Div. 55 President

Virginia Waters, PhD, MSCP

I am pleased and excited to be serving Div. 55 as president for 2018. I was born to be a psychologist from the beginning, for I have been fascinated by both the art and science of human behavior, mental health and mental illness, and the ways people could be taught how to maximize their growth and evolution. I majored in psychology as an undergraduate at Finch College, received a PhD in School Psychology from Columbia University, and a fellowship in clinical psychology from the Albert Ellis Institute, before entering private practice in 1976. I rather uneventfully maintained private practices in New York and New Jersey for the next 24 years. Since I have always been curious and interested in expanding my clinical skills, I continued to pursue training in hypnosis, relationship counseling, sex therapy, forensic psychology, dream work and many other sub-specialties that I could integrate into my work with patients.

Seeking training in psychopharmacology was a natural extension of my desire to continue adding tools to my clinical tool kit. For many years I took workshops in medication management before entering the first training cohort at Fairleigh Dickinson University. I exited FDU with a Master’s of Science degree in Psychopharmacology in 2002 and passed the PEP a few weeks later. When I entered the psychopharmacology program I had not fully realized the where it would lead me, for not only was I pursuing the academic training, I had also committed to a path of advocacy.

I realize the unique role Div. 55 plays in the arenas of clinical practice, research, academics and public education, and advocacy. While serving this division for the next few years, it is my goal to create more collaboration and communication among states so we can maximize our impact, to better serve the profession and our patients. The journey continues.

Judi Steinman, PhD

Aloha! I am delighted and honored to serve Div. 55 as president-elect. As we say in Hawai‘i, "mahalo nui loa" for the opportunity to represent you.

I may be one of the few Div. 55 Executive Committee members who is not a master of clinical psychopharmacology. In fact, I am not a clinical psychologist — my PhD in psychobiology was received in 1982 from the Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Institute of Animal Behavior. My first postdoctoral fellowship was at Dartmouth Medical School’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and my second was at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston’s Marine Biomedical Institute where I trained as an National Institute of Health (NIH) fellow in electrophysiology and neurochemistry. So, in essence I am a nuts-and-bolts scientist. I also worked at a law firm for ten years as a medical analyst, representing several Fortune 40 companies in medical device and pharmaceutical litigation. 

Currently, I am involved in three different Master of Science in Clinical Psychopharmacology (MSCP) programs as an instructor or administrator. My first foray into psychopharmacology education was as the coordinator for the University of Hawai‘i (UH) Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy’s MSCP Program from its inception in 2011 until December 2016; I continue to teach students in this program. The UH Hilo MSCP program is 90 percent online; I am comfortable in teaching with various distance learning platforms. I also teach research methods online for Alliant University’s MSCP program and am the current assistant director. I begin teaching in the Chicago School’s new MSCP program in January 2018 and advise Iowa and Idaho on their future programs. 

I moved to Hawai‘i in 2003. People often ask me why I moved here and my answer is “Hawai‘i!” I came for the beauty and charm and stayed for them as well. I believe that true aloha can solve most problems and that we all can learn from the blending of diverse cultures here in Hawai‘i.

Sean R. Evers, PhD, MSCP is a clinical psychologist and director of a multidisciplinary private practice in Manasquan, New Jersey. He also serves as a consultant to the local Vets Center, the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and is a member of the New Jersey Board of Psychological Examiners. He is a former president of the New Jersey Psychological Association, the New Jersey Psychological Foundation and a founding director of The New Jersey Academy of Medical Psychologists. Evers received his MA in psychology from the New School for Social Research, Graduate Faculty Center, his PhD in clinical psychology from the School of Professional Psychology, Florida Institute of Technology and his postdoctoral MS in clinical psychopharmacology from Fairleigh Dickinson University.