While all UHS counselors have training and experience working with LGBTQIA+ students, sometimes it’s important to know your counselor is queer-identified.
Transgender Care Team
The Transgender Care Team consists of counselors and medical providers with expertise in trans and gender-diverse student concerns who provide counseling, hormones, and help to access surgery.
Group Counseling
- BIPOC Queer Womxn's Support Circle
- Gender Support Group
- LGBTQIA+ Support Group
Visit our Group Counseling page for more information.
Let's Talk Drop-In Consultations
Let's Talk Drop-In Consultations are informal, brief, free consultations with UHS mental health counselors. They do not require any insurance or paperwork.
 Laura Alie, PsyD(510) 642-9494 she/they |
Laura Alie (she/they) was a CAPS postdoctoral fellow in 2012 and hired as a staff psychologist in 2013. Laura received a BS in psychology from Texas Woman’s University, where she was an intercollegiate athlete and a doctorate in psychology from John F. Kennedy University. Laura helped found the UHS Transgender Care Team, is a past chair and continues to provide clinical care for the team. They received the Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award in 2018 for their work with queer and TGD communities, and in 2021 for work with the Transgender Care Team. Laura’s work outside of UHS includes having held multiple roles during their career in the American Psychological Association’s Division 44 (LGBTQ+ Psychology). In 2019 Laura joined the CAPS management team as the Assistant Director of High-Risk Programs. She currently Co-Chairs the Comprehensive/Intensive Care Team, which is creating a new service model in CAPS for students with severe mental health concerns. In addition, Laura is the lead for the CAPS Strategic Initiatives Team. Before becoming a psychologist Laura had a fulfilling career as an organic farmer. Laura still enjoys growing food and raising bees in their backyard garden and loves spending time with family and friends in the outdoors. Laura’s dog, Charlie, always comes along! Clinical Interests: gender identity development, multicultural identity development, post-hospitalization care, psychosis, first-generation college student concerns, crisis response, and creating clinical systems that reduce barriers to care. |
 Elizabeth Aranda, PhD(510) 664-9124 she/her/hers |
Elizabeth Aranda joined the UHS CAPS team in 2015. She completed her undergraduate education at The University of Texas at Austin and her master's and Ph.D. degrees in psychology at Texas Woman’s University. Dr. Aranda currently serves as the Wellness Coordinator for the Multicultural Community Center and bridges Multicultural Resource Center where she engages in culturally informed therapy that utilizes a holistic and decolonized lens. In 2018, Dr. Aranda received the Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award at UC Berkeley for her dedicated service to the campus community, and in 2016 and 2020 she was honored with Presidential Citation(s) from the National Latinx Psychological Association for her leadership-centering sexual and gender diverse Latinx persons. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading tarot cards, and creating new traditions with her wife. Dr. Aranda is committed to addressing healing and wellness within queer communities of color. Her clinical focuses within these communities include academic performance, anxiety, coping skills, family issues (challenges), identity development (race/ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and spiritual), “people-pleasing," relationship concerns, and stress management. |
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Monica Becerra, PhD(510) 642-9494 she/they/ella |
Monica Becerra received her Ph.D. and MA in Counseling Psychology at Southern Illinois University. She received her BA in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California Irvine. Monica’s clinical interests include strength-based and resilience approaches, multicultural/intersectional trauma, social justice-informed work, substance use, Latinx mental health, self-esteem, holistic healing, Spanglish counseling, and family origin concerns. Monica also likes to work with first-generation, QBIPOC, DACA, transfer, and graduate students. She completed her internship training at the University of Oregon. Meanwhile, Monica received practicum training at Gateway Foundation, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center; The Women’s Center for victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault; and C.A.S.E., a career, academic, and self-exploration center in which she also served as a coordinator. |
 Sasha Blum, PsyD(510) 642-9494 she/her/hers |
Sasha Blum started her career at CAPS as a postdoctoral fellow in 2002. After spending three years in private practice, she joined CAPS as a staff psychologist in 2006. Sasha received her bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Florida and her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Akron. From 2006-2016 she served as the psychologist for the Incentive Awards Program, a scholarship program for first-generation, low-income, underrepresented students. Since 2016, Sasha has served the general student population, providing both individual and group services. She has also been active in the training program and served for one year as the Interim Postdoctoral Training Coordinator. Sasha enjoys running, racing, and spending time with her friends and five children. Clinical Interests: Consensual non-monogamy and polyamory, sex-positive subcultures (eg., the kink community), identity development, and first-generation and low-income college students. |
 Kin Ming Chan, PhD(510) 642-9494 he/him/his |
Kin Ming Chan, PhD, joined CAPS in 2009. He received his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Western Michigan University. His main roles in CAPS are providing counseling services for students, offering drop-in consultations, running counseling groups, and providing supervision to training staff. He is bilingual in English and Cantonese. Clinical interests: multicultural issues, LGBTQ issues, mindfulness, unconditional self-love, and self-empowerment. Additional Languages: Cantonese |
 Carrie Guthrie, LCSW(510) 642-9494 she/her/hers |
Carrie Guthrie, LCSW, (she/her/hers) joined UHS in 2007. She completed her BA in Psychology and Anthropology at UC Berkeley and her AM in Clinical Social Work at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. After completing a postgraduate fellowship at CAPS, she worked in community mental health for 7 years in San Mateo County in an outpatient adult psychiatric clinic. During that time, she completed comprehensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and post-graduate study in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Carrie returned to CAPS as the Hospital Coordinator working with students hospitalized for mental health concerns and providing general counseling services. Concurrently, Carrie worked as a foster care/adoption home study social worker. In 2015 she moved into a management role as the Assistant Director of Community Resource Development and High Risk Programs. Carrie transitioned to the role of Interim Clinical Director in 2017 and became the permanent Clinical Director in 2019. When not working, Carrie enjoys spending time with her family and friends, hiking, biking, playing music, gardening, and cooking. Clinical interests: Affect regulation, mood and anxiety disorders, trauma, young adult development, family of origin issues, relationships, multicultural counseling and intersecting identities, mindfulness, LGBTQIA+ support, and identity development, mental illness early intervention and recovery, first-generation students, transfer students, student parents, clinical operations and administration, clinical supervision and consultation. |
 Shanta Jambotkar, LCSW(510) 642-6074 she/they |
Shanta Jambotkar, LCSW, has worked at UHS Social Services since 2016. She self-identifies as a South Asian American, queer, cis-woman of color. Her social work education at the University of Michigan is blended with clinical training about body, mind, and spirit healing after trauma. Shanta is a social worker, psychotherapist, educator, and organizational consultant. A primary focus of her practice is to decolonize wellness by creating community and accessibility to healing for BIPOC. Her services are holistic, cultural, and indigenous informed to support communities experiencing intersectionality, and queer and trans people enduring adversity. Shanta is honored to witness and support students to access material resources, build self-awareness and insight, and find pathways toward calm, purpose, and joy. Clinical interests: Healing after trauma, sexual and intimate partner violence survivors, and queer, immigrant, communities of color. |
 Amber Jaiza Jones, LCSW(510) 643-2893 they/she |
A. Jaiza Jones (they/she) joined the CAPS team in 2019. They completed their undergraduate education at Wesleyan University with a dual honors degree in Anthropology and African American Studies and received their master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. They went on to complete a post-graduate fellowship with the Yale School of Medicine Child Study Center. Jaiza has over 10 years of experience providing individual, group, and family therapy for historically marginalized and underserved communities. Jaiza’s approach to clinical work is grounded in collective liberatory and social justice frameworks that consider an individual’s lived experience within their sociopolitical, cultural, and environmental context. Their practice is relational, strengths-based, and client-centered. It's informed by psychodynamic, feminist relational, family systems, mindfulness-based, trauma-informed, and cognitive behavioral therapies. Additionally, Jaiza has spent many years cultivating a mindfulness meditation practice and enjoys considering the importance that spirituality and connectedness can have as part of our collective well-being. In their free time, Jaiza rests and restores by reading (especially young adult science fiction), hiking, learning to play the ukulele, and dancing. |
 Tiffany Hsiang Lin, LCSW510) 642-9494 she/her/hers |
Tiffany Hsiang Lin first joined UC Berkeley as a student, receiving her BA in Ethnic Studies and Sociology. She then went on to earn her master's degrees in Social Work at Columbia University and Social Science at the University of Chicago. Tiffany returned to UC Berkeley in 2015 as the first dedicated Confidential Advocate at the PATH to Care Center and later joined Counseling and Psychological Services in 2019. Currently, Tiffany serves as the designated counselor for the CAPS satellite office at the School of Social Welfare. She's also part of the UHS Transgender Care Team. In her spare time, Tiffany enjoys knitting, cooking, jigsaw puzzles, and video/board games. Clinical interests: trauma (EMDR trained), sexual/intimate partner violence, LGBTQ care, vicarious trauma and burnout, identity development, family systems, social justice, and multicultural/intersectional counseling. |
 Tobirus Newby, LCSW(510) 642-6074 he/they |
Tobirus M. Newby is a licensed clinical social worker and the manager of the UHS Social Services department. Over the past 17 years, Tobirus has worked in the field of violence prevention and intervention by supporting the healing journeys of survivors and by educating and fostering change with those who have caused harm in their relationships and communities. In addition, he is an educator at UC Berkeley Extension and the University of San Francisco and has a private consulting practice through which he provides organizational equity and inclusion services. A quote that guides his life and his practice comes from James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Clinical interests: Transgender Care Team, alcohol and other drugs counseling, spirituality and intersectionality, LGBTQ+ issues. |
 Diana Peña, PhD(510) 664-7483 she/they |
Diana Peña (she/they), received their PhD as a first-generation college student from the University of Oregon and joined the CAPS team in 2013. Diana coordinates the Undocumented Student Program’s mental health services at UC Berkeley, providing counseling support to undocumented students and consultation with the campus at large. As a queer Chicanx psychologist who applies Liberation Psychology and Social Justice frameworks to practice, their areas of focus include undocumented student resilience, LGBTQ-affirming therapy, spirituality, and somatic/body-centered healing. Diana stands on the shoulders of her Mexican immigrant parents and is committed to decolonizing mental health practices in the service of Black, Indigenous, Undocumented, and POC communities. Clinical interests: Immigrant and undocumented student mental health, QTPOC-affirmative therapy, spirituality, Latinx family health, grief and loss, chronic health conditions, mindfulness-based stress reduction. Additional Languages: Spanish |
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Emily Taplin, LCSWshe/they |
Emily graduated from UC Berkeley’s MSW program in 2011. Before joining CAPS in 2022, she worked in a variety of roles, with a focus on community mental health, complex care coordination, palliative and hospice care, and supporting LGBTQIA+ people and families. |
 Darius Taylor, MSW, ASW(510) 642-6074 he/him/his |
Darius Taylor received his BA in Professional Studies in Psychology (with a concentration in Mindfulness, Meditation, and Relaxation) from Roosevelt University and his MSW (with a Mental Health Specialization and focus on Substance Use and Addiction) from Loyola University Chicago. Before joining UHS, Darius worked at a dual-diagnosis substance use and mental health treatment facility in Chicago facilitating groups and doing individual therapy with clients. Before that, he worked at Catholic Charities in Refugee Resettlement as a case manager. Darius is a fitness enthusiast and enjoys lifting, running, and biking weekly. He loves reading academic literature around psychology, spirituality, health, and wealth building, and science-fiction and supernatural young adult fiction are my favorite genres for pleasure. His favorite podcasts at the moment are Decolonize Social Work, Today Explained, and The Daily. Clinical Interests: Harm reduction therapy, alcohol and other drugs counseling, multicultural/intersecting identity issues, LGBTQ+ issues, body dysmorphia, and eating disorders. |
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Robin Walley, LCSW(510) 642-6074 she/her/hers |
Robin Walley, LCSW, joined the Social Services team in 2003. She received her MSW from UC Berkeley and her BA in Psychology from Pomona College. As the alcohol and other drug counseling team lead, Robin has been a steadfast advocate for a cross-UHS harm reduction orientation and motivational interviewing-informed practice, which has impacted the language used at UHS to talk about alcohol and other drugs, the services provided to students, and how UHS collaborates with campus and community partners.
Clinical interests: Alcohol and other drug harm reduction, LGBTQ+ identity, polyamory and consensual non-monogamy, kink/BDSM, self-injury, sexual and racial identity development, and identity intersectionality. |
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Hez Wollin LCSW joined Social Services and focuses on AOD and Trauma. Hez received their MSW from Smith College School for Social Work. Hez is also in the process of becoming a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. They have many years of experience working with LGB and transgender communities and have led trainings on providing gender-affirming care for mental health providers. Hez was formerly an adjunct instructor at the University of Washington School of Social Work and a clinician at UCSF Alliance Health Project. Hez aims to provide trauma-informed, holistic, embodied support while holding a decolonizing lens. Clinical Interests: relational-cultural therapy, healing from PTSD and complex trauma, attachment, somatics, LGBTQ+ and gender-affirming care, perinatal mental health, undocumented communities, harm reduction, intersections of identity, and mental health/substance use. In their spare time, Hez enjoys reading fiction, making pottery, riding their bike, and running around after their toddler. Additional languages spoken: Spanish |
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Angelica Yi, MSW, ASW, is a 1st year Post-MSW Clinical Social Work Fellow. She received her MSW from Cal State LA and a BA in Gender Studies from UCLA. Angelica’s clinical interests include decolonizing therapy, strengths-based therapy, harm-reduction therapy, intersectional/multicultural counseling, LGBTQ+ identity, and related concerns, API/Asian American identity, disordered eating/eating disorders, body image, self-compassion, religion and spirituality (particularly Christian faith), perfectionism, self-care, and mindfulness. She has worked as a mental health counselor at a middle school in East LA and as an adult outpatient clinician within the Department of Mental Health in LA County. |
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KG Gehrich (she/her), received her MSW from the University of Montana, her MA in Intercultural Youth and Family Development from the University of Montana, and her BA in Psychology from Ohio University. |
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Denise Goitia joined UHS in 2020 as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She was previously working for the University of Massachusetts Amherst at the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health. Denise received her BA in Anthropology from Georgetown University and her MSW from Smith College. She has a background in massage, holistic health, and herbalism. She loves supporting local farms, hiking, cooking, and riding her bike. Clinical Interests: Trauma and resilience (EMDR trained), somatic and spiritual work, internal family systems/integrating parts work, person in community, holistic approaches including mindfulness practices, LGBTQIA+ support, anti-racism, and cultural humility, international students including undocumented and refugee/asylees, couples and families, graduate students, transfer students, non-traditional aged students, feminist theory, and identity development. Additional Languages: Spanish |
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