Meet Our Staff
Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) at UC Santa Cruz is a part-centralized, part-decentralized service, with professionally trained master's- and doctoral-level clinicians located in our central counseling office within the Cowell Student Health Center complex, as well as in various locations across campus. Our staff members come from diverse backgrounds and have a special interest in and experience with helping students explore a wide range of issues. We offer a variety of mental health and wellness services to UCSC students and the broader UCSC community.
Please note that while some of us have particular areas of specialization, all of us at CAPS recognize the social pressures and cultural factors that affect different groups in unique ways. We have been trained in aspects of multicultural counseling, including working with LGBTQIA+ students, addressing rape and sexual abuse, and supporting students with disabilities. CAPS staff also engage in ongoing mandatory and voluntary continuing education to further enhance their skills as mental health professionals.
The following is a list of our staff members and their locations. Note that we do not provide drop-in counseling, so if you are interested in finding out about and/or starting services with CAPS, please stop by our central office or call us during business hours at (831) 459-2628. You can also find more information about our services on our Counseling Services, Psychiatry, and Groups & Workshops web pages.
- Title
- Doctoral Psychology Intern
- Division Student Affairs and Success
- Department
- Counseling & Psychological Services
- Student Health Center
- Mail Stop CAPS
Summary of Expertise
James takes a cognitive-behavioral (CBT) approach to therapy as well as incorporating dialectical-behavioral (DBT) and acceptance and commitment (ACT) interventions. James also is interested in using a multicultural and social justice approach to therapy and is interested in working with the LGBTQ+ population as well as other populations who have been marginalized and discriminated by society. James is interested in working with individuals experiencing anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and providing trauma-informed care to those who have experienced trauma and complex trauma.
Biography, Education and Training
James is a white, gay, cisgender male-identified doctoral intern and attends Alliant International University, Emeryville. He earned his B.A. in psychology at Chico State for his undergraduate degree and during this time had an internship at the Counseling and Wellness Center where he did outreach and classroom presentations on the importance of taking care of mental health while in an academic setting. He has had experience working in community mental health settings providing individual, couples, family, and group therapy to underserved, low-income populations as well as those diagnosed with serious mental illness.
