1. CAMPUS DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF PLACEMENT & TRAINING
Reema Obaid Ross, PsyD
Reema Obaid Ross is the Campus Director of the Office of Placement & Training as well as the Director of Clinical Training for the Department in Forensic Psychology. She obtained her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology in 2011 and became a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in 2013. Dr. Obaid Ross completed her post-doctoral fellowship in Academic Community Leadership at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and Mt. Sinai Hospital: Under the Rainbow Program. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center Behavioral Health Services. Prior to obtaining a doctorate degree, she completed a master's of science degree in Developmental Psychology from Illinois State University. Dr. Obaid Ross has trained and worked in various settings, including inpatient, outpatient and residential facilities, working with children, adolescents and adults. Her primary interests include training and supervision as well as clinical work with children and families, underserved populations, trauma and attachment theory. Dr. Obaid Ross currently has a small private practice in Chicago working with adults.
Charmon Parker Williams, Ph.D.
Charmon Parker Williams, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Business Psychology Department at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Prior to her appointment as core faculty in 2013, Dr. Williams served as an adjunct instructor for the School, beginning in 2009. She has also served as an adjunct professor for Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Prior to working at The Chicago School, Dr. Williams achieved results in a variety of leadership roles in the corporate sector, including Program Manager for HR Strategy and Executive Talent Management for Hewitt Associates; Vice President for the Human Resources Management and Workforce Diversity Consulting Practice at James H. Lowry & Associates; Personnel Officer at Harris Trust and Savings Bank, and Personnel Psychologist for the United States Office of Personnel Management. She has a private consulting practice which focuses on Organizational Development, Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership Assessment and Coaching, Strategic Planning for Non-Profits, and Training Facilitation. Her accomplishments transcend a variety of industries in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. A published author and speaker on leadership development, career management, and diversity, Dr. Williams has presented at several national conferences and has created a signature workshop and published a book on Personal Branding. Additionally, she has been a contributing writer for a number of industry related magazines for more than a decade. Dr. William's research interests include cross-cultural competency on global teams, factors associated with expatriate success, the application of I/O Psychology frameworks to small businesses and non-traditional industries, and career branding
Garrrett Sidor, PhD
Dr. Sidor is the Associate Director of The Office of Placement and Training in the Clinical Psy.D Department and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. He is an Alumni of The Chicago School and earned his Psy.D in 2017. His experiences in the program and early career led him to develop a passion for psychologist training, competency development and supervision.
Having trained and worked in residential treatment, hospital, day school, community mental health, and private practice settings, Dr. Sidor cultivated an interest in system's oriented clinical work. His specialization focuses on couples and families. Additional areas of interest include divorce, psychological training and supervision, multiculturalism, and the influence of broader social and cultural systems on the development of mental health difficulties.
Rachel Nitzarim, PhD
Dr. Nitzarim is one of the Associate Directors of The Office of Placement and Training in the Clinical PsyD department. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of Counseling Psychology at UW-Madison in 2015. Throughout her training and early career, she has cultivated an interest in psychologist training, competency development and clinical supervision. Additionally, her research on social class and psychotherapy process and outcome has resulted in numerous publications in various career, qualitative and Counseling Psychology journals as well as a number of presentations at professional conferences. Finally, after training in a number of community mental health and counseling centers, and obtaining licensure as a Clinical Psychologist in the state of Illinois, she has found a passion for long term, psychodynamically-oriented and interpersonally-based clinical work. In addition to her position at The Chicago School, she is currently providing psychotherapy services to adolescents, adults and couples at her group private practice, Smith Psychotherapy Associates S.C. To date, Dr. Nitzarim has co-taught Supervision, Consultation and Professional Issues and History and Systems, a DBT-Lite elective course and Intermediate Practicum Seminar. Areas of interest include issues related to social class, unemployment, low-income populations, psychotherapy process and outcome, psychology training, clinical supervision and psychologist competency.
Jeff Strozier PhD,
Jeff Strozier, PhD, LCPC (he/him) is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Clinical Training for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Department at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Strozier earned his Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from The University of New Orleans and MA in Clinical Professional Psychology from Roosevelt University. Dr. Strozier has over ten years of experience within the counseling profession. He most recently was Director of the Anti-Violence Project at Center on Halsted, the largest LGBTQ community center in the Midwest, where he led a team providing trauma focused mental health services to LGBTQ survivors of violence. Dr. Strozier also spent time at Thresholds where he provided community based counseling services and developed expertise in working with individuals living with serious and persistent mental illness. As part of his doctoral training at The University of New Orleans, Dr. Strozier worked with Addiction Recovery Resources of New Orleans where he provided individual and group counseling to clients with substance use disorder within an intensive outpatient setting. Dr. Strozier's professional areas of interest include gender and sexuality, substance use disorder, serious and persistent mental illness, and anti-oppressive practices in clinical training and the mental health system
Francis McClain, MA, LCPC, NCC
Ms. McClain received her Masters in Counseling from Governors State University and is a licensed clinical professional counselor. She is the Director of Clinical Training in the Counseling Psychology Department since 2010 and worked as an adjunct instructor since 2008. She was the Program Director of Clinical Services at The Josselyn Center, a community mental health center on the North Shore for 10 years prior to joining staff at The Chicago School. Throughout her career she has worked in a number of different capacities that includes individual, family and group clinical work, clinical and administrative supervision, grant writing, program development and implementation, case management, psychosocial rehabilitation, community liaison work with both private and state psychiatric hospitals and consultation with mental health centers around program development and accreditation preparation. Her career journey has taken her from the far South suburbs, to DuPage County to the city and North Shore. She is currently Ph.D. candidate in the Counseling Education and Supervision program and working on her dissertation which is focused on the role of white mental health professionals engaged in anti-racist activist work. Ms. McClain has presented at the local, state, and national level on topics related to cultural competence, values conflicts, and human sexuality. Ms. McClain is on the editorial board of the Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education, and President-Elect and a founding member of the Association of Counseling Sexology and Sexual Wellness (ACSSW).