Presenter Information
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In-person workshops are offered in Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and Meridian. Webinar options are also available. Continuing education credits are supported at 3, 6, 8, 12, and 15 credit/hour increments. We are committed to securing unique training opportunities provided by clinicians with a wide range of clinical experiences and specialties. If you are interested in providing a workshop for the Department of Counseling, please fill out the Presenter Application. Any questions can be directed to Dr. Shawn Parmanand, parmshaw@isu.edu.
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Presenter Biographies
Angel Ford, LCSW is the owner and a clinician at Steadfast Wellness in Meridian. Their passion lies in empowering clients, employees,
students, and interns to progress in their mental health journey with confidence and resilience. They believe in
fostering wellness that endures—steadfast and unwavering—no matter the storms life may bring.
Ananda Lettner; LCPC-S, NCC started the Counselor Education and Counseling doctoral program in Pocatello in Fall 2023. She went to undergrad at Luther College in Decorah, IA, where she double majored in Psychology and Environmental Policy and ran cross country and track. She completed her Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with an emphasis in Substance Abuse Counseling at Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI. During that time, she worked as a parent educator for Child Protective Services and as a personal trainer. In her Master's program, she set "growth goals”, one of which was to move out West--so she chose Idaho for the mountains, trails, and the opportunity to work as a counselor in rural integrated behavioral health. Her research interests include environmental justice, counselor supervision, best teaching practices, exercise and wellbeing, community-based interventions, and trauma-informed care. If you have any questions, she can be reached at anandalettner@isu.edu
Peter Mortola, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Counseling, Therapy and School Psychology Department at Lewis and Clark College's Graduate School of Education and Counseling. He is the author of Windowframes: Learning the art of Gestalt play therapy the Oaklander way (Routledge/Gestaltpress, 2006), the culmination of 10 years of inquiry and research on Violet Oaklander’s methods of both child therapy and adult training. Windowframes has been translated into German, Spanish, Romanian, Italian and Korean. He is also the co-author of BAM! Boys Advocacy and Mentoring: A leader’s guide to facilitating strength-based groups for boys (Routledge, 2008), and The Bear Inside (19th Avenue Press, with Illustrator Mark Molchan), a children's book about managing strong emotions. The Bear Inside has been translated into Spanish, Bulgarian, Russian, and Sinhala versions.
Thomas Ameel, MS in Clinical Psychology is a Gestalt Psychotherapist and has an MA in Process Facilitation. He is based in Brussels, Belgium. Thomas started his career as a clinical psychologist working in drug addiction recovery, a setting where he found 95% of clients being male. Many of the groups he worked with consisted of men and young male adolescents with the specific issues they bring to psychotherapy. He went on to run a private practice and has worked with men in leadership coaching relationships. A study of Process Facilitation led him to Portland, Oregon for two years where he led and facilitated men’s groups and retreats. Peter and Thomas met in one of these groups and decided to collaborate as facilitators based on their experience as leaders of men’s groups and as participants attending men’s workshops. Currently Thomas’ work is focused on men’s work and executive coaching in Brussels and internationally. You can reach him at thomas.ameel@gmail.com and find more on his work online through http://thomasameel.be/between-men or slowleadership.eu.
Kristin Stewart Yates, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor who has worked at Idaho State University Counseling and Mental Health Center since 2013. She enjoyed being the assistant director at the Counseling Center since 2023. Kristin has had the privilege of teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Course for ISU since 2018, along with other courses for the Counseling Department. In 2021, Kristin became a
Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher and uses MSC principles and skills daily in her supervision and clinical practice.
Bella Colson; M.COUN, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Idaho and a Doctoral Student at Idaho
State University in the Counselor Education and Counseling program. Bella has clinical experience working
with children, adolescents, and young adults, particularly those with eating disorders or disordered eating.
Her research interests include all things eating disorders and the use of DBT within clinical supervision.
Laura Campbell, LCPC earned a Master of Science and Education Specialist degrees in Counseling and Counselor Education from Indiana University. Her seventeen years of clinical experience have focused on addiction recovery, dual diagnosis treatment with high-risk clients, group processes and eating disorder treatment. She is a registered clinical supervisor and is passionate about quality supervision and clinical growth and development. She's the Clinical Director at Center for Change Boise- the highest level of eating disorder treatment available in Idaho, as well as a doctoral student at Idaho State University.
Dr. Heather Paessler-Chesterton has earned a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (NY). She has held school counseling credentials in three states. Dr. Paessler-Chesterton has been a part of the higher education community for 15+ years and feels particularly called to supporting other people helpers. She has actively served the field of counseling in various leadership roles and has presented at the local, state, and national level. With more than two decades of clinical experience, her specializations include the treatment of children and adolescents, as well as women’s issues. She has published work on topics related to diverse populations and high risk issues in counseling youth, and violence in schools. Dr. Paessler-Chesterton is a Disaster Relief Volunteer and maintains a private practice in the Greater Rochester, NY area.
Caroline Perjessy, Ph.D., obtained an MSED in Community Counseling and Higher Education Student Affairs from Youngstown State University and a PhD in Counseling and Human Development Services from Kent State University, a CACREP-Accredited program, in Kent, Ohio. She is a licensed mental health counselor in the states of Georgia and Florida, is a Qualified Supervisor in Florida, and has been a licensed clinician for 15 years. As a counselor, Dr. Perjessy has expertise in working with adults, adolescents, college students and couples, using Humanistic, postmodern approaches to therapy. Additionally, she is also trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and conducts DBT groups with adolescents and adults. Thus, her clinical interest areas relate to trauma, career counseling, group work, and women’s issues. Dr. Perjessy has been teaching at the graduate level for over 15 years, in Master’s and Doctoral programs. She has been a doctoral program coordinator, director of field placement, and has held a variety of administrative roles during her career. Her scholarly areas of interest include narrative/postmodern approaches to pedagogy and supervision, doctoral education, online education, and she routinely presents and publishes in these areas. Currently, she is serving as the President for the Association for Humanistic Counseling.
Jessica Sellman, LCPC is a clinician from Pocatello, Idaho. She completed her MS in School Counseling at ISU and worked in the high school setting where her primary role was crisis management and service coordination for students. After gaining awareness of the immense need for trauma-informed care for the population she served in the schools, she became a trauma-informed clinician and gained certification in EMDR. After practicing trauma-informed counseling with Idaho State University Counseling and Mental Health Center, Jessica recognized the common thread for recovery was a person's spiritual beliefs and development of trust in both internal and external cues. Currently, Jessica specializes in working with clients who have chronic and acute symptoms of trauma through the use of various modalities and spiritually-aware practices within her own practice.
