Company.Incorporated

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.
Programs & Training Manager
She 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 & 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 & efficacy of offender programs. She became the Program Director of a 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 involved with 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.

Sandi is committed to empowerment-based, survivor-informed programs & processes as well as offender accountability. She is a Trauma Intervention Program volunteer & responds to any type of crisis to support fellow citizens. She has interests in Restorative Justice, Holistic Healing, Cultural Competency, Human Rights and Social Justice and finds peace & healing in humans connecting through music, literature, photography, fun with children and animals and community service.

Kori Ryan, M.S.
Special Projects Coordinator
Kori Ryan joined the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in May of 2008 as the Special Projects Coordinator. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Northeastern University in Boston, MA in 2006, with a focus on criminal justice and forensic psychology. During her time at Northeastern, Kori developed preschool literacy programs for disadvantaged youth with Jumpstart, volunteered in Scotland as a child and adolescent advocate and educator, and worked in research on topics such as domestic violence, cognition, and speech perception. While at Northeastern, Kori developed interests in forensic psychology, violence, homicide, and neuropsychology.

Following her bachelor’s, Kori moved to California to earn her Master of Science in criminology from California State University, Fresno. As a graduate assistant at Fresno State, Kori spent much of her time teaching, both as a teaching assistant for the department of Criminology and as a CAHSEE tutor with the Teaching Fellows Foundation.  While at Fresno State, Kori earned the Department of Graduate Studies Research Merit Award and the Graduate Studies Travel Grant to present at the American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting in St. Louis, MO in November, 2008. While at Fresno State, Kori developed interests in adolescent mental health and the prediction of violence. Kori will continue her education in fall of 2009 by beginning her forensic psychology doctoral studies in the Center for Forensic Studies at Alliant International University.

Kori’s goals at IVAT are to develop community relationships and funding opportunities for IVAT. She also assists in the coordination of the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan and other research and policy opportunities for IVAT. Kori also coordinates the Continuing Education program for IVAT. In her spare time, she enjoys being outside in the San Diego sunshine, reading, yoga, and the Boston Red Sox

Malou Indon
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.

Stephany Hamrell, M.S.
Professional Training Assistant
Stephany’s varied professional background provides an array of interests and skills that fit well into her support role in IVAT’s current growth needs.  In addition to a bachelor’s in anthropology/psychology, a master’s in marketing professional services – including education, and a secondary teaching credential in English, she brings over a decade of experience in public/private at-risk education and another decade in corporate marketing.  Her outreach interests include the human/animal bond movement (emphasis on treatment/therapy/ prevention over analysis of the cruelty link) and Native American DV/IPV issues, especially around the youth. 
From her experience in art as a previous gallery co-owner (the largest modern masters gallery in the western US) and a Native cultural arts curriculum developer for SWAIA’s summer program  in Santa Fe,  she has become interested in increasing the personal and public art exhibits at IVAT conferences.  Art therapists will attest to the power of art to heal and to communicate deeply seated emotions and beliefs that when shared can help enhance understanding within the viewer as well.  She also enjoys working with our incredible cadre of dedicated IVAT volunteers, who help ensure our annual successes.