Elizabeth San Elias is a licensed clinical social worker by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. She obtained a Masters of Social Work from San Francisco State University in 2007 and a Bachelor’s in Social Work in 2003 from California State University, Los Angeles.
Elizabeth has significant experience working with people diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, major depression, and substance use disorders. Elizabeth has extensive experience working with severe and persistently mentally ill adults in field based crisis response programs. She provides trauma informed strength based care. Elizabeth is a passionate advocate for social justice and strives to provide high quality care to marginalized and underserved communities. Elizabeth is bicultural and bilingual allowing her to provide culturally competent services to the Latinx community and maintains cultural humility with all clients she serves.
Elizabeth is one of our substance abuse specialists at APLA Health.
Christopher Boyden-DeShazer is a black queer licensed clinical social worker recognized by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Christopher earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from San Francisco State University. Christopher has extensive experience providing support to various diverse and vulnerable populations impacted by anxiety, trauma, depression, addiction, and severe mental illness. Christopher has throughout their professional journey worked to address disparities in treatment for people of color and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Christopher utilizes a collaborative, culturally competent trauma-informed clinical approach infused with mindfulness. Christopher works with clients from a non-pathologizing judgmental approach and deeply values diversity within identities. Christopher practices a humanist perspective, using empathy and kindness to recognize and support client’s strengths in dealing with a variety of concerns. Christopher believes empowerment comes from within and grows when given support.
Peterson Pham (they/he/she) is a bilingual and community-oriented licensed clinical social worker. As a queer, non-binary, person of color, Peterson incorporates intersectional experiences into their clinical work.
Peterson received their Master of Social Work, with an emphasis in Community Mental Health, from California State University Fullerton in 2018 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, with minors in Education and Applied Psychology, from University of California Santa Barbara in 2013.
Peterson has over 8 years of behavioral health experience, with skills stemming from serving diverse and underserved populations such as students in recovery at Recovery Education Institute, homeless consumers with substance misuse at Orange County Healthcare Agency, clients involved in HIV treatment and prevention at APAIT, monolingual/language deprived children, youth, and families at OCAPICA, and patients who are severely, persistently mentally ill at UCI Medical Center.
Peterson believes that we, as a community, are not complete without each other, that your continued existence is a form of resistance, and that your personal is political and powerful. Peterson is committed to providing braver and safer spaces to collaborate with our community members in improving our life functioning and achieving our deserved health outcomes.
Dr. Sean Boileau earned his Doctor of Counseling Psychology degree with a focus on Multiculturalism and Diversity at Arizona State University. He deliberately completed field placements in diversity-focused community counseling centers in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Phoenix, Arizona, such as Chicanos Por La Causa-Centro de la Familia and Jewish Family Services. He then interned at the University of California, San Diego, and completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on creating outreach programming and providing clinical services for members of the LGBT communities on campus. In his early career, Dr. Boileau served as a psychologist and clinical supervisor with the University of California, Santa Cruz, as well as the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Boileau’s academic training is rooted in the scientist-practitioner model. He has taken his background in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and integrated what he considers to be the most valuable elements from LGBT-Affirmative Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, and Humanistic Therapy.
In addition to serving as APLA Health’s Behavioral Health Services Director, he is a senior lecturer at Antioch University Los Angeles and an adjunct professor at USC in the Rossier School of Education. He has previously taught undergraduate classes in the Maricopa County Community College System and graduate-level courses at the University of San Francisco.
