Spencer Biel, PsyD, is the director of the Online Intensive Outpatient Program for college students and emerging adults in Massachusetts. He is also in private practice in Chicago, where he is a clinical supervisor and treats adolescents, adults, couples, and families. Dr. Biel has published and presented on psychological testing, suicidality, therapeutic communities, and psychodynamic systems approaches to treatment. Currently, he is investigating uses and misuses of hope in psychotherapy.

M. Dolores Cimini, PhD, is a New York State licensed psychologist and director of the Center for Behavioral Health Promotion and Applied Research at the University at Albany, SUNY. She has also served as the director of the nationally recognized Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program from 1992-2022. Dr. Cimini has led comprehensive efforts in research-to-practice translation at the University at Albany for the past 30 years with over $15 Million in federal, state, and foundation grants. The screening and brief intervention program developed by Dr. Cimini, the STEPS Comprehensive Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Program, has earned 13 national awards for innovation in behavioral health care. Dr. Cimini has co-edited two books, including a volume focused on college student health and well-being entitled Promoting Behavioral Health and reducing Risk Among College Students: A Comprehensive Approach (2018) and Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment for Substance Use: A Practitioner’s Guide (2020).

Megan Cusick Brix, PhD, is the assistant director for Peer Services and a licensed psychologist at University at Albany (UAlbany) Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). In this role, Dr. Cusick Brix serves as director of the Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program, one of the nation’s longest running university peer education and support programs. Middle Earth provides telephone support, peer outreach, and peer wellness coaching to undergraduate students and community members at UAlbany and beyond. She supervises three predoctoral interns, a senior graduate assistant, and approximately 120 undergraduate peer helpers. Dr. Cusick Brix also serves as the instructor of record for six credit-bearing undergraduate peer counseling and education courses through UAlbany’s School of Education. In addition to her work in Middle Earth, Dr. Cusick Brix supervises professional staff at CAPS in her administrative role, provides clinical and consultative services to UAlbany students, and works specifically with the UAlbany Athletics Department and University Police Department to enhance their work with students. She earned her master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling and PhD in Counseling Psychology at University Albany, SUNY.

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