Meet Our Staff and Therapists
The Mental Health and Wellness Center is staffed by therapists from Bay Area Clinical Psychology Ph.D. and Psy.D. programs. These practicum interns are supervised by William Firmender, Ph.D.
Suzanna Ramirez, Administrative Assistant (she/her)
Available: Summer| Monday - Thursday 9am- 5pm |
Suzanna is the administrative assistant of the Mental Health and Wellness Center at De Anza College, where she is also a proud
alumni. She has an associate degree in Liberal Arts - Social & Behavioral Science
Emphasis, as well as an Associate in Communication Studies for transfer. Suzanna looks
forward to continuing her education to receive a bachelor’s degree in communication studies. She is passionate about helping her community
and providing support to students in need. Her dedication started in 2012 helping
low income students within after school programs creating a safe space for them. Suzanna
started working a temp position for MHWC at De Anza in 2019, which led her to a full
time position. Her devotion is making resources available to her team and students
about mental health. She is a proud fur mom to a maltipoo named Mela, who she adores.
Suzanna is an outstanding employee who is compassionate and empathetic to her students
and staff.
William Firmender, Ph.D. (he/him) - Director
Available: Summer|Monday through Thursday |
Dr. Firmender is a licensed psychologist and the Director of the Mental Health and
Wellness Center at De Anza College. He moved to California after spending his childhood,
adolescence, and early adult years in South Carolina, Washington, D.C., and New York
City. His clinical and research interests include diversity and community mental
health, public policy, program development and evaluation, and therapeutic sports
interventions. He has a great deal of experience helping clients deal with stressful
life transitions. Using a combination of humanistic, behavioral, and attachment approaches
to psychotherapy, he aims to help clients feel comfortable with themselves, feel less
self-critical, and feel capable of making and maintaining meaningful life changes.
Such changes are based on substantive collaboration with clients to create tangible,
realistic, and attainable goals.
Kimberly “Kim” Lee, Psy.D. (she/her) – Clinical Training Coordinator
Available: Summer|Wednesday & Thursday|
![KImberly - PTF 2022](/mhwc/images/KL-7.jpg)
Dr. Lee was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. After she graduated from the Doctor of Clinical Psychology program at NU's JFK School of Psychology, she joined the Mental Health and Wellness Center at De Anza College as their Clinical Training Coordinator. Dr. Lee provides culturally responsive, strength-based, and trauma-focused treatment for various clinical issues including but not limited to trauma, anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, acculturation difficulties, cultural discrimination, multigenerational differences/individuation, as well as family and relationship stress. Dr. Lee is passionate about increasing accessibility to mental health services and promoting social justice for discriminated, stereotyped, or marginalized communities. Outside the therapy context, Dr. Lee is also passionate about researching the benefits of animals in mental health treatment, as well as promoting animal rights. Along with her service animal, Roxy, Dr. Lee is working to break stereotypes and change the presumptions made about people with invisible disabilities and services animals.
Anita Vazifdar, MMFT, LMFT #110606 (she/her)
Available:* Unavailable during Summer, 2024
Anita is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She holds a Masters of Marriage
and Family Therapy from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Arts
in International Studies from University of Wisconsin – Madison. Anita is passionate
about empowering young adults to find their authentic selves, increase self-esteem,
and build coping skills to overcome life’s difficulties. As a bi-cultural individual,
she understands the significance of cultural identity, & works from a client-centered
approach to create a strong and compassionate alliance with her clients. She works
with individuals to develop their unique cultural identities and make sense of the
world and society around them.
Much of her experience has focused on working with young adults transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. She fosters a supportive environment for young adults to explore the difficulties that surface during this challenging phase of life. In her own life she has seen the significant impact of a mindfulness practice and utilizes this approach in her work to promote emotional regulation and emphasize the importance of living more fervently in the present moment. Anita is trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, which is an evidence-based practice that incorporates mindfulness techniques with other coping skills to ease emotional distress, increase interpersonal effectiveness, and increase emotional well-being. Specialties: Individual and group psychotherapy; creating coping skills for anxiety, depression, and trauma; working with college-age young adults to overcome life-transition obstacles; women’s empowerment; and supporting individuals with disabilities.
Brian Lippincott, Ph.D. (he/him)
Available: For supervision only* No Summer
Brian Lippincott Ph.D is a Psychologist and Supervisor for the Mental Health and Wellness
Center at De Anza College. Dr. Lippincott earned his Bachelor’s degree from Saint
Mary’s College of California in 1978 in the Integral Curriculum of the Liberal Arts
which is a Great Books program. He immediately went on to John F Kennedy University
to earn his Master’s degree in Psychology in 1981 and eventually matriculated to Pacifica
Graduate Institute where he earned his doctorate degree in 1992 with a specialization
in depth psychology. Dr. Lippincott is both a licensed marriage family therapist and
licensed clinical psychologist in the state of California. He has had a private practice
since 1985. Dr. Lippincott returned to John F Kennedy University in 1992 and has been
a faculty since then teaching every quarter in either the masters in psychology program
for MFT, LPCC program or in the PsyD program.Dr. Lippincott has taught a wide variety
of classes ranging from clinical case seminar, group process and other clinical classes
to research and advanced research. Dr. Lippincott spent 20 years working in community
mental health where he was the supervisor of the transition age youth program for
Monterey County which dealt with first episode psychosis. In 2013 Dr. Lippincott founded
the Center for Humanistic Development, a training center in Aptos, Watsonville and
Salinas California, which trains practicum students and interns in Humanistic psychology
and Creative Depth Psychology (CDP.) CDP embraces the ideas of Jung and others regarding
the depth of the human spirit and has a holistic approach. It also involves depth
perception in the outer world and is a community-based psychology aligned with the
work of Michael White and David Epston in Narrative therapy.
Derrick E Felton, MSW, MPA, MBA (he/him)
Available: Summer|Monday|
Mr. Felton is an Army Veteran and originally hails from Mississippi. Previously, he
has worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs Readjustment Counseling Services.
He is currently a part-time faculty member with the Social Sciences & Humanities Division,
teaching Psychology Classes, as well as being the Veteran Liaison Social Worker with Vitas Healthcare. Mr. Felton has experience in trauma, depression, and anxiety. He has run several men’s
groups, covering numerous relevant topics, and offers a mindful approach to coping
strategies. Mr. Felton recently joined the Mental Health and Wellness Center in Spring 2020.
Jakob Hopper,M.S. (he/him)
Available: Summer|Monday & Tuesday|
Jakob graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology
and is currently a fifth-year Ph.D. student at Palo Alto University. He has experience
practicing as a student therapist at a specialty clinic that offered affordable and
affirming psychological services for LGBTQ+ individuals. He is pursuing a career focused
broadly on community mental health, with a particular emphasis on work with LGBTQ+
folks and people struggling with various forms of trauma. However, he has past experience
working with a variety of people and is more than happy to work with individuals outside
of these specific areas. Beyond that, when not in the therapy room, he can often be
found working on a research project for a neuropsychology lab or potentially playing
video games to scratch his gamer itch.
Anagha Surendra, B.A. (she/her)
Available:* Unavailable during Summer, 2024
Anagha graduated from The University of Tampa with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
and is currently a third-year Ph.D. student at Palo Alto University. She spent her
youth growing up in NYC, then Florida for college, and now resides in California.
As a South-Indian American, she is passionate about furthering research on Asian American
mental health. She recently completed a year of clinical training at the Gronowski
Center, where she specialized in trauma-informed care for transitional-aged youths,
college students, adults, and older adults. Anagha has experience and skills in providing
culturally sensitive, trauma-informed, and compassion-based therapy. She has experience
working with substance use disorders, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other trauma-related
issues. Her passion is to work with underserved communities and aims to fill the gaps
in accessibility to crisis care and services. Her therapeutic style recognizes that
mental health is unique to the individual and will work with her clients to find a
treatment plan and form of therapy that works for them. Currently, she is versed in
compassion-focused/humanistic, mindfulness, cognitive behavioral, and culturally sensitive
therapy. In her free time, she can be found binging the latest anime, playing games,
or baking a sweet treat.
Cyrus Chang, M.S. (he/him)
Available:* Unavailable during Summer, 2024
Cyrus is a Bay Area native and received his education at Palo Alto University (PAU).
He obtained his BS and MS and is currently a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Clinical
Psychology at Palo Alto University. He values the importance of self-discovery in
a safe and nonjudgmental space. Cyrus explores evidence-based practices to understand
what works best with clients’ needs. He believes that treating individuals with kindness
is essential to the human experience. In his free time, he enjoys playing tabletop
games and video games. Cyrus also explores the area to try out new tea stores and
restaurants. He is excited to return to De Anza because his educational journey began
here.
Vivian (Runze) Chen, M.S. (she/her)
Available:* Unavailable during Summer, 2024
Vivian is a third-year Clinical Psychology PsyD student from the PGSP-Stanford PsyD consortium. She earned her B.S. in Clinical and Community Psychology with minors in Communication and Business from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received her M.S. from PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium. Vivian has experience working with sexual and gender minorities, ethnic and racial minorities, trauma, anxiety disorders, and the transitional stage age group (16-24 years old).
Vivian comes from Beijing, China. Her bi-cultural and bilingual background uniquely positions her to connect with individuals from diverse backgrounds while remaining sensitive to cultural experiences. She is dedicated to serving underrepresented populations, particularly Asians and those of Chinese descent, by providing culturally tailored services. Vivian is also passionate about supporting adolescents and young adults facing academic challenges, interpersonal difficulties, adjustment problems, depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns.
In her free time, Vivian enjoys rock climbing, traveling, cooking, watching shows, and cherishing quality time with family and friends.