Brianna A. Baker (she/her/hers) is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests broadly include sociopolitical determinants of mental health, Black youth and families, and ameliorating sociohistorical racial trauma through community-focused program development and policy-level interventions. Her dissertation explores the complexities the Black mother-daughter matrix related to gendered racial identity and socialization. She hopes to mesh her passions for communications, public health,and psychology to bring African American mental health to the forefront of America’s social, moral, and political agendas to advance racial and health equity.
Current Fellows
Connecticut Mental Health Center
Organizations on this page
Consultation, Prevention, & Program Evaluation Services - The Consultation Center
- Alexis Jones (she/her/hers) is a doctoral candidate in Counseling Psychology at Auburn University. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Spelman College and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Before starting her doctorate, Alexis worked at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute-Columbia University. Alexis’s program of study focuses on racism-related stress and health disparities. Her research involves exploring the interplay between sociocultural strengths and risks to understand how these factors contribute to the increased vulnerability, or protection, of Black communities. Alexis's clinical interests include working with diverse and underserved populations presenting with trauma and other stress responses. She utilizes culturally informed, evidence-based approaches for psychological assessment and treatment, integrating an intersectional framework that emphasizes the role of identity and culture in whole-person care. Alexis has provided individual and group psychotherapy and psychological evaluations across various settings, including academic medical centers, correctional facilities, private practices, VA medical hospitals, college counseling centers, and faith-based environments. As a scholar, Alexis is community-centered and inspired. She actively works to sustain personal engagement with underrepresented communities in academia, supports student development, and remains connected to activities that advance the liberation of underrepresented students through education.
Substance use Services - Substance Use Treatment Unit (SATU)
- Abby Fraade is a Clinical and Community Psychology Fellow in the Yale School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry Psychology Section. In her role as Psychology Fellow, Abby provides clinical services at the Substance use and Addiction Treatment Unit and West Haven Mental Health Clinic in Child and Adolescent Services. Abby earned her Masters of Arts in Psychology at Long Island University, Brooklyn, where she is currently pursuing her PhD in Clinical Psychology. Abby earned her Bachelors of Arts in Environmental Studies at Brandeis University. She has contributed to research on common factors in psychotherapy in the Psychotherapy Research Lab at Long Island University, Brooklyn, under the mentorship of Lisa Samstag, PhD. Abby's dissertation, funded by a student research grant from American Psychological Association's Division 29, Society for Advancement of Psychotherapy, examines embodied empathy as a facilitative interpersonal trait in psychotherapists. Abby also served as a Research Assistant at the World Trade Center Health Program Mental Health Research Lab at the New York University School of Medicine, Clinical Center of Excellence, where she contributed to research validating an approach to trauma treatment that integrated the use of heart rate variability biofeedback into an empirically supported trauma treatment. Abby has gained a range clinical experiences with a community mental health population at a residential treatment facility, a college counseling center serving students with significant psychosocial stressors, Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital, and at the Substance use and Addiction Treatment Unit at CMHC. Abby’s clinical approach is based in contemporary relational psychodynamic theory and research with integration of cognitive and behavioral interventions when appropriate. She seeks to tailor treatment to each person’s uniqueness and works with her patients toward recovery through insight, reflective functioning, and attunement.
- Nathan L. Smith (he/him/his) is a doctoral candidate in the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology program, social justice, and diversity specialization at Fielding Graduate University. He is a Clinical and Community Psychology Fellow through the Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC) at the Substance Use and Addiction Treatment Unit (SATU) and The Consultation Center (TCC). Nathan received Fielding’s 2024 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) student award for his excellent contributions to promoting DEI in Fielding’s Clinical Psychology doctoral program. He is also the interim president of Fielding’s Black Students Association and a Marie Fielder Center for Democracy, Leadership, and Education Research Fellow. Nathan earned his M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Fielding Graduate University. He also obtained an MSW from Fordham University and a post-graduate Addiction Counseling certificate from Albertus Magnus College. Before his graduate studies, Nathan received a B.A. in Social Science from Albertus Magnus College and his A.S. in General Studies from Gateway Community College. He also received his Seminar in Field Instruction (SIFI) certification from Southern Connecticut State University. Nathan is a licensed clinical social worker and alcohol and drug counselor in Connecticut. Before his doctoral studies, he was a senior clinical director for Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) funded Young Adult Services (YAS) transitional programs in New Haven, CT. As a seasoned clinician, Nathan has worked across psychiatric emergency and inpatient settings with adolescents, young adults, and adults diagnosed with various psychiatric conditions at Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. He has also worked as a Psychology and Human Services undergraduate associate faculty member at Post University. Clinically, Nathan utilizes a multiculturally informed psychodynamic therapeutic approach to support individuals’ reparative work from various psychosocial stressors and psychological traumas. He has a particular interest in attachment-based approaches and working with racial and ethnic minority populations, specifically Black boys and men exposed to community and sexual violence and racial trauma. Nathan also utilizes existential approaches (e.g., relational cultural theory and therapy) to explore individuals’ relational patterns and promote the importance of growth-fostering relationships to transform chronic disconnection into connection and increase relational resiliency capacity. Nathan has trained in utilizing Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Attachment Regulation and Competency (ARC) Framework, and psychodynamic therapy with children and adolescents at CMHC’s West Haven Child and Adolescent Services (WHCAS) Program. At CMHC’s Substance Use and Addiction Treatment Unit, he used evidence-based psychodynamic treatments to treat adults with primary substance use and addiction disorders. Through qualitative inquiry, Nathan’s research explores various social justice and diversity issues affecting racially and ethnically diverse populations. Specifically, Nathan is interested in understanding the experiences of Black boys and men exposed to violence (e.g., community and sexual), racial trauma, and substance use disorders in the Black community. During his doctoral studies, Nathan has led research on graduate students’ and faculty’s experiences living during the pandemic and Black clinical psychology graduates’ experiences with racial battle fatigue in academia. His dissertation explores the experiences of Black men aged 18-34 who have been exposed to direct and indirect community violence. Nathan’s dissertation seeks an understanding of the psychosocial and mental health effects of community violence exposure and how expressions of masculinity can either complicate or create resiliency with these experiences.
Hispanic Behavioral Health Services - The Hispanic Clinic
Adult Community Mental Health
- Maku Orleans-Pobee is a predoctoral psychology fellow in the Yale Doctoral Internship in Clinical and Community Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Maku’s primary internship placement is in Adult Community Mental Health (outpatient) at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, with a secondary placement in Adult Inpatient Services at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. Maku is a graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her clinical training has focused on cognitive and behavioral interventions for psychosis and other serious mental illnesses, and her research has focused on racial disparities in psychosis treatment as well as conceptualizations of recovery in Black individuals with co-occurring psychosis and substance use.
Young Adult Services
- Josh (He/Him/His) is a doctoral candidate in the Combined Clinical-School Psy.D. program at Pace University in New York City, where he has also earned his M.S. in Education. Prior to graduate school, Josh obtained Bachelor degrees from Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary in Psychology and Ethics, respectively. Clinically, Josh’s theoretical orientation is integrated, grounded in interdisciplinary collaboration. To date, Josh’s clinical training has focused on evidence-based treatments, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), as well as Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). His training has created a strong foundation among multiple orientations, allowing a proficient understanding of the interplay between emotion, behavior, and cognitions. He often conceptualizes through a biopsychosocial lens to integrate vital contextual factors. Josh has administered individual, group, and family psychotherapy as well as psychological evaluations across diverse settings including an exurban school district, a psychiatric hospital, an independent nonprofit mental health institute, and multiple community-based clinics. While Josh has worked with a diverse population of individuals, across the lifespan, he has particular clinical interest working with children, adolescents, and young adults struggling with difficulties related to trauma, anxiety, depression, and behavioral concerns. Josh’s research area of focus primarily includes adolescent and young adult stress functioning. Previous research has included parent-child interactions, and parenting as a whole. Some of his current research studies the interactions between emotion regulation, stress, and coping mechanisms in young adult populations. Josh aims to continue exploring this topic and apply translational knowledge from this field into his clinical work and that of his colleagues.
Adult Inpatient Services
Yale New Haven Hospital
Organizations on this page
Adult Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Anthony Fortuna is a predoctoral psychology fellow in the Yale Doctoral Internship in Clinical and Community Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Anthony’s primary internship placement is in the Adult Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Services at Yale New Haven Hospital. Anthony is a graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Fordham University (Bronx, NY). His clinical training has focused on working with individuals experiencing high risk for life threatening behavior and/or posttraumatic stress, including veterans and individuals with criminal legal system involvement. His research has focused on the interplay and identification of various suicide risk factors, and the impact that trauma can have in terms of risk for suicide and legal system involvement.
Behavioral Medicine Services
- Young In Chung is a Behavioral Medicine fellow in the Clinical and Community Psychology internship program at Yale School of Medicine. Her primary placement is at the Yale New Haven Hospital. She is also a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology Ph.D. program at the Pennsylvania State University. She received her master’s degree in the Clinical and Counseling Psychology program at Seoul National University. She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and Art History from Swarthmore College. Young In has been broadly trained in using evidence-based treatments, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Transference-focused Psychodynamic Therapy, and Neuropsychology. She is passionate about working with patients with diverse physical health concerns who presents with co-occurring mood problems, substance use (tobacco cessation), sleep difficulties, pain, sexual health, and psycho-oncology in an integrated care setting. Young In’s research focuses on examining the neural and psychological factors that make changing appetitive risk behaviors such as smoking or high caloric food consumption difficult. Her multi-method research approach integrates fMRI neuroimaging, experience sampling methods, questionnaires, and behavioral coding and tasks. Her dissertation focuses on individuals with comorbid emotional and substance use disorders. The project investigates transdiagnostic vulnerabilities that impact different motivational processes that underlie smoking lapses during cessation. Her long-term goal is to do translational research in the delivery of mechanism-based substance use treatment in medical settings as well as treatments for multiple health-risk behaviors.
- Rachelle Reid is a Behavioral Medicine fellow in the Clinical and Community Psychology internship program at Yale School of Medicine. Her primary placement is at the Yale New Haven Hospital. She is also a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology Ph.D. program (health area of concentration) at the University of Miami. Rachelle previously earned her M.S. in clinical psychology and B.S. in psychology (with a minor in criminology) at the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus) in Kingston, Jamaica. Rachelle’s clinical orientation is primarily person-centered and, secondarily, she utilizes cognitive behavior therapy and third-wave therapies (e.g., acceptance and commitment therapy and mindfulness). Rachelle's clinical population of interest is cancer survivors, having completed an externship at Memorial Cancer Institute. Rachelle is passionate about further exploring psycho-oncology in clinical and research contexts, as well as working with patients presenting with other medical comorbidities such as sleep, tobacco use, and pain. Rachelle’s research interests center on elevating the voices of marginalized communities to help improve their quality of life and quality of care. As such, her research focuses on developing holistic interventions that incorporate spirituality/religion and mindfulness for marginalized health populations and help improve quality of care. She is especially passionate about integrating advanced statistical quantitative methods with qualitative methodologies to tell rich stories that may help improve the quality of life of individuals at the margins, especially Black women living with HIV . Rachelle looks forward to expanding her research to other health populations that also experience stigma and discrimination and contributing to the development of effective and culturally relevant interventions for underserved populations.
Pediatric Gender Program
- Josh is a Clinical Psychology Fellow at Yale Medicine's Pediatric Gender Clinic. They are a doctoral candidate in Fordham University’s Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program, where they earned their M.A. in clinical psychology in 2021. Josh earned their B.A. in psychology, specializing in health and development, from Stanford University in 2017. Josh approaches clinical work from a system- and trauma-informed, gender-affirming, and evidence-based perspective. Their approach is rooted in cognitive-behavioral and third-wave therapies and centers on family-oriented treatment as appropriate. Josh has worked in various clinical settings, including pediatric gender clinics, college counseling centers, private practice settings, inpatient hospitals, and severe mental illness units in a forensic jail setting. From their previous work, Josh has developed a clinical approach emphasizing authenticity, cultural humility, harm reduction, and working collaboratively with youth and families to foster radical healing and hope. Josh also enjoys conducting comprehensive biopsychosocial, personality, and other neuropsychological assessments within their clinical work.