Loyola University Maryland

Counseling Center

Staff

Our staff are professionals from various mental health fields interested in college student development.

  • Counseling
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology
  • Social Work
photo of Kourtney Bennett
Kourtney Bennett, Ph.D. She/Her/Hers Associate Director for Training

Kourtney earned her doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology from Fordham University and completed her undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the Loyola University Counseling Center, Kourtney worked in community mental health, college counseling, and career development center settings. She implements an integrative approach to counseling, based upon the person’s needs and the therapeutic relationship, which is often informed by relational, humanistic, and multicultural perspectives. Kourtney’s clinical and research interests include multicultural identity and intersectionality; interpersonal relationships; trauma; vocational development; social justice and advocacy. Kourtney identifies as a Black woman and grew up in Maryland. In her free time, she enjoys reading, movies, and spending time with family and friends.

photo of Beth Adolph
Beth Berenson, LCPC She/Her/Hers Clinician & Triage Specialist

Beth received her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Johns Hopkins University and has a background in community mental health and online counseling.  She has particular experience working with anxiety and stress, trauma, depression, and adjustment issues.  In her practice, Beth uses a combination of supportive, cognitive behavioral, solution-focused, and strengths-based approaches.  In her free time, Beth loves to travel, spend time with family and friends, and watch true crime documentaries.

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Jessica David, Ph.D. She/Her Coordinator of BIPOC Mental Health Services

Jessica identifies as a Black, queer, able-bodied ciswoman who believes that we all have the capacity to lead lives full of meaning and purpose. As a first-generation college graduate, she is passionate about supporting young adults as they navigate their journey of self-exploration, growth, and discovery to live more authentically. Jessica earned her doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology from Indiana University and completed her undergraduate studies at Duke University. She has specialized training working with Division I college athletes and is committed to addressing issues of social injustice and supporting communities that are most significantly impacted by systemic oppression. Jessica strives to create a warm and safe therapeutic environment that affirms students in all their identities. Her approach to therapy is rooted in empathy, connection, and collaboration, drawing from multicultural, humanistic, and interpersonal theories. In addition to BIPOC mental health and wellness, her areas of interests include racial/sexual identity development, life transitions, anxiety, student-athlete mental health and performance, and interpersonal relationships. In her free time, Jessica enjoys practicing yoga and meditation, traveling, visiting new eateries, hanging out with family and friends, and spending time outdoors.

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Rachael Hartley she, her, hers Administrative Assistant

Rachael is the Administrative Assistant for the Counseling Center and recently graduated from McDaniel College with a BA degree in Psychology and a minor in Marketing. She is super excited to be working with the counseling center on all things social media and helping in the day-to-day operations that keep the Center running! In her free time, Rachael loves to play Animal Crossing on her Nintendo Switch, read, and put together many puzzles.

Photo of Whitney Hobson
Whitney Hobson, PsyD. She/Her/Hers Assistant Director for Social Justice

Whitney received her master and doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from the American School of Professional Psychology; she previously worked in community mental health, private practice, and university/college counseling settings. Whitney is committed to promoting wellness and connection within and between all communities but is especially passionate about centering the needs and strengths of populations that have often been pushed to the margins. She uses an integrative approach to therapy and conceptualization primarily derived from relational-cultural theory, as well as multicultural and holistic cognitive-behavioral approaches. Whitney’s clinical interest and experience include anxiety and perfectionism, grief and loss and its broader application to adjustment and life transitions, racial, cultural, and gender identity development, self-empowerment, interpersonal relationship effectiveness, and social justice focused issues. Whitney identifies lovingly as a Baltimore native and a black woman; her interests include reading and writing poetry and fiction, dollar store home decor crafting, listening to 90s to early 2000s music on repeat, traveling to places with amazing food and history, and playing with her fur baby Sir Remington (just Remmy to his friends).

photo of Lucy Holz
Lucy Holz, LCSW-C She/Her/Hers Clinician

Lucy is a part-time staff member.  She completed her BA in Psychology and African American studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her MSSW at the University of Louisville with a specialization of mental health.  Her research focused on community and family involvement in mental health treatment.  Her clinical training experiences included counseling in community mental health and counseling veterans with traumatic brain injuries at the VA.  She worked in short-term, inpatient psychiatric settings and developed a specialty in eating disorder treatment through working in various levels of care.  She has special interest in anxiety concerns, eating disorders, developing community support, and the intersection of physical and mental health.  In her practice she draws on a strengths-based approach from an interpersonal, multicultural lens, using CBT and DBT principals with an emphasis on mindfulness.  Lucy enjoys spending her free time traveling, running, and making art. Lucy will be with our office in the spring of 2022.

photo of Makedah Johnson
Makedah Johnson, LMSW She/Her/Hers Clinician

Makedah is a part-time staff member. She is a Black woman of Caribbean descent and is a Maryland native. She received her Master's of Social Work (M.S.W.) from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and her B.S. in Community Health from the University of Maryland, College Park. Makedah has experience providing trauma-informed, culturally sensitive care to a diverse range of clients in community mental health and private practice settings. She is passionate about supporting teens and young adults with navigating challenges related to life and role transitions, relationships, self-worth, anxiety, mood disorders, and trauma. Her practice is rooted in person-centered, strengths-based approaches that encourage clients to be active participants in identifying and embracing their strengths to achieve their goals. She also incorporates principles from Somatic Therapy (focused on bridging the mind-body connection to foster healing), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in her practice. Her other interests include social justice, maternal health and birth equity, intersectional feminism, and research. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music (and curating playlists), yoga, an occasional TikTok spiral, and being in nature.

photo Fr. Joel Kwame
Fr. Joel Kwame He/Him/His Doctoral Extern

Fr. Joel is in his 4th year in his doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychological Sciences in Sterling, Virginia.  He utilizes an integrative approach to therapy which comprises CBT, ACT,  interpersonal, psychodynamic, and other humanistic approaches. Using a strength-based and culturally sensitive approach, Fr. Joel is attentive to the needs of clients and values the therapeutic relationship .  Fr. Joel is committed to promoting the intrinsic dignity and worth of clients so that the therapeutic relationship and experience contributes to the flourishing and thriving of his clients. Fr. Joel’s clinical and research interests include depression, anxiety, trauma, interpersonal relationships, emotional wellbeing, adjustment issues, resilience,  grief and loss, culture and identity, talent exploration, goal setting, vocational discernment and growth, social justice, diversity, intersectionality, and multiculturalism. Fr. Joel identifies as an African and a Catholic Priest who grew up in Ghana and also lived in the UK. He has interests are in poetry, theatre arts, classical music, drumming and dancing.  His hobbies include playing soccer, basketball, hockey, hiking and swimming. He enjoys spending time with friends and family members. 

photo of Jason Parcover
Jason A. Parcover, Ph. D. He/Him/His Assistant Vice President Student Well Being

Jason completed his doctorate in counseling psychology at Southern Illinois University.  Jason enjoys working with relationship difficulties (including relationship with self), family concerns, men's issues (and women's issues too), and grief and loss.  He has specialized training working with those who have experienced trauma, therapy groups, and enjoys outreach presentations, supervision, and teaching. Jason is committed to providing culturally sensitive services and to addressing issues of social justice.  His clinical and supervisory approaches draw from psychodynamic, interpersonal, and feminist/multicultural theories, and mindfulness techniques.  On a personal level, Jason enjoys playing piano, reading almost anything, working out, spending time outdoors, and playing with his family.

Julie Phillips
Julie Phillips, LCSW-C She/Her/Hers Clinician

Julie received her MA in Counseling from New York University, specializing in college student health and wellness. She received her MSW from Columbia University, focusing on clinical counseling and women’s issues. Her internship experiences were at Goldwater Memorial Hospital in the HIV Unit, Mt Sinai Hospital’s Rape Crisis Center, and Columbia University’s after-hours emergency response team. She worked at Seton Hall, Barnard College, and Columbia University focusing on college student health and mental health, and then spent five years in the NYC Public Schools as a School Social Worker. In her practice she is particularly interested in women’s issues, trauma, and mindfulness. Certified as a yoga instructor for adults and children, she is passionate about yoga and mindfulness. In her free time, she loves traveling, reading, yoga, running, and spending time with friends and her two daughters.

photo of Daphne Reinhardt
Daphne Reinhart, LCPC She/Her/Hers Clinician

Daphne is a part-time staff member.  She completed her M.S in Clinical Community Counseling from Johns Hopkins University and both a B.S. and M.S. in Kinesiology with an Emphasis in Athletic Training from Indiana University, Bloomington.  Her clinical training experiences included counseling in a women's prison and area College Counseling Centers, focusing on trauma and women's issues before developing her specialty in treating Eating Disorders in adolescents and adults.  In the years leading up to becoming a licensed therapist, Daphne enjoyed a career working as a Certified Athletic Trainer with student athletes on the high school and collegiate levels, in particular with college ballet dancers.  In her practice she draws on a warm, strengths-based approach from an interpersonal, humanistic, and multicultural lens.  Daphne enjoys spending her free time with family and friends, traveling, and reading.

Photo of Ryan Sappington
Ryan Sappington, Ph.D. He/Him/His Coordinator of Public Health and Student Athlete Mental Health Services

Ryan's approach to therapy is rooted largely within Relational Cultural Theory, with aspects of feminist, psychodynamic, and mindfulness-based approaches. Believing that therapy can help us discover ways of feeling more authentic and less alone in the world, Ryan works with clients to explore healing and growth through the lens and landscape of our relational experiences, including how those experiences are often shaped by our intersecting identities. His interests include issues of social justice, student-athlete mental health and performance, men and masculinities, relationships, trauma, grief, and racial/gender/sexual identity development. Ryan identifies as a White, straight, generally able-bodied cisman. He earned his doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Maryland, training in four different university counseling centers, a community mental health clinic, and an outpatient military hospital. He also holds three master’s degrees (Counseling Psychology, Sport Psychology, and Work/Organizational Psychology) and completed his undergraduate degree at Bucknell University where he was a Division I soccer player. Ryan spends his free time with family and friends, supporting Manchester United, playing soccer, running, hiking, and fly fishing.

photo of Dina Sokal
Dina Sokal, M.D. She/Her/Hers Psychiatrist

Dr. Sokal is a board-certified psychiatrist in both adult psychiatry and adolescent/child psychiatry, having completed medical school and the adult psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland.  The child psychiatry fellowship was completed at the University of Maryland and Sheppard Pratt.  She has a private practice in Owings Mills, and has worked at student counseling centers, schools for children with emotional issues, treatment foster care agencies, and community mental health centers.  She enjoys spending time with family, traveling, running, and singing in a choir.

photo of Jen Stevens
Jennifer Stevens, LCSW-C She/Her/Hers Associate Director for Clinical Services

Jennifer received her master's of social work degree from Salisbury University. She completed clinical internships at the Life Crisis Center of Salisbury, Md. and Salisbury University Student Counseling Services. Jennifer also has experience in community mental health and has special interest in the areas of trauma, women's issues, and relationship concerns. Through her background in sociology and social work, she has developed a passion for social justice, seeking the expansion of choice and opportunity for all cultural groups. Outside interests include spending time with friends and family, reading, and playing with her dog, Stella.

photo of Ethan Sunny Swift
Ethan "Sunny" Swift, PsyD. He/Him/They/Them Coordinator LGBTQ+ Services

Sunny earned his Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, Illinois and completed his undergraduate degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. Sunny has worked in college counseling for several years and has experience working at a community mental health center. One of their areas of experience and passion is working within the LGBTQ+ communities and has expertise in the area of gender identity and exploration. Sunny is also passionate working more broadly from feminist, multicultural, and relational approaches. They feel strongly about celebrating the neurodivergent experience as an advocate for “Mad Pride.” Some of his areas of clinical interest is within acculturation, identity development, addiction, and navigating experiences of oppression. Sunny identifies as a queer transmasculine person and cat dad. In their spare time, they enjoy traveling, painting, writing, crafting, and hiking.

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Constance White She/Her/Hers Program Coordinator

Constance graduated from the University of Baltimore with a BA degree in Accounting and loves working in higher education. She manages the day to day operations of the Counseling Center which include greeting clients who visit the center, answering the phone, and setting up appointments. Constance enjoys shopping at flea markets and yard sales, crafting, movies, and spending time with her family.

Photo of Samantha Zipp Dowd
Samantha Zipp-Dowd, LGPC She/Her/Hers Clinician

Samantha is a part-time staff member. She received her M.S. in Clinical Counseling Psychology from Loyola University Maryland and is currently a Licensed Graduate and Professional Counselor. Her clinical training experiences are in female and maternal mental health, college student transitions, mindfulness, somatic experiencing and breath-work based therapy. She has a particular interest in life transitions and working with clients to build their self-esteem and self-awareness during times of stress. In her years leading up to professional counseling, Samantha was a non-profit executive and worked in both the Higher Education and Healthcare spaces. In her practice she builds on a client-centered, strengths based approach with a mindfulness, humanistic and multi-cultural lens. Samantha enjoys spending her free time with her family including two young children, two rambunctious dogs, reading, cooking and doing yoga.