Integrated Specialty Care Advisory Group

Jennifer Antick’s areas of expertise within clinical health psychology are medical decision-making about organ donation, strength-based assessment, and applied psychophysiology. She began her psychology training in a VAMC Long Beach Addiction/Behavioral Medicine psychophysiology laboratory. She received her BA and MA in psychology from Chapman University and her PhD in clinical psychology in 1995 from the University of Southern Mississippi. She completed both her internship and postdoctoral residency year at the VAMC Pittsburgh Consortium with specialty training in behavioral medicine/health psychology.

In addition to her faculty position at Pacific since 1998, Antick has been the director of the health psychology emphasis, a “home within a home” program in the PsyD program for students committed to work in interdisciplinary medical settings. Over the course of her career, she has been affiliated with a variety of hospitals including three VAs, PeaceHealth, OHSU, and her current affiliation, Legacy Health, where she provides consultation services as a clinical health psychologist. She has trained PsyD students in health psychology practice in fully integrated care environments such as pain management, weight and diabetes, spine health, and kidney transplant services.

Kathleen Ashton, PhD, ABPP, FACHP, is a board certified clinical health psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic since 2004, where she is the director of behavioral health for the Breast Center and an associate professor of surgery in the Lerner College of Medicine. Her clinical and research interests include psychosocial aspects of breast cancer and hereditary risk of cancer. Ashton is an APA fellow, past president of APA Division 31 (State, Provincial, and Territorial Psychological Association Affairs) and the Ohio Psychological Association, and a past member of CAPP and the APA Board of Professional Affairs.

Lindsey Bloor, PhD, ABPP is a board-certified clinical health psychologist providing mental and behavioral health services to veterans since 2004. At the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, she established a health psychology section, serving as its first program manager. In her current role, she provides broad and adaptive clinical services integrating into oncology. Her research and scholarly efforts explore psychosocial factors such as social support and physical and mental health outcomes, and how to broaden and adapt behavioral health services to engage more diverse and underserved veteran populations. Bloor holds an associate clinical professor appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School where she serves as the Veteran Affairs representative on the Well-Being Advocate Network.

Jessica Britt-Thomas, PhD, is an associate professor with dual appointments with the departments of Family and Community Medicine and Psychiatry and Health Behavior. Britt-Thomas is the director of integrated behavioral health in the Family and Community Medicine Outpatient Clinic. She is also the associate training director for the AU/MCG doctoral psychology internship program. She received her BA in psychology from Auburn University and her MS and PhD in clinical psychology (with an emphasis in forensic psychology) from Palo Alto University. Britt-Thomas completed a predoctoral internship at Napa State Hospital, during which she completed major rotations in neuropsych forensic evaluations, competency restoration and NGRI evaluations, violence risk assessment and treatment, and comprehensive dialectical behavioral therapy. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in seriously mentally ill psychology through the partnership between Augusta University and East Central State Hospital with an expanded focus on neuropsychological and forensic assessment with acute populations.

Laurie Ivey, PsyD, is the director of integrated behavioral health for the Office of Psychological Science and Practice in the department of psychiatry at University of Colorado, Anschutz. She is a visiting professor and currently works and supervises in primary care and gynecology for the Women’s Behavioral Health and Wellness Service Line. Prior to working in her current position, she spent 18 years teaching University of Colorado family medicine residents at Swedish Family Medicine Residency and was the founding director of the first integrated primary care postdoctoral fellowship program (2009–20) in the state of Colorado. Following this she was faculty at the University of Denver Graduate School of Professional Psychology where she taught health psychology focused classes, and ran their field placement program and their health psychology clinic. While there she was promoted to clinical professor. In her free time she enjoys the Colorado outdoors and spending time with her teenage sons.

Matt Kridel, PhD, is a health psychologist at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) at Augusta University. An assistant professor in the departments of neurology and psychiatry, he provides clinical services to patients living with a variety of neurological illnesses, with a primary focus on functional neurological disorders. He also provides supervision and teaching to students throughout MCG, including psychology interns, medical students, and residents. Kridel received his PhD in clinical/counseling psychology at the University of South Alabama, followed by an internship at UC Irvine Counseling Center, and a postdoctoral fellowship in HIV/LGBTQ health psychology at Augusta University. He is a member of APA—including Divisions 17 and 38—and a member of the FND Society. He is currently in pursuit of board certification in clinical health psychology. In his free time, Kridel enjoys spending time with his husband and cat, and participating in theatre.

Caroline Lassen-Greene, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in Nashville, Tennessee. She is an assistant professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) where she provides inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation and health psychology services. She is passionate about improving mental health care for individuals with acute, chronic illness and disability. Previously, Lassen-Greene completed the VA Quality Scholars postdoctoral fellowship with an emphasis on quality improvement in health care. She completed a master’s degree in neuroscience at Tulane University and a doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Alabama (UAB) at Birmingham, with an emphasis in health and rehabilitation psychology. In addition, Lassen-Greene has extensive experience in neuropsychological research through her work with the UAB Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility, Johns Hopkins Hospital Medical Psychology Division, and the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship center at VUMC.

Diana L. Prescott, PhD, completed her BA in psychology and Spanish at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. She earned an MA and PhD in psychology with a clinical major, minors in developmental and community psychology, and a rural community psychology (NIMH-funded) specialty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She completed a predoctoral internship at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Prescott is a licensed psychologist in Indiana and Maine. She was previously employed at St. Mary’s Medical Center and The Acadia Hospital in Bangor, Maine. Prescott has also worked as adjunct faculty for the University of Evansville. She served as a consultant for Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) (Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics, Pediatric Traumatic Stress Project).

Prescott directs a rural health consulting practice evaluating and treating women and children (Hampden Psychological Consultation, PLLC; Hampden Psychological Properties, LLC). She has developed the integrated behavioral health component of EMMC’s pediatric obesity program, Way to Optimal Weight (WOW). She supervised clinical psychology doctoral students through WOW and The Acadia Hospital, and she is currently supervising doctoral students through the Psychological Services Center at the University of Maine-Orono as an adjunct professor.

Prescott has chaired the Maine Migrant Health Program and served on the Maine Primary Care Association board. She chaired the APA Committee on Rural Health. She has been elected to the APA Council of Representatives, representing the Maine Psychological Association (MePA). She has represented MePA on the Committee for Women in Psychology Network and as a Rural Health Coordinator. She received the APAPO Federal Advocacy Award and served on the Committee of State Leaders. In 2023, she was awarded a Presidential Citation for her work in rural health at the APA Grassroots Capitol Hill Fly-In. She is a member of Divisions 12, 13, 29, 31, 38, 42, 52, 53, and 54.

Prescott has served as member at large and recording secretary on the APA Board of Directors. Her board liaison assignments included Finance, BPA, CAPP, CIRP, and ASPPB. She has volunteered as Federal Advocacy Coordinator for MePA for nearly 20 years, advocating for science, education, practice, public interest, and applied psychology. In 2023, she was invited to join Dr. Thema Bryant’s APA Workgroup on Belonging. She also was chosen to participate in the APA Integrated Primary Care Advisory Group.

Prescott has presented on rural integrated care at the European Congress of Psychology in Milan, Italy; the International Congress of Psychology in Yokohama, Japan; the 3rd Congress for the Order of Portuguese Psychologists in Porto, Portugal; the 15th European Congress of Psychology (ECP) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; the International Congress of Applied Psychology (IAAP) in Montreal, Canada; the 17th ECP in Ljubliana, Slovenia; and the 18th ECP in Brighton, UK. She is serving as member at large on the IAAP Board of Directors and secretary of Professional Practice Division 17. She and her psychologist husband, David Prescott, have three daughters.

Ericka Rutledge, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist who currently works at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital (CGCH) in St. Louis, Missouri. She specializes in working with children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions. In addition to outpatient therapy services, she also provides consultation-liaison services to medical teams and integrated behavioral health services within several multidisciplinary specialty clinics (e.g., endocrine, gastroenterology) at CGCH. She is also currently involved in projects related to pay equity, employee wellness, brief interventions, single session thinking, and focused acceptance and commitment therapy.

Rutledge obtained her bachelor’s in psychology from Indiana University-Bloomington, a master’s in psychology from New York University, and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University. She completed a combined child/pediatric focused internship at the University of Florida and then went on to finish her postdoctoral fellowship in the Psychiatry Consultation Service at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

Rutledge was selected to participate as a fellow in the 2021 Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent psychology (APA Division 53) Leadership Education to Advance Diversity Institute and was also awarded two fellowships through the APA Minority Fellowship Program in 2022 (The Psychology Summer Institute and The Leadership and Education Advancement Program for Diverse Scholars). In addition to clinical work, Rutledge enjoys spending time with her family and friends, attending shows/musicals, and watching Real Housewives.

Kim Smolderen, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and outcomes researcher and expert in vascular disease, specifically in studying psychological risk factors, including depression, in peripheral artery disease (PAD) and its relationship with outcomes. She also studied the quality of care of depression screening and treatment in acute coronary infarction populations, as well as mechanisms of depression that are linked to cardiovascular outcomes. She is a Belgian native and completed her clinical training at the local Tilburg teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. She obtained her PhD in health and medical psychology from the Tilburg University, the Netherlands, in 2009, following which she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular outcomes supported by the American Heart Association at the Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.

Since 2020, Smolderen is associate professor at the Yale department of internal medicine and department of psychiatry, and is the codirector of the Vascular Medicine Outcomes Program and cofounder of the integrated cardiovascular behavioral health program at Yale New Haven Health. Smolderen has designed and led several multicenter international PAD registries, funded by PCORI grants, a Dutch career development award, and industry-sponsored work studying trajectories of patients with complex late stage vascular disease, pain phenotypes, the role of behavioral factors, and the interaction with their quality of care and outcomes as they navigate acute surgical management, chronic disease management, and their rehabilitation processes, for which she leads several NIH-supported efforts.

Smolderen has published more than 120 peer reviewed articles, and is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. She serves as the cochair for the American Heart Association’s PAD national action plan geared towards activating health care systems. She serves on editorial boards of Vascular Medicine, Health Psychology, and Psychosomatic Medicine, and is board member of the APA Division 38 (Health Psychology) Health Advocacy and Policy Council. She is also cofounder of the newly formed intersectional cardiovascular psychology workgroup at the American College of Cardiology, which will result in a new council directed toward integrated cardiovascular behavioral health and will set standards for the field.

With her work, Smolderen has been able to put on the agenda a patient-centered focus for patients suffering from peripheral artery disease and cardiovascular populations at large. Her work has been accordingly characterized by advocacy and demanding awareness for the patients’ voice, mental health burden of vulnerable groups in experiencing cardiovascular disease, highlighting the patients’ perspective, and working toward novel integrated care models.

David Songco, PsyD, is a clinical assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin and serves as the director of behavioral medicine at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Family Medicine Residency and the new Froedtert & MCW North Side Health Centers family medicine residency program. He has previously held faculty appointments at the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology, Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee and The Chicago School of Professional psychology in Chicago and Washington DC. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist, founder and clinical director of New Insights, LLC—a specialty group private psychotherapy practice located on Milwaukee’s East Side. Songco and his practice have been recognized as a finalist and runner-up in the 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022 Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee “Best Psychotherapist” and “Best Psychologist” categories.

Songco is credentialed with the National Register of Health Service Psychologists, certified as a group psychotherapist with the International Board for the Certification of Group Psychotherapists, a fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) and a diplomate of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress in collaboration with the National Center for Crisis Management. Songco also serves as an ECP consulting editor for the Journal of Health Psychology for APA Division 38 and the domain representative for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for APA Division 49. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the International Board for Certification of Group Psychotherapists, cochair of the AGPA eLearning Committee, cochair of the Internet, Social Media, and Technology Special Interest Group, and a former fellow of the American Psychoanalytic Association Teachers Academy.

Songco volunteers his time by serving as the lead coordinator of the Milwaukee Area Loyola University Chicago Alumni Association (Rambler Club), serves as the company psychologist for the Milwaukee Ballet, and as consulting psychologist for the Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy. Songco is the founder of New Insights Training and Consulting, a national team of health professionals working together to change the culture of the performing arts.

Erin F. Swedish, PhD, MBA, is a licensed pediatric psychologist. Swedish serves as the director of health integration in the Office of Health and Health Care Finance. In this role Swedish leads initiatives regarding health care services and integrated care with the goal to position psychologists as leaders in their specialty and the industry at large. Swedish received her clinical training in pediatric psychology and previously worked at Boston Children’s Hospital in the gastroenterology department. She completed her fellowship at Dana Farber Cancer Institute specializing in pediatric oncology. Swedish has also received a master’s degree in business administration from Duke University.

Amy Van Arsdale, PhD, is a psychologist in private practice in Denver, Colorado, and has had a clinical specialty in perinatal mental health since 2017. She completed her postdoctoral training in perinatal mental health at the Postpartum Stress Center in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, under the direction of Karen Kleiman, LCSW, an internationally regarded expert and author on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). In 2017, Van Arsdale was selected to serve as a “Perinatal Mental Health Champion” in Washington, DC, where the team provided psychoeducation on PMADs to health care providers and community groups. Since then, she has trained psychiatrists, birth doulas, and nurses in PMADs. Additionally, she has coauthored an article in the APA journal Practice Innovations about perinatal PTSD and has a book chapter in press about postpartum substance abuse.

In addition, Van Arsdale is a clinical supervisor and perinatal mental health consultant for the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology PsyD program. In this role, she is a supervisor for their Caring for You and Baby (CUB) Clinic, where she supervises cases involving PMADs and parenting. She is currently working collaboratively with the university and local hospital systems to develop clinical training sites for PsyD students in integrated specialty care settings. She hopes that by being involved in the Integrated Specialty Care Advisory Group, she would bring a perspective from a psychologist who is working in multiple ways toward bridging the gap between mental and physical health.

Angela Van Berkel, PsyD, is the director of the Adult Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Program at the Ross Center of Northern Virginia. In this role, she collaborates with medical providers and therapists to ensure coordinated care and help patients build emotion regulation skills. She is also part of the behavioral health team at VHC Health in Arlington, Virginia, where she collaborates closely with a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals and conducts consultations with specialists.

Alyssa Vela, PhD, is a board-certified clinical health psychologist and assistant professor of Cardiac Surgery and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.  Vela practices with the Cardiac Behavioral Medicine service within the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine, where she is responsible for the integration of evidence-based interventions to support psychological and behavioral health for adults with cardiovascular disease. She is integrated into the interdisciplinary advanced heart failure team, providing inpatient and outpatient clinical care for patients undergoing heart transplant or LVAD. In addition to her clinical work, she is the Vice Chair of Health Equity for Northwestern’s Department of Surgery and teaches and mentors students in the medical school’s clinical psychology doctoral program. Her research focuses on behavioral medicine integration into cardiology and cardiac surgery and cardiovascular health equity.  Dr. Vela earned her PhD in Health Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She completed an internship at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and a post-doctoral fellowship in health psychology and medical education at Michigan State College of Human Medicine and McLaren Flint. She lives in Chicago with her family.

Shannon Virtue, PsyD, is the clinical lead of embedded psychology at Christiana Care Health System in Delaware, where she leads psychologists integrated in specialty areas of medicine including sleep, heart and vascular, neurology, supportive and palliative care, and pain psychology. Virtue works to build programs that focus on psychologists’ roles in treating the whole person through integrated models. She has provided clinical care as a psychologist integrated into oncology for over a decade. Virtue also serves as the associate director of psychology training at Christiana Care where she works on training future psychologists embedded into various specialty areas of medicine.

Virtue earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from La Salle University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psycho-oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. She has engaged in various grant-funded research projects and has over 40 peer-reviewed publications. She is an active member of the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers. Virtue is passionate about advocating for the role of psychology in health care systems.

Amy Walters, PhD, received her doctorate from Utah State University and has more than 25 years of clinical experience, working in a variety of community settings (clinical, school, and health care). Fifteen years ago, Walters created an integrated behavioral health program with St. Luke’s Humphreys Diabetes Center to support patients with social-emotional health, coping, and lifestyle change. Her early work in specialty integration was featured in APA’s Monitor on Psychology. The behavioral health team has expanded and now supports patients from adult endocrinology, pediatric endocrinology, and rheumatology, in addition to primary care diabetes patients. In addition, Walters is the consulting psychologist for the pediatric lifestyle medicine team and works to reduce pediatric obesity and prevent metabolic disease.

Walters currently consults for Cornerstone Whole Healthcare Organization where she help trains rural mental health providers in the motivational interviewing and primary care behavioral health (PCBH) model and provides ongoing support with a bimonthly consultation group. Through this group she helped found the Idaho Integrated Behavioral Health Network and serves as an advisory board member.

Walters has been a long-time board member of the Idaho Psychological Association (more than 20 years) and served as the public education coordinator to APA for a number of years where she had the opportunity to work on projects with the YMCA and Dialysis Patient Citizens groups. Walters is committed to supporting the health and well-being of patients with diabetes and has volunteered as the psychosocial director for Idaho Diabetes Youth Programs for the last 25 years. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family, exploring the outdoors of her beautiful state, and gardening.

Wendy L. Ward, PhD, ABPP, is a professor with tenure at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. She is also an APA fellow with over 25 years of professional experience. Ward serves in two institution-level positions (across 13 campuses and five colleges and the Graduate School at UAMS) as the associate provost for faculty and director of interprofessional faculty development. Her career began in collaborative, team-based care initially with obese youth, leading to her overseeing a program integrating psychology services into 38 subspecialty clinics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She later developed and/or supported a variety of faculty affairs/development programs at the departmental, college, and now institutional level. Her research interests include faculty development, faculty affairs, professional wellness, integrated behavioral health, interprofessional education, pediatric obesity, and sleep disorders.