School of Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Alonso is a Faculty Mentor for the School of Behavioral Sciences. She is an accomplished educator and has held leadership positions in higher education. Prior to joining California Southern University, Dr. Alonso was the Director of Clinical Training for the Psy.D. Program, Director of the Goodman Psychological Services Center, Associate Professor for Albizu University inMiami, and has taught in higher education since 1996. Dr. Alonso worked for 15 years in community mental health centers and private practice. While in community mental health, she served as the clinical supervisor in the children & adolescent unit, was part of the executive leadership, coordinator of the comprehensive community services team, and the leader of change for her agency.
Dr. Alonso’s leadership experience in the field includes serving from 2017-2019 on the American Psychological Association's Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest and is currently a Site Visitor and Chairperson for Doctoral Programs and Internship Programs for the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation.
Dr. Alonso presented in 2018 at the National Council for Schools of Professional Psychology (NCSPP) and at the 2019's Southern Organization for Human Services Annual Conference on Training Students to be Culturally Competent Regarding Religion and Spiritual Diversity. In 2022, Dr. Alonso was the Templeton Foundation Grant recipient on Spiritual Competency Training in Mental Health for Graduate Students. Her research interests include the psychology of religion and spirituality, ethics, multicultural psychology, and trauma.
Dr. Alonso was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Miami Institute of Psychology (1994), followed by a Master’s (1996), and Doctoral Degree (1999) in Clinical Psychology. She has been a licensed clinical psychologist in the State of Florida since 2001.