Grad Students

Current Graduate Students

Elizabeth Lucci-Rimer MS

Elizabeth is a sixth year graduate student in the Counseling Psychology doctoral program. After receiving her B.A. in English from Amherst College in 2013, she spent the next five years working in educational and nonprofit settings in the Boston area, in the Tungurahua region of Ecuador, and in Oakland, California. Her research addresses systemic oppression and mental and physical health inequities, specifically in Latine and LGBTQ+ communities. Her current research focuses on applying intersectional analyses to explore stress-related physical health conditions among LGBTQ+ people. Elizabeth is also engaged in ongoing efforts to apply her research to support community-led social action in Colorado. Her clinical work focuses on community mental health and offering Spanish language clinical services and advocacy to families, children, adolescents, and LGBTQ+ Latine individuals.

Vanessa Joachin, MS, MPH

Vanessa is a sixth year graduate student in the Counseling Psychology doctoral program. She received her Master’s in Public Health from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, where she researched risky sexual behavior and substance use of Latine immigrants in the greater New Orleans area and experiences of violence and health outcomes of incarcerated women in Brazil. Before attending CSU, Vanessa worked in mental health and substance use program development at a local nonprofit serving various vulnerable populations within the Latine community in her hometown of Washington, D.C. Her research interests lie broadly in health equity and diversity issues as they relate to liberation and social justice.  In her free time, Vanessa enjoys reading, horseback riding, and quality time with her partner and children.

Sam DiCecco, MS

Sam is a sixth year doctoral student in the Cognitive Psychology program through the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Neurosciences program at Colorado State University. He received his B.S. at The Ohio State University in Psychology with a minor in chemistry, and focused on combining his interest in brain physiology and psychopharmacology. Prior experience includes clinical research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, researching treatment effects on psychological health outcomes in patient’s with Celiac disease and Crohn’s/Colitis. He is now focusing on using neuroimaging technologies such as fMRI and fNIRS to investigate activity in the brain concerning reward and novelty, including sensation seeking personality type. He hopes to further investigate reward dysfunction as well as drug/intervention effects on clinical outcomes both in regards to treatment as well as addiction.

Madison Colley, MS

Madison (she/her/hers) is a fifth year graduate student in the counseling psychology doctoral program. Her current research is aimed at examining the effectiveness and utility of trauma-focused group therapy interventions on domestic violence victims/survivors. More broadly, she is interested in investigating the best ways to provide empirically-support trauma therapies (such as Cognitive Processing Therapy) to individuals experiencing PTSD or other trauma-related disorders. Prior to moving to Fort Collins, Madison obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN where she ran cross-country and track. She is originally from the Seattle area. In her free time, Madison enjoys attempting and failing to beat her partner at board games, spoiling her cat, and celebrating Halloween year-round. 

Alex Tyskiewicz, MACP

Alex is a fifth year counseling student. He is originally from Rochester New York. He recently graduated with a Master’s in Addictions Counseling from CSU. Alex’s current research is concerned with predictors of cannabis use and cannabis use outcomes. He is particularly interested in the development of a standard dose of cannabis. Alex is interested in understanding variables that lead to both positive and negative cannabis outcomes. In his free time, he enjoys playing music and spending time with friends.

Patrice Arkfeld, MS

Patrice (she/her/hers) is a fourth year graduate student in the counseling psychology doctoral program. Originally from Iowa, she obtained her masters degree in clinical mental health counseling from the University of Nebraska – Omaha. Her current research focuses on improving therapeutic outcomes among adolescents and college-aged individuals who engage in self injurious thoughts and behaviors and are also gender and/or sexually diverse. Specifically, she is investigating ways to better identify who is at the highest risk for attempting suicide and how to improve outcomes among these populations by strengthening the unconditional support networks available (e.g., familial, social, educational, mental health) to each individual. In her free time, she enjoys golfing and spending time with her family and friends.

Emma Smith, BS

Emma (she/her/hers) is a third year in the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program. Her research focus is primarily on the therapeutic uses and associated impairments of cannabis use, with interests in how potency, methods of administration, and quantity converge to create both subjective and objective intoxication effects in humans. She also hopes to explore the associations between prolonged grief and a variety of cannabis use characteristics in grieving populations. Prior to moving to Fort Collins, she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Washington State University in Pullman, WA, and is originally from the Seattle area. When she is not working or studying, she enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and attending concerts with friends.

Tom Schlechter

Tom (they/them/theirs) is a third year in the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program at Colorado State University. Originally from Pennsylvania, Tom completed their B.A. at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and worked as a Project Coordinator with the SURF Lab at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee before starting at CSU. Tom’s current research focuses on affirming ways to include Trans and Non-Binary communities in research, exploring informal ways LGBTQ+ communities seek help, the connection between LGBTQ+ language use and mental health, and ways to deconstruct heteronormative narratives in therapy. In addition to research, Tom is committed to working towards increased inclusion of Queer and Trans topics in psychology courses. Outside of graduate school, Tom is a local drag performer in Fort Collins, and they also enjoy open water swimming, painting, and going to vintage stores.

Brenna Carter

Brenna is a second year doctoral student in the counseling psychology program at Colorado State University. Born and raised in Colorado, she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Colorado State University. She then served at an academic intervention non-profit under AmeriCorps, specializing in interventions with minority students struggling with substance use, traumatic exposure, and low academic performance. During her continued time at Colorado State, she seeks to continue researching the intersection between substance use and traumatic exposure among minority groups, primarily LGBT+ populations. Additionally, she is pursuing additional research centered on the impact of traumatic exposure on academic performance among military veterans in higher education. In her free time, Brenna loves watching and performing in the arts, yoga classes, and reading fiction. 

Graduate Students on Internship

Megan Gardner Weishaar, MS

Megan is a sixth year doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at Colorado State University. She is currently completing her internship at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Behavioral Medicine track. Her research interests include investigating personality factors and social determinants of health associated with health-related behaviors, with a particular focus in the domain of sports-related injury. Her work aims to elucidate the most salient factors associated with both health-promoting and health-risk behaviors, with the ultimate goal of informing targeted prevention and intervention efforts for health-related behaviors, including health behavior change. Clinically, Megan is passionate about working in integrated healthcare settings. Most recently, her practicum placements have included a rehabilitation psychology externship at a children’s hospital and a primary care externship within a department of family medicine. In her free time, Megan enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, and spending time with her partner and friends.

Dissertation: The effects of personality and social determinants of health on sports-related concussion risk: An examination of symptom reporting, concussion incidence, and return to play

Previous Graduate Students

Morgan Sneed, LAC

Morgan was a graduate of the undergraduate addiction counseling program at CSU. He graduated from the Master’s of Addiction Counseling program at CSU in the Spring of 2020. He worked in the community and was pursuing certification as a Licensed Professional Counselor. Morgan was planning to apply to PhD clinical and counseling psychology programs to further his clinical and research knowledge and experience in trauma treatment and substance use.

Jamie Parnes, PhD

Jamie graduated from the Counseling Psychology doctoral program in 2021. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University and Bradley Hospital.

Shane Kentopp, PhD

Shane graduated from the Counseling Psychology doctoral program in 2021. He is currently a Clinical Child Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Ryan Rahm-Knigge, PhD

Ryan graduated from the Counseling Psychology doctoral program in 2021. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health, University of Minnesota Medical School.

Gemma Wallace, PhD

Gemma graduated from the Counseling Psychology doctoral program in 2023. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow on the NIMH Suicide Research T32 at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.