Board of Governors
These are your elected officers, serving the European Branch of the American Counseling Association.
President
Charles E. Myers, Ph.D.
Dr. Myers, Missouri Stata University Professor of Counseling, has served in several leadership roles, including President for North Central Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) and Elementary Vice-President of Florida Counseling Association. Dr. Myers has served on many committees, including ACES’s Governing Council, International Association for Resilience and Trauma Counseling Advocacy Committee, and Association for Play Therapy Ethics and Practice Committee. His international involvement includes presenting AB-ACA, Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, and International Conference; providing counseling in Haiti; and teaching on Torrejón Air Base in Spain. He specializes in trauma and expressive and experiential interventions in counseling.
President - Elect
Rhonda Neswald, Ph.D.
Dr. Neswald is a Counselor Educator, an Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) and practicing Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) with extensive background in clinical supervision. Dr. Neswald operates from an integrated Existential and Jungian foundation, employing experiential modalities such as Expressive Arts, EMDR, breathwork, and visualizations as part of the process. Her professional interests include Expressive Arts supervision, working with Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma, and the integration of Yoga Psychology with counseling.
Immediate Past President
Benton Johnson II, Ph.D.
Dr. Benton Johnson II is Core Faculty at Walden University in the School of Counseling & the Administrator’s cultural humility group co-chair. He is Founder of Ephphatha Consulting Services, Inc., Chicago & Moline, IL. providing counseling using sign language & serving children with autism. He does business inclusion & diversity consultations worldwide & served as the Board Chair of Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences; Illinois Counseling Association’s (ICA) division for Assessment and Research in Counseling while being the Chair of ICA Diversity in Leadership Task Force and a member of European Association of Psychological Assessment.
Secretary
Tiffany Hauptman, M.S.
Tiffany Hauptman is a Licensed Professional Counselor in NJ. She currently owns a virtual private practice, works part-time as an Intensive In-Community provider for families in crisis, and is also a part-time clinical counselor with students attending public schools in NJ. Her areas of focus are trauma, anxiety, and grief and she enjoys providing psycho-education in all of these topics to help others understand themselves my clearly. Tiffany is currently an active board member and is excited to help further the EB-ACA's mission and purpose.
Treasurer
Open
Board of Governor's Member
Jennifer M. Cook, Ph.D., LPC, NCC. ACS
Jennifer M. Cook, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Cook is multiculturally focused counselor educator who utilizes strength-based methods, culturally relevant practices, and social justice advocacy. Her research focuses on disability and addictions, and economic disparities, integrating sociocultural identities. Dr. Cook has published extensively, completed over 40 national and international peer-reviewed presentations, and recently published a multicultural counseling textbook.
Board of Governor's Member
Vanessa Wilkinson, M.S., LPC, LCPC
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Board of Governor's Member
Alessandra Sax, Ed. D., LCSW
Alessandra Sax holds a Bachelor's in Psychology and Child Development from Hampshire College (USA) and a Clinical Master’s from New York University (USA). She earned a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology and Supervision at Argosy University (USA). With over 25 years of private practice as a licensed psychotherapist, she specializes in care for children, adolescents, and adults. She served as a counselor and psychologist at the American Community Schools of Athens (ACS) from 2006-2019 and coordinated the Psychology Intern Program. Between 2017-2022, she co-founded and directed the Learning and Wellness Center, and from 2019-2023, she led the Psychology Department and University Counseling Center at Hellenic American University. An Associate Professor of Psychology, she has published extensively, reviewed for academic journals, and presented internationally. Currently, she is a part-time Associate Professor of Psychology at the American College of Greece.
Board of Governor's Member
Claudette A. Brown-Smythe, Ph.D., LMHC, ACS, NCC,
Claudette A. Brown-Smythe is an Associate Professor and Clinical Coordinator in the Department of Counselor Education at the State University of New York at Brockport. She also serves as the Chapter Faculty Advisor for the Nu Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota International. She is a passionate educator, counselor, supervisor, and advocate who demonstrates cultural humility and employs culturally relevant practices. Her research, publications, and presentations focus on college students’ development, wellness, self-care, and cultural issues, particularly loneliness, spirituality, immigration, and their impact on individual well-being.
Her professional identity as a counselor is evident through her involvement in various professional counseling organizations at the national, regional, and local levels. She is a member of the American Counseling Association (ACA), the Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors (ACES), the North Atlantic Regional Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors (NARACES), the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC), and the Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC). Dr. Brown-Smythe has taken on leadership roles within the profession, including serving a three-year term as president/chair (president/chair-elect, president/chair, past president/chair) in organizations such as ACA-NY and NAR-ACA. She has also served as secretary for NARACES and as a former board member of ASERVIC. Dr. Brown-Smythe is the vice chair of the ACA Governance and Board Operations Committee, the chair of the EB-ACA International Committee, and a reviewer for the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health.