Leadership & Governance

Dr. Rachel Hershenberg

Rachel Hershenberg, PhD, ABPP, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University and serves as the Director of Psychotherapy for the Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) Program. Her research and clinical specialization focus on depression, specifically measuring antidepressant moments in everyday life and improving patient outcomes across the severity continuum.

Methodologically, Dr. Hershenberg prioritizes ecologically valid research designs to bridge the gap between clinical efficacy and real-world effectiveness. She is the author of Activating Happiness, an evidence-based guide for overcoming low motivation and depression. Within APA Division 12, she has a longstanding history of leadership, including serving as Past President of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (Section 3) and as a past co-chair of the D12 Committee on Science and Practice. She currently serves as the Secretary for Division 12.

Dr. Brandon Gaudiano

Dr. Gaudiano holds dual roles as a Professor at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and at the Brown School of Public Health in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences. He is the Director of the Transitional Outpatient Program and is the Associate Director of the Psychosocial Research Program at Butler Hospital. He also works as a Research Psychologist at the Providence VA Medical Center and is a core faculty member at the Brown Mindfulness Center.

Serving on several journal editorial boards and with over 200 publications, his research has received support from various federal and private grants. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and part of its Council of Representatives. His research focuses on developing and testing innovative psychosocial treatments for mood and psychotic disorders, especially in the areas of suicide prevention, care transitions, and digital health.

Dr. Nancy Sidun

Dr. Sidun is a clinical psychologist, educator, administrator, scholar, and retired art therapist with more than four decades of experience in psychology. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and has held extensive leadership roles within APA, the Hawaiʻi Psychological Association, and the International Council of Psychologists, serving in governance, policy, and mentoring capacities.

Dr. Sidun’s work is grounded in a deep commitment to women’s human rights, social justice, and global mental health. She is widely recognized for her pioneering contributions to the field of human trafficking, among the first psychologists to frame trafficking as a critical psychological and human rights issue. Through organizing symposia, national and international presentations, and co-editing A Feminist Perspective on Human Trafficking of Women and Girls, she helped establish trafficking as a central concern for psychological science and practice.

She co-chaired APA’s Task Force on Trafficking of Women and Girls, producing a landmark report outlining psychologists’ roles in research, education, advocacy, policy, clinical practice, and public awareness. More recently, her scholarship has expanded to the intersection of climate change, gender, and human rights, including an invited article in the International Journal of Psychology examining how psychological principles can empower women and mitigate climate-related harms.

Dr. Evan Plys

Dr. Plys is a board-certified clinical geropsychologist at MGH CHOIR and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. His research primarily focuses on developing and testing feasible psychosocial interventions among high-need older adults and families in residential post-acute and long-term care (e.g., skilled nursing facilities). His research also seeks solutions to psychosocial challenges within the context of dementia, caregiving, and palliative care. Dr. Plys has extensive clinical experience providing psychological services with older adults, family caregivers, and in residential care settings.

A. Jill Clemence, Ph.D.

Dr. Clemence currently serves in the position of Assessment Section Representative to Division 12. She is the Past-President of the Society for Personality Assessment (2024-2025).

She has been an active advocate of high-quality assessment practices since her first professional conference presentation on the topic in 1997 and has devoted much of her career to the study and practice of Personality Assessment. She served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality Assessment from 2013-2016 and has investigated the role of teaching and training on the application of Personality Assessment in internship settings. In addition, she has co-authored numerous articles and book chapters on the science of assessment. She has an interest in advocating for high quality training in assessment across all stages of professional development.  She left a position as a Research Scientist at the Austen Riggs Center in 2011 to pursue clinical work full-time.

She currently practices as a Clinical Psychologist at the Rutland Regional Medical Center in Vermont where she works to integrate therapeutic assessment components into routine medical treatment of individuals coping with complex health events and conditions.

Dr. Susan Raffa

Dr. Raffa is National Program Director for Weight Management for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), providing clinical and administrative guidance for and oversight of the MOVE! Weight Management Program for Veterans and leading other weight management initiatives and research collaborations for VA’s National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. She served as Clinical Co-Champion for the 2025 update of the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Adult Overweight and Obesity, having previously served as a workgroup member in 2020.

She is an active member of the American Psychological Association’s Society of Clinical Psychology, serving on its Board of Directors and as a member of its Committee on Science and Practice. She is also on the Board of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology and is a Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

Dr. Leila Z. Islam

Leila Z. Islam, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Program Director of the Clinical Health Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) School of Medicine, is an adult clinical health psychologist who specializes in behavioral medicine and integrated/team-based healthcare and interprofessional education. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Behavioral Medicine from VCU’s APA-accredited graduate program and completed her APA-accredited internship in Clinical Psychology, Clinical Health Psychology track, at VA Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS)- West Haven (2013). She went on to complete an APA-accredited postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology at the Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education at VACHS and Yale University (2014).

With funded research dedicated to clinical training, Dr. Islam commits nearly half of her total time to teaching, through collaborative efforts within VCU’s Primary Care Psychology Training Network (PCPTN); directing the Clinical Health Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship; and practicum placements in Bariatric Psychology and Behavioral Weight Management. In addition to training future psychologists, Dr. Islam has remained steadfast in her commitment to medical education at the undergraduate and graduate level, reflected in her selection for the Interprofessional Excellence Faculty Award by the VCU Center for Interprofessional Excellence & Collaborative Care in 2020. Dr. Islam was voted to be a “Top Meds” in Psychology by patients in 2020 and a “Top Doc” in Clinical Psychology in 2022, 2024 and 2025, selected by colleagues. On the national level, she served on the board of the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (APAHC) from 2015 through 2023 and recently returned to serve as their APA Division 12 representative in 2026.

Dr. Jill Morris

Dr. Morris is a Clinical Psychologist and Owner of Morris Therapy and Consulting, PLLC, a private practice devoted to providing evidence-based therapies for anxiety and trauma related symptoms.

She completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of South Dakota, her pre-doctoral internship at the Bay Pines VA, and her postdoctoral fellowship at Hennepin County Medical Center. Dr. Morris specializes in the treatment of PTSD and anxiety disorders. She has extensive training in trauma-focused interventions as well as both behavioral interventions for anxiety disorders and mindfulness-based approaches. Her primary interests include the prevention and treatment of trauma related disorders, impact of trauma informed care practices across organizations, and employee and healthcare provider burnout and resiliency. Dr. Morris is also a PSYPACT provider and able to provide Telehealth services across multiple states.

She has served as a member of several committees dedicated to equity throughout her career. She is currently the Early Career Psychologist (ECP) and Graduate Student Representative on the Board of Directors of the Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12 and Section 10) of APA. Through this role, she acts as a liaison between the Board of Directors of Division 12 and Section 10 to ensure the unique needs of graduate students and ECPs are addressed.

Dr. Courtland Hyatt

Dr. Hyatt is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine. He earned his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, and completed his clinical internship and post-doctoral fellowship at VA Puget Sound in Seattle, WA. Dr. Hyatt strives to deliver psychotherapy that is evidence-based, warm, compassionate and supportive of the values expressed by his patients. His research interests include aggression, personality, and PTSD, and he is a strong advocate for open science principles and practices.

Dr. Arthur M. Nezu

Art Nezu is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice and Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Drexel University. He is the recipient of two Lifetime Achievement Awards, an honorary doctoral degree, and multiple additional honors including Division 12’s Florence Halpern Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Clinical Psychology. In addition, the American Board of Professional Psychology created an annual award bearing his name for doctoral dissertations focused on issues of diversity. He was previously editor of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Associate Editor of the American Psychologist, a member of APA’s Board of Scientific Affairs, and a member of the following APA committees: the task force to revise the 7th edition of the Publication Manual; the Clinical Practice Guideline Development Panel for the Treatment of Depressive Disorders across the Lifespan; and the task force to revise the Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) for Quantitative Research.