Academic & Staff Assistance Program (ASAP)

805.893.3318
kai.morquecho@hr.ucsb.edu

Pronouns: They/El/Ellos

Kai Morquecho is a recent UCSB graduate, having obtained a BA in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Comparative Literature. During their four undergraduate years at UCSB, Kai served as a Writing Tutor, a mentor liaison for the Undergraduate Program, and a Co-Chair for the Environmental Justice Alliance. As a senior mentor liaison, Kai directed students to the appropriate UCSB resources and administered a mentoring curriculum for personal and academic success under Dr. Virginia Beaufort. As a writing tutor, Kai helped create a lasting impact on domestic and international students' writing skills. Lastly, Kai served as a leader for the Environmental Justice Alliance, co-managing a large budget dedicated to community outreach and student engagement around environmental justice. 

Born and raised in Mexico up until the age of 12, Kai is bilingual (Spanish speaking) and firmly committed to bridging the communication and resource access gaps experienced by Latinx immigrants and Spanish speaking people of color in general. Furthermore, as a transgender person of color, Kai aims to use their administrative knowledge and skills to help ensure that all individuals, regardless of their social and personal identities, have access to all that they need to live a rich, empowered life as it pertains to UCSB. 

In their freetime, Kai enjoys painting and writing poetry, trying new restaurants with their mother, and taking their feline best friend, "Kylo", on walks. After working at a pet emergency room, Kai has also started using their spare time to build relationships with stray cats to rescue them and find them a home. 

805.893.4477
pati.montojo@hr.ucsb.edu

Pronouns:  she/her/hers/ella

Dr. Pati Montojo is a licensed psychologist in California.  As a bicultural and bilingual Spanish-speaking Latina, she is committed to providing culturally sensitive clinical and consultation services and interventions.  Pati’s interests are driven by her personal experiences and professional training in her doctoral studies at UCSB.

Pati is originally from the Bay Area where she obtained her Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University.  She subsequently earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (CCSP) at UCSB.  She completed her pre-doctoral fellowship at the APA accredited Albany Psychology Internship Consortium consisting of the Albany Medical College/Albany Medical Center, the Capital District Psychiatric Center, and the Samuel S. Stratton VA Medical Center in New York.  Pati completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Child Trauma Research Program at the University of California San Francisco and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.  Pati was an adjunct faculty member and clinical supervisor at Palo Alto University from 2015-2017.  She returned to UCSB as a Licensed Psychologist in Human Resources in 2018 where she received training and experience in organizational management and development.  She obtained her current role in December 2019.  Pati looks forward to collaborating with individuals and departments across campus.

805.893.4358
melissa.cordero@hr.ucsb.edu

Pronouns:  she/her/hers/ella

Dr. Melissa Cordero is a bilingual, Spanish-speaking psychologist and certified yoga teacher. As a bicultural Latina therapist, she is committed to providing culturally sensitive consultation, treatment, and workshops for faculty and staff.

Dr. Cordero is originally from Los Angeles and received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Harbor UCLA, specializing in trauma and working with underserved populations. She was initially hired under the Department of Education grant to restore the campus climate after the Isla Vista tragedy. She initiated programs at UCSB CAPS focused on healing the body through non-verbal trauma therapies, such as Yoga as Healing, Healing with the Beat of a Different Drum, and Healing with Yoga and Sound.

Dr. Cordero specializes in working with underrepresented individuals impacted by racism, discrimination, interpersonal, complex, and collective trauma, as well as multicultural, spirituality, LGBTQ+, and other diversity issues that may present themselves in the workplace. Her current work focuses on applying alternative treatment approaches to various challenges that can impact staff and faculty. She looks forward to serving our campus community.

805.893.3318

damaris.garciavalerio@hr.ucsb.edu

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Damaris Garcia was born in Mexico and grew up in Los Angeles in an immigrant community. Growing up in her community inspired her to pursue working in the mental health field with an emphasis in immigrant populations. She is currently a third-year student in the Counseling, Clinical, & School Psychology Program (CCSP). Damaris has worked with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) for the past two years as a mental health peer for graduate and undocumented student communities. As an immigrant herself she strives to work with immigrant communities to provide culturally congruent mental health services and bilingual therapy. She is excited to join the ASAP team and is looking forward to meeting and working with community ASAP serves.

805.893.3318

maira.anayalopez@hr.ucsb.edu

Pronouns:  she/her/hers

Maira Anaya-Lopez is a counseling doctoral student in the Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology program at UCSB. Maira obtained her Masters in psychology from California State University, Los Angeles. Maira has experience working as a behavior interventionist working with children diagnosed with Autism and other related disabilities. She also has experience as a PCIT therapist. She has also collaborated on mental health workshops with the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) that have been presented to families at UCSB. As a daughter of immigrants, Maira is motivated in providing bilingual and culturally sensitive and congruent services to Latine and Spanish-speaking communities.