Bio:

Christine Saari, MA, C-IAYT, writer, educator, and yoga therapist, is known for her dedication to facilitating healing journeys through yoga therapy. Christine's clinical practice, specializing in aiding individuals with anxiety and trauma, embodies empathy, expertise, and a heartfelt commitment to guiding others toward innate wholeness. As a co-founding partner of Yoga Therapy Associates, Christine envisions a platform to connect individuals with skilled yoga therapists and integrate yoga therapy into medical, mental health, and social services settings. She is dedicated to enhancing the quality and professionalism of yoga therapy by elevating best practices.

As a certified yoga therapist recognized by the International Association of Yoga Therapists, Christine offers continuing education and occupational wellness programs through Yoga Therapy Associates, particularly supporting helping professionals. Christine is a regular contributor to the Yoga Therapy Associates blog, where she shares insights tailored for medical and mental health readers, illuminating the research behind yoga therapy's efficacy. Learn more about Christine at Yoga Therapy Associates.

Thomas L. Sexton is a Professor Emeritus at Indiana University and a renowned expert on family-based treatment interventions.  He is one of the developers of Functional Family Therapy (FFT, FFT-Foster Care & FFT-TCM), evidence-based family therapy programs for families in justice, mental health, and child welfare systems.  Sexton’s significant contribution to the field of family psychology focused on the effectiveness of Family Psychology and Therapy in community settings, evidence-based practices, translational science, and the integration of psychological practice and technology through the development of measurement feedback systems to bring research and practice together in tools for treatment models, therapists, and organizations.  Sexton developed the Care4, a software program designed to help make every clinician their local scientist improve clinical outcomes.  He has authored or co-authored ten books, over thirty book chapters, and fifty articles published in national and international peer-reviewed journals. He is the author of Functional Family Therapy in Clinical Practice (2010) and the Handbook of Family Therapy (2003 & 2015).  Sexton served as Editor for the Journal of Couple and Family Psychology:  Research and Practice.   He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a Diplomate in Couple and Family Psychology (ABPP).

Anish Shah, MD is the founder of the Siyan Clinical Corporation. In addition to serving as Siyan Clinical CEO and Medical Director, Dr. Shah specializes in treatment of various psychiatric disorders such as clinical depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and post traumatic stress disorder.  He also provides Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation at Siyan Clinical Corporation. He has special interest in research on PTSD, mood disorders and anxiety disorders. At present, he is Principal Investigator for a bipolar disorder clinical trial. Dr. Shah is a Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) for worker’s compensation, and acts as a Psychiatric Consultant for approximately 10 primary care practices in Sonoma County. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois residency program and began his career as a General Psychiatrist in 2004, working in several facilities such as Kaiser Permanente, Sonoma County Mental Health, and Napa State Hospital.

Jacqueline Singer is a cum laude B.A. of The University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. from the California Professional School of Psychology. She completed pre- and post-doctoral internships at San Francisco’s Pacific Medical Center and Childrens’ Hospital. Her work as a psychologist has focused on children, adolescents and families, with positions at many of the Bay Area’s most prestigious programs. She maintains a practice in forensic psychology in Santa Rosa, California. She is the author of dozens of publications and has been an energized and effective teacher and mentor.

Hon. Marjorie A. Slabach (ret.) is a Certified Family Law Specialist and retired San Francisco Superior Court Commissioner in the Unified Family Court.  She is now a Private Judge doing case management and settlement conferences. Prior to her tenure on the bench she worked with teenagers as an English teacher for many years and then chose to become a lawyer to represent parents and children.  She is a frequent lecturer and panel member educating attorneys and judges in the area of family law with a specialty in child custody. Marge is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. Including 2010 Judicial Officer of the Year from the Family Law Section of the California State Bar and 2008 Judicial Officer of the Year from the Northern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She is a board member of the California Chapter of the Association of Family Court Conciliation where she heads a task force to explore alternative models for serving families in the court system.  She is on the Overcoming Barriers’ Board of Directors most recently having served as Board President.

Mark Stanton, PhD, ABPP, is a professor in the School of Behavioral and Applied Sciences at Azusa Pacific University. He served APU previously as the Provost (2010-2019), founding dean of Behavioral and Applied Sciences (2006-2011), chair of the Department of Graduate Psychology (2000-2006), and founding director of the APA-accredited Doctor of Psychology program (1996-2006). He identifies himself as a couple and family psychologist. He was the 2011-2012 president of the American Board of Couple and Family Psychology, a constituent board of the American Board of Professional Psychology, and the 2005 president of the Society for Couple and Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of California, board certified in couple and family psychology with the American Board of Professional Psychology. The Society for Couple and Family Psychology recognized him as the Family Psychologist of the Year in 2007.

Dr. Philip Stahl is a Board-certified forensic psychologist in private practice, living in Southern California, who provides consultation and expert witness testimony in child custody litigation throughout the United States, North America, and Australia. His primary area of specialty is relocation, including complex international relocations. Dr. Stahl is licensed in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Michigan. He conducts workshops and training throughout the United States and internationally for lawyers, child custody evaluators, and others working with high-conflict families of divorce. He is on the faculty of National Judicial College, teaching domestic violence to judges since 2000, and regularly speaks at state judicial colleges.

Along with his teaching, Dr. Stahl has written extensively on high-conflict divorce and custody evaluations. He is the author of Conducting Child Custody Evaluations: From Basic to Advanced Issues, (Sage Publications, 2010) and Parenting After Divorce, 2nd Edition (Impact Publishers,2008) and is co-author, with Dr. Robert Simon, of Forensic Psychology Consultation in Child Custody Litigation: A Handbook for Work Product Review, Case Preparation, and Expert Testimony, (American Bar Association Section of Family Law, 2nd Edition, 2020).

His most exciting project has been his book, written with his daughter Rebecca Stahl, JD, LLM, titled, Representing Children in Dependency and Family Court: Beyond the Law, published by the ABA Family Law Section in 2018.

Dr. Stahl can be reached for questions, consultation, expert witness work, or speaking at conferences via:

www.parentingafterdivorce.com

Click here for their online CV

View all courses available by this faculty member (4):

• Quality Evaluations in the Context of Coercive Control
• Parenting Plan Evaluations: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Critical Issues in Relocation Cases
• Conducting A Child Custody Evaluation Virtually: Important Considerations

Ann Steiner, Ph.D., LMFT, CGP*, FAGPA* earned her Ph.D. from the California Professional School of Psychology, Berkeley, did her pre and post-doctoral Fellowship at the Department of Psychiatry, SF, is licensed as a Marriage and Family Child Counselor (LM17115) and maintains a private practice in Lafayette, CA, where she works with adults, couples and groups. She served for 14 years as an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco Medical School, is on the Faculty of The Psychotherapy Institute, and is a Board Member and Fellow* of the American Group Psychotherapy Society. Dr. Steiner is a keynote speaker and presenter for professional and consumer organizations. She presents programs for national and international societies, such as the American Group Psychotherapy Association, the California Psychological Association, and the International Human Learning Resources Network. You can read her full biography here: Ann Steiner, Ph.D., LMFT, CGP, FAGPA. Please see her website at www.PsychotherapyTools.com.

Summer Stephan, Esq., San Diego Co. District Attorney

District Attorney Summer Stephan has devoted her life to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities and giving a voice to those who need help most – especially crime victims, women, children, and families.

With unmatched legal experience and a fearless focus on fairness and equality under the law, Summer Stephan protects victims of abuse and fraud, brings wrongdoers to justice, and has launched innovative programs to reduce recidivism and stop the revolving door of incarceration.

Upon taking office in 2018, Summer transformed the San Diego District Attorney’s office with cutting edge crime fighting techniques, responsible reforms, police accountability and a new, comprehensive approach to keeping all our communities safe.

Matthew J. Sullivan, Ph.D., and Overcoming Barriers’ Founder has been in private practice in Palo Alto for 20 years, specializing in Forensic Family psychology. He is a pioneer in the field of Parenting Coordination, which he helped develop in Santa Clara County more than 20 years ago, and has led the development of Parenting Coordination across the U.S. He is one of the most experienced Parenting Coordinators (called Special Master in California) in the country. Matt has written articles, presented and done trainings at numerous national and international venues on topics such as high-conflict divorce, Parenting Coordination, child alienation and mental health consultation in family law cases. He has served on the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) Task Force on Parenting Coordination and the American Psychological and American Bar Association multi-year working group on legal psychological interventions with children and families. Currently he is serving on the Association of Family and Conciliation Court’s Board of Directors for both the international parent organization and California Chapter. Dr. Sullivan won the 2012 Joseph Drown award from the California Association of Family and Conciliation Courts for “Outstanding services to children.

I have practiced law since 1975 and have limited my practice to the area of Family Law since approximately 1980. My practice is concentrated on complex family law matters usually involving issues relating to property valuation and division, characterization of property as community or separate property and support. If custody becomes a major issue, I will bring in co-counsel to handle the custody portion of the case while I handle the other portions.  My general philosophy of family law litigation is that almost all cases are capable of settlement and should be settled. I am successful in settling cases approximately 95% of the time. However, if a case cannot be settled, then it should be vigorously litigated. I have tried scores of cases lasting from one day to several months. In recent years, most of my trials have lasted a week or more.

Christy Wise, Ph.D. is a faculty member of The Steve Frankel Group, with over 20 years of experience as a court appointed California Evidence Code Section 730 Custody Evaluator.  Since retiring as a licensed clinician and evaluator, she has spent her time teaching the ins and outs of what she’s learned, so other clinicians can benefit from her learning experiences as a custody evaluator. Since 1998, Dr. Wise has been a Certified Core Adjunct Faculty Professor/Student Advisor at National University, in San Diego, where she teaches psychology and human behavior courses. Dr. Wise designed this course for licensed California mental health professionals, but it’s not intended to exclude mental health professionals interested in the subject matter who are licensed in other jurisdictions.