Training Faculty
The training faculty includes psychologists employed by the University of Florida College of Medicine, as well as psychiatrists and other physicians from the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville. Additionally, adjunct faculty members, who are psychologists or psychiatrists from the Northeast Florida community, contribute to the training program. Below are the psychology training faculty, along with their credentials and areas of expertise.
Lourdes Dale, Ph.D., is a child and adolescent clinical psychologist, Clinical Associate Professor, and Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville. She completed her clinical psychology internship and fellowship at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital, working with youth facing complex psychiatric and medical challenges. She later directed the emergency consult service at Boston Medical Center’s Department of Child Psychiatry and provided second-opinion evaluations for Boston Public Schools. With over 15 years in academia, Dr. Dale’s research explores how maltreatment and trauma affect autonomic regulation and overall health to inform intervention strategies. She will supervise the postdoctoral fellow’s psychological assessment and research experiences.
Mitchell Gordon, Ph.D., ABPP is a licensed psychologist and board certified in Clinical Psychology as well as Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Prior to his joining UF Health in 2019 he had directed multi-disciplinary day treatment programs for severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in Miami as well as being on faculty in the Master’s and Doctoral psychology programs at Nova Southeastern University. He was director of training for an APA accredited internship program and is presently a chair for APA internship accreditation site visits. In the UF Health postdoctoral program he supervises the family therapy clinic and provides a range of didactics in psychotherapy techniques including a series in family therapy.
Laura Hume, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist with extensive training in in-depth psychological assessment and the use of evidence-based psychotherapy across the lifespan. Dr. Hume has expertise in evaluating neurodevelopmental disorders and treating children and families. Her research has focused on early literacy, socio-emotional skill development, and effective methods for identifying mental health treatment needs. Prior to joining the University of Florida, she served as the training director at a mental health company she co-owned. Dr. Hume has directly supervised and mentored dozens of students at the undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels. She currently serves as the lead psychological assessment supervisor and provides individual supervision and guidance using a developmental model tailored to the unique needs and interests of each student.
Kourtney Schroeder, PsyD, is a licensed child and adolescent psychologist and a supervisor for the Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship. She specializes in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and serves as the lead for the PCIT rotation, providing both supervision and didactic instruction. Dr. Schroeder offers individual and group supervision, as well as psychotherapy-focused didactics as part of the fellowship training program. In addition to her expertise in PCIT, she is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), further supporting her commitment to evidence-based, trauma-informed care for children and families.
Allison Ventura, Ph.D. is a licensed child and adolescent psychologist and the Training Director (TD) of the Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship. She specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and was the first certified clinician in Northeast Florida to be credentialed by the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification. Dr. Ventura is a national, state, and regional DBT trainer, providing customized training and supervision to clinicians across Northeast Florida and collaborating with state agencies to improve DBT-informed care for individuals experiencing emotional dysregulation. She oversees the postdoctoral DBT Clinic, which includes didactic instruction, supervision, and group therapy. Dr. Ventura is also a certified Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) provider.
Facilities
UF Health Psychiatry: San Jose Clinic and Downtown Hospital
Our postdoctoral fellowship program in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology offers training in an academic medical outpatient setting, emphasizing evidence-based treatments and diverse clinical experiences. Based within the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville, postdoctoral fellows work closely with psychology and psychiatry faculty, as well as psychiatry residents and fellows. Services are provided at two primary locations: the San Jose Clinic (child/adolescent psychotherapy clinic) and UF Health Jacksonville Hospital (child/adolescent assessment and research clinics).
Demographically, our clinic populations in Jacksonville reflect the broader Duval County community, which as of 2023 is approximately 50% Caucasian, 29% Black or African American, 11% Hispanic or Latino, 5% Asian, and 5% Other. We serve patients with private insurance as well as those covered by Medicaid and Medicare.
The San Jose Clinic provides comprehensive outpatient psychiatry and psychotherapy services for children, adolescents, and young adults across Northeast Florida. Psychotherapy services and on-site didactic training include Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), and Family Therapy.
The UF Health Jacksonville Hospital is located approximately 10 miles from the San Jose Clinic, in a standalone facility in downtown Jacksonville. This location serves as the primary site for psychological evaluations and the postdoctoral fellow’s research rotation, with a focus on children and adolescents.
The Training Director is based at the San Jose Clinic and provides oversight for both training sites and faculty. The Director remains accessible and regularly visits the downtown hospital as needed.
Training Resources and Administrative Support
The San Jose outpatient clinic includes a dedicated suite for Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and a group therapy room—used for DBT skills groups, Family Clinic sessions, and didactics—that accommodates 10 to 12 individuals and is equipped with audio-visual capabilities. Additionally, a general-purpose therapy room is available upon request through the clinic office manager and can be observed via a one-way mirror. Psychological assessments are conducted at the downtown outpatient clinic in a dedicated office designed specifically for psychoeducational testing.
To support postdocs in delivering assessment services, the clinic provides a wide range of testing materials for cognitive, emotional, academic, behavioral, autism, and personality evaluations across the lifespan. Treatment resources include therapy manuals, reference books, and digital files accessible through a shared drive. A variety of therapeutic tools—such as toys, board games, and props for exposure-based treatments—are also available.
Postdoctoral fellows are provided with private offices equipped with desktop computers. They benefit from both clerical and technical support through the Department of Psychiatry. Clinic staff assist with phone communications, message-taking, patient check-in and check-out, payment collection, insurance verification, appointment scheduling, and updates within the electronic medical record system. An administrative assistant is available to help with scheduling shared clinic spaces, managing paperwork, coordinating faculty supervisors’ schedules, and sending reminders about required departmental trainings.
The postdoctoral fellowship program also provides ongoing administrative support to assist with fellows’ needs throughout the year. This includes onboarding processes, obtaining identification badges, issuing keys and security access cards, ordering office supplies, and providing access to necessary equipment, computer resources, and technical assistance. Designated administrative and clerical staff at each work site support clinical operations by managing patient scheduling and registration, offering assistance with electronic medical records systems, and providing general support for activities related to direct patient care.
Technical support is provided by the College of Medicine IT department and is available via phone or remote assistance. Each postdoc is issued a desktop computer preloaded with essential software, including Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams, Zoom, and EPIC. Laptops are also available for checkout for off-site activities such as psychological testing.