a Medical Representative before being promoted as a Medical Communication Specialist.  In both positions, she was responsible for the execution of national, regional and local promotional activities specific to the Anti-Asthma and Anti-Infective markets.  She received several recognitions for excellence in sales.

In 1997, Malou was promoted as the Continuing Education Officer for Cardiology, responsible for market shaping and expansion by providing Continuing Medical Education (CME) modules, programs related to Hypertension and smoking cessation.  Her other responsibilities were planning and implementing scientific lectures locally and internationally, product launches and managing key opinion leaders and providing development programs for speakers.  She worked with various medical societies, including WHO Non-Communicable Diseases Department for programs related to hypertension management and Smoking Cessation Campaign in the Philippines.  In 2002 she advanced as a Medical Education and Development Group Manager to handle Continuing Education programs in Diabetes.  She was also designated as the local gatekeeper for the Asia Pacific and International Global Opinion Leaders’ in Diabetes Management Program.

Patricia Smith
Continuing Education Coordinator & Bookstore Coordinator

Originally from the West Coast, Patricia is glad to be back.  Over sixteen years ago, she joined in the service provider role almost by accident, but realized it was meant to be.  Since coming into this field, she has never looked at a day and thought “why am I here?”  As a survivor of 18 years of domestic violence, she can’t imagine not doing this work.    

Patricia has over 16 years of experience in direct and indirect service in programs regarding violence against women.  She has been a direct service provider, as well as in a supervisory capacity in residential programs, to include emergency shelter and transitional living facilities.  She has extensive experience in handling crisis and has forever been a problem solver, both personally and professionally. 

She has worked serving adult & children’s needs, sexual violence victims, and served in an outreach capacity.  She has been a presenter for a number of years, to diverse audiences on a variety of topics regarding violence against women on a state, as well as national level.  She has presented to professionals such as law enforcement, medical providers, attorneys, and social workers. 
Patricia has worked with incarcerated women and teens, both male and female.  She has started programs from the ground up, such as the Adopt-A-Family for the Holidays program which is in its 14th successful year;  assisted in the first in the Big Bend of Florida area Spanish speaking support group, and International Thanksgiving just to name a few. 

She has served as the Battered /Formerly Battered Women’s Caucus Chair – Florida, and the Women of Color Caucus Chair as an agency Chair in Tallahassee, Florida.
This work is important to me so that my children and grandchildren will have a better chance in having a life without violence.

Teresa Lass
Programs and Volunteer Coordinator.

Teresa joined IVAT in November, 2012 as the Programs and Volunteer Coordinator. Prior to that, she spent more than 20 years at UC San Diego in a variety of departments as well as 10 years as the owner/operator of a small administrative services business.

She brings a broad base of knowledge of local non-profits, management and business experience and also a passion for our cause. In the late 90’s she and her husband started their family and adopted two infant sons. Both had special needs, lacked prenatal care and experienced medical trauma as infants. Just as the adoptions were being finalized, they became birth-parents of a baby girl. Over the next few years, they learned about attachment issues, effects of prenatal drug exposure and how trauma had affected their sons before and after they were born. They have spent the past ten years researching and studying dozens of therapies and treatments to best meet their children’s needs.

Teresa has also worked with a local marriage and family therapist to create and teach effective family interventions and parenting techniques for families who face challenging behaviors with their children. They specialize in non-traditional families that come together through adoption, fostering, kinship, blended relationships and with children who have experienced early trauma. She is excited about the matching of her professional experience and personal passion and how that will allow her to contribute to IVAT’s objectives and success.

Anna Nguyen

Anna is a recent graduate from Stanford University who joined the IVAT team in August 2011, just in time to experience the 16th International Conference.  It was an eye-opening event that gave her a lot of respect for the tremendous work and passion put forth by staff, planning committee, and volunteers in order to promote the conference’s vision for peace and healing.  As someone working to enter the medical field, she is especially interested in learning how healthcare professionals should respond to trauma and abuse & the essentials of trauma-informed care.  

Robert Geffner, Ph.D. is a licensed clinician (Psychologist and Marriage & Family Therapist in both California and Texas) and directed a full-service private practice mental health clinic in East Texas for over 15 years prior to relocating to California 11 years ago. In this capacity, he regularly conducted custody and/or visitation evaluations for the courts, did evaluations of child abuse and domestic violence cases for criminal and civil courts and Child Protective Services (CPS), as well as supervised visitations in his clinic. He conducted evaluation (state and federal), and treatment programs for both victims and offenders of child abuse, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence. He also provided counseling and mediation to families involved in custody disputes or child maltreatment, and regularly conducted psychological and parenting evaluations. Dr. Geffner has trained mental health professionals, judges, attorneys, and others concerning appropriate procedures to use in these types of evaluations for over 20 years. Since relocating, he has been involved in the development and presentation of training programs that meet the requirements for domestic violence training for custody evaluators in California and in other states, and has conducted training workshops concerning appropriate procedures and techniques for custody and psychological evaluations for children and adults, as well as the relationship and dynamics of family violence and child maltreatment with respect to child custody, criminal, or personal injury cases.

Jessica Lambert, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in San Diego, CA.  She earned her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University at Albany, SUNY.  Prior to her position at Alliant she completed her pre-doctoral internship at the VA Long Beach, and a research fellowship at the Trauma, Health & Hazards Center at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.  Her research and clinical work is centered on the impact of traumatic stress on couple and family relationships.  In August 2012, she joined the staff at FVSAI as a Supervising Psychologist.

Stefanie Platt, Psy.D., graduated from Alliant International University in San Francisco in June 2012 with a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Forensic Psychology. In 2010, Dr. Platt was selected and trained in Forensic Psychology under South Africa's Investigative Psychology Unit.  Previously, Dr. Platt graduated Summa Cum Laude from Pepperdine University with a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology in 2007.  While working on her graduate degree, Dr. Platt completed practicum experiences centered on offering individual, group, and couples therapy to adults with severe mental illness paroled from a correctional facility, completing court-ordered assessments for families involved with Child Protective Services, and providing individual therapy for students at a local high school.  In conjunction with these practica, Dr. Platt has worked in an eating disorder facility, a nursing home, and a dual-diagnosis adolescent residential treatment home.  She has also provided behavioral therapy for children with developmental disabilities, engaged in therapeutic play with children hospitalized with terminal illnesses, provided psychoeducation for homeless individuals, worked on a crisis hotline, and accompanied sexual assault survivors during forensic examinations.  Dr. Platt has also spent time providing art therapy for children in the Dominican Republic, counseling HIV positive orphans in Kenya, and offering recreational therapy for individuals with neuromuscular disorders in Australia.  She completed her doctoral internship training at Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island where she developed a peer support program and conducted neuropsychological and psychological testing, individual therapy, and group therapy for incarcerated men. In addition to conducting her work in English, Dr. Platt has also provided mental status evaluations, intakes, therapy, and medication evaluations in Spanish.  Additionally, she has conducted research on the interface of childhood maltreatment and juvenile delinquency and assisted in research projects pertaining to developmental, social, and health psychology.  In addition to serving as a tutor and teaching assistant for doctoral Psychological Testing courses, Dr. Platt has further completed specialized training in disaster relief and sexual assault counseling.  Dr. Platt joined IVAT and the forensic consulting team at FVSAI in July 2012, functioning under the supervision of Drs. Geffner and Lambert as a postdoctoral fellow in forensic and clinical psychology. 

Billicent (Billy) San Juan, M.A., is a fourth-year doctoral student (Psy.D.) of Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. He earned his Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology in May 2011 at the same institution. During his graduate training at Harmonium Inc., Mr. San Juan led psychoeducation groups with adolescents and adults on topics including Parenting Skills, Anger Management, Behavioral Management, Alcohol Use, and Anti-Theft Behaviors. He also worked with children, adults, couples, and families on a milieu of therapy-related issues. Mr. San Juan has presented trainings on Sand Tray Therapy and Issues of Men’s Psychology, and helped develop a training curriculum on Cognitive Behavioral techniques with children. During his graduate training at the Sharp Pain Rehabilitation Center, Mr. San Juan utilized biofeedback and mindfulness techniques to help those suffering from chronic pain conditions such as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Migraines.  Mr. San Juan is currently researching intrapsychic and social aspects of adolescent participation in trading card games for his dissertation. He is currently a predoctoral intern at IVAT and FVSAI under the supervision of Drs. Geffner and Lambert.

Melissa Tuomi, M.A., is a fourth-year doctoral student (Psy.D.) of Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University.  She earned her Masters of Arts degree at this same institution in 2011.  Prior to that, Ms. Tuomi graduated magna cum laude from University of California, Irvine, with her Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology and Social Behavior.  Ms. Tuomi’s practicum experiences range from working with those with severe mental illness to treating juvenile offenders who are court-ordered for treatment.  She has worked with clients in both short-term and long-term individual therapy and has experience facilitating psychoeducation and process-oriented therapy groups.  Currently, she is developing her dissertation which examines the relationship between sexual orientation disclosure and perceived social support for gay military males.  Currently, Ms. Tuomi is part of the clinical and forensic team at IVAT and FVSAI where she will be completing a pre-doctoral internship under the supervision of Drs. Geffner and Lambert.

Brianna Pepiton, Psy.D. graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University (AIU) with a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology, and an emphasis in forensics.  She became licensed as a clinical psychologist in December of 2009.  Dr. Pepiton earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Louisiana State University in 2004.  She is currently in her 6th year of providing individual, group and family therapy to severally mentally ill adults who have a dual diagnosis.  Dr. Pepiton has worked in the forensic field since 2006 and became a certified custody evaluator in 2008.  Her forensic experience includes working at juvenile hall, providing court-ordered re-unification therapy, monitoring supervised visits between a parent and child(ren), conducting custody evaluations and critiquing the custody evaluations conducted by others.  Dr. Pepiton has also worked as a Child Development Counselor at the San Diego Center for Children, providing for children with severe emotional problems.  In addition to working as the Supervising Psychologist at IVAT, Dr. Pepiton currently works as the staff psychologist at Alpine Special Treatment Centers, and provides services to transitional aged youth as well as adults in a locked facility.  Dr. Pepiton joined the forensic consulting team at the FVSAI, functioning under the supervision of Dr. Geffner as a postdoctoral fellow, in September of 2008, and has continued with the agency as the Supervising Psychologist beginning in June of 2010.