Alma Morales Risse, LCSW

FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

• 2024 DEFT Institute, Woodland Hills, CA

POST MASTER’S TRAINING

• 2017 Certified in Dynamic Emotions Focused Therapy, DEFT Institute, Woodland Hills, CA 
• DEFT is an integrated psychotherapy approach that combines psychodynamic theory, attachment-based theory and somatic tracking.  That is, moment to moment attention to the body’s physiological activations in the face of rising emotion and anxiety.  Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is an underpinning influence. 
• Certified CA Board of Behavioral Services Supervisor of ASWs, MFTIs, LPCCs

EDUCATION

University of Southern California         Master of Social Work

• Phi Kappa Phi (National All-Discipline Honor Society)
• Dean Scholar

University of California, Berkeley       Bachelor of Arts

• Major: Sociology, Departmental Honors

WORK EXPERIENCE & INTERNSHIPS

Psychotherapist in Private Practice in Whittier, CA

• Offering services in English and Spanish, Since 2012
• In-person and via Telehealth

Bi-Lingual Therapist, School Based Service, The Whole Child, Whittier, CA   

• Provided comprehensive mental health therapy services to children & families.

Intervention Facilitator, UCLA Center for Community Health, Los Angeles, CA

• Conducted family therapy to address conflict between newly homeless 12-17 year old youth and their families.

Social Worker, A Day Away Adult Day Health Care Center, La Mirada, Ca

• Assessed, developed and implemented individual, group and family therapy with older adults with vulnerabilities related to cognitive loss and/or frail health.

Social Worker, Initial Response Team, London Borough of Richmond, England

• First responder on child welfare emergencies.
• Designed and delivered child, individual, and family therapeutic interventions to enhance parent-child relationships and improve general family functioning.

Graduate Intern, Children’s Rights Project, Public Counsel Law Center, Los Angeles, CA

• Children’s advocate: helped families seek special education services; advocated for minors facing delinquency, school suspension & expulsion proceedings.
• Collaborated with lawyers to assist abandoned, neglected, and or abused undocumented youth.
• Helped terminally ill parents establish post mortem care plans to ensure their dependent child’s welfare.

Staff Research Associate II, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA

• Co-facilitated multi-family therapy group skills-building sessions for Spanish speaking adults diagnosed with schizophrenia and their families.

FIELD RESEARCH WORK EXPERIENCE

Staff Research Associate, Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, UCLA

Consultant, Survey Research Group, The RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA   

Research Assistant, Rancho Los Amigos Research & Rehabilitation Institute, Downey, CA 

Conducted field work on social science research projects seeking to identify the needs of marginalized, vulnerable populations:

• Homeless women and families
• Young adult victims of violent assault
• Alcohol and substance abusers
• Chronically ill older adults
• Adults with co-occurring mental health & substance abuse disorders
• Incarcerated adults

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Volunteer, WOMEN FOR PEACE (WFP), Mfuleni Township, Cape Town, South Africa

Helped conduct community outreach interventions to promote cultural exchange and develop local business opportunities.

~

Photos from top: 1. Groot Constantia, Cape Town 2. Houses of Parliament-Sunset, Claude Monet 3. Mfuleni  Township, Cape Town