Psychology

Students Inducted Into Psychology Honor Society

May 28, 2025

Sixty-five Chaminade Psychology students were recognized for their academic excellence and commitment to the field with induction into Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, during a Spring term ceremony.

Membership in the prestigious society is for life.

Abby Halston, Ed.D, associate professor of psychology at Chaminade, said students inducted into the society “have worked tirelessly to earn this lifelong honor.” She added, “Watching them be recognized for their dedication, resilience, and academic excellence is incredibly rewarding.

She noted that Chaminade has had a Psi Chi chapter for 26 years. Participants benefit from the prestigious recognition along with access to scholarships, research grants and networking events.

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Annie Kramer ’25 served as the president of the Psi Chi chapter at Chaminade over the past academic year. The Psychology major, who also minored in Education, said the group offers an important gathering space for students with a passion for their education and psychology.

“Like minded students are able to connect and build community together,” she said, adding participating in Psi Chi afforded her the opportunity to “deeply connect with peers and faculty members in a new light” and build her leadership skills as she pursued her studies.

“We want new Psi Chi members to feel proud of their hard work and dedication to the field,” Kramer said. “In our ceremony, we aimed to express that being inducted into Psi Chi is a great honor and that each member and their guests can celebrate their devotion for psychology.”

In addition to regular networking events over the last academic year, the Psi Chi chapter partnered with the Chaminade Counseling Center to organize and promote wellness events. Those ranged from a psychology-themed scavenger hunt to a Valentine’s Day gathering.

Enduring Memories

June 10, 2024

Chaminade Leaves Lasting Impression on Two Alumni

As they reminisced about their years at Chaminade, Clarke Antonio ’17 and Vanessa Ignacio ’18 vividly recalled their memories of laughter, professors, fellow Swords, classes, conferences, the Filipino Club and Extravaganza. Eight years later, the two alumni shared one last detail: they now bear the same last name.

“We got married on Oahu on May 11,” said Antonio-Ignacio with a wide smile during a ZOOM interview. “We have been together for seven years, and three of those were long distance. So, it has been a long road to get here.”

Their journey began by meeting through various classes, attending the same workshops and taking advantage of the many opportunities. One of the them was a chance to attend a Pre-Health Conference at UC Davis, where talks swirled about the two dating. Apparently, on the drive back to their hotel after a long day at the Conference, Ignacio had fallen asleep on the shoulder of Antonio, sparking rumors among other passengers and the driver, Dr. Amber Noguchi, Chaminade’s Program Director with the Undergraduate Research & Pre-Professional Programs.

“Yeah, we heard about that,” Antonio chuckled. “We can confirm that story is true, but we weren’t seeing each other at that point. We were seen together at different workshops so people thought we were a couple.”

Vanessa Antonio-Ignacio and Clarke Ignacio got married on May 11 on Oahu.

Vanessa Ignacio attended Clarke Antonio's commencement ceremony.

Clarke Antonio and Vanessa Ignacio danced the traditional Filipino tinikling during Extravaganza.

Clarke Antonio and Vanessa Ignacio shared their vows on May 11.

Clarke Antonio and Vanessa attended the Commencement Ball as a couple.

Fr. George Cerniglia (former rector at Chaminade) officiated the wedding of Clarke Antonio and Vanessa Ignacio.

Clarke Antonio gave Vanessa Ignacio a boquet of flowers when he asked her to the Commencement Ball.

Yet, it wasn’t until Antonio’s junior year and Ignacio’s sophomore year did they have their first official date. Over time, their bond strengthened, in part, because of their mutual commitment to the University’s mission of service, which they took to heart. Both take great interests in inter-professional collaboration, advocacy and serving underserved communities.

“Educating for service was the primary reason I chose to go to Chaminade,” said Ignacio, a Hilo native who is in her last year of residency with the Hawai’i Island Family Medicine Residency. “I remember coming to Chaminade on a college campus tour during my sophomore year in high school, and I really liked the intimate culture and student involvement.”

Antonio cited similar reasons. After graduating from Farrington High School, the Kalihi native recognized that he preferred smaller class sizes and with a better professor-to-student ratio. He didn’t want to attend UH precisely because of its sprawl and large population. Instead, Antonio scheduled a campus tour of Chaminade, unsure even if his family could afford the cost of a private university.

“I received the Merit Scholarship so that really helped,” Antonio said. “The experience was incredible. I was exposed to so many opportunities that helped me go beyond my initial dreams and ambitions.”

One opportunity in particular helped advance Antonio’s lifetime dream of becoming a physician in Hawaii. Through an articulation agreement with A.T. Still University–Arizona School of Health Sciences, he was able to pursue his Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T). Meanwhile, Ignacio also entered into an articulation agreement with A.T. Still University, but with the school’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, 1,300 miles away from Mesa, Arizona.

“We made it work since we were on the same academic calendar, and we had the same breaks,” said Antonio, a Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist who now practices full-time at Hilo Medical Center. “We literally studied together virtually, with our laptops on one side of the desk and books on the other. Sometimes, it was just complete silence but it was comforting to see each other on screen.”

As Antonio-Ignacio completes her third and final year of residency, the couple has a lot to look forward to in the coming years. And they have a lot to look back on, including their recent marriage and their time on the Kalaepohaku campus.

“Chaminade holds so many great memories for us,” Antonio-Ignacio said. “We even asked Fr. George Cerniglia (former rector at Chaminade)—whom we got close to while we were students, and kept in touch even after he moved to Missouri—to officiate our wedding. He was thrilled and happy to see so many familiar Chaminade faces since we invited a lot of our Chaminade friends to the wedding.”

PsyD Program

March 4, 2024

A counselor’s impact inspires Ji Su Park to pursue a doctorate

Since entering Chaminade’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (PsyD) program in 2021, Ji Su Park’s hair has grayed, her blood pressure has ticked up and her daily breakfast now consists of a serving of natto, the traditional Japanese food that is believed to have cardiovascular and cholesterol benefits because of its composition of whole soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis, a potent blood-clot dissolving protein.

“My husband is very supportive, but he is concerned about my health and level of stress,” says Park, who hopes to earn her PsyD degree by 2026. “Yet, he has never told me that I can’t do this.”

For the 31-year-old Australian-raised Korean native, there’s nothing that she can’t do. However, Park’s education journey has been a bumpy one. When her parents decided to move back to Korea when she was a teenager, Park lost all her friends—never easy as a high schooler—and was unaccustomed to the Korean education system. She could converse OK in Korean but the curriculum was foreign and difficult.

“I did really poorly,” Park says. “I knew after high school, I needed to move, and I decided on Hawaii because of its multicultural population.”

Dr. Sean Scanlan, director of Chaminade’s Psy.D. program, explains a concept to one of his students.

She first enrolled in an Associate’s program at Kapiolani Community College (KCC) then later transferred to the University of Hawaii–Manoa, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She would return to KCC, landing an administrative job in the Counseling Office with LaVache Scanlan. The experience marked an inflection point for Park who witnessed the transformative difference a counselor can make in a college student’s life.

“The counselors were so impactful,” Park says. “I wanted to be able to do that, and to have that much positive influence over a student’s academic experience.”

Ultimately, she was faced with a decision: apply to Hawaii Pacific University’s or Chaminade’s Master of Science in Counseling Psychology? Park chose the latter, citing the University’s close-knit campus feel that she sensed while visiting Kalaepohaku. She especially appreciated the school’s service orientation toward the community, the core values foundation that are inherent in a Marianist education and the sensitivity toward Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island cultures.

Transitioning, though, from an undergraduate education to a graduate level has its challenges, namely the required discipline and time. Park possesses the discipline, but time is more difficult since she was juggling, at that time, three part-time jobs. She also sought more hands-on experience to put her knowledge in practice. After completing her master’s, Park decided to slow down. Well, kind of.

“Now I just have two part-time jobs,” says Park with a wry smile. “I never feel like I don’t have down time. I’ve never felt that my life wasn’t balanced. I still feel I have a lot of a social life.”

Formerly hosted by Argosy University, which abruptly closed its doors and permanently suspended classes and programs in March 2019, Chaminade and the Hawaii School of Professional Psychology decided to collaborate in an effort to salvage Argosy’s PsyD program. One of only two programs of its kind in Hawaii, the PsyD is a five-year track that culminates in a professional doctorate in psychology degree preparing graduates for practice in psychotherapy and psychological testing.

“We’ve graduate 80 students in the PsyD program since we started,” says, Sean Scanlan, Ph.D., Director of the Hawaiʻi School of Professional Psychology at Chaminade University of Honolulu and Associate Professor. “A little over half are working in Hawaii, working in a variety of settings from community health centers, health and education agencies and institutions to forensic settings and private practice.”

Now in its fifth year, Chaminade’s program is the only American Psychological Association-accredited PsyD Program in Hawaii. Designed to prepare students for both contemporary and emerging roles in the practice of professional psychology, the program offers a five-year generalist program that supports the development of core competencies in psychological assessment, intervention, science, practice, foundations, and professional issues and roles. Training is provided so that students have the opportunity to be practitioner-scholars who are skilled in local and contextual investigation and problem solving.

“Ji Su is special because she is already licensed and working in the mental health field,” Scanlan says. “All her practicum reports have been excellent, indicating that she’s performing excellent clinical skills (i.e. clinical psychological assessments and clinical psychotherapy) in the field.”

Park is grateful for the unwavering support she receives both within and beyond the classroom.

“I do interact with faculty in the PsyD program in terms of receiving academic support, assistance in professional development and growth, and gaining knowledge and insight through their experiences and supervisions,” Park says. “Outside of our program, I receive a lot of support from offices like Financial Aid and the Counseling Center, where they are responsive to my needs to ensure my academic journey is supported by meeting other needs outside of the classroom. It’s a truly supportive community.”

NCIS Special Agents in Hawaii

July 19, 2023

Chaminade Alumni Represent True NCIS Agents

They don’t go around pointing their guns at people. They don’t detonate bombs. And they certainly don’t solve major crimes in an hour. But, what five Chaminade alumni do help to accomplish is to keep Hawaii safe.

As special agents for the Hawaii Field Office of NCIS headquartered at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Chris Meana ’12, Pia Teves ’85, Tamara Kenessey ’16, Olivia DeQuiroz ’12 and Kay Een ’02 are tasked with monitoring crime, conducting polygraph tests, supporting criminal investigations, and providing analytical support and technical surveillance countermeasures (TSCM).

They’re important jobs for sure. And for Meana, it has been a “life calling.”

Chris Meana, right, and Kay Een promote NCIS at a recruitment affair.

“When I attended Chaminade, I was really into my religious classes, and I thought that was my calling,” says Meana, an Intelligence Specialist with NCIS since 2015 who also acts as NCIS Honors Student Internship Coordinator, and is a member of Member of the Special Agent in Charge Advisory Group. “But then I served with the Hawaii National Guard and I refined my calling, wanting to make an impact in my hometown.”

For DeQuiroz, it was not so much a calling but a necessity that led her to the NCIS Hawaii Field Office. “I needed to pay for college so I applied for an administrative position,” says the Polygraph Examiner. “Then a job came up and I was encouraged to apply, and I passed a series of tests during the hiring process.”

Today, DeQuiroz provides counterintelligence, monitoring spies, terrorists and any matter that pertains to our national security across all branches of the military. She’s also involved with “Operation Keiki Shield,” which is part of the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that is comprised of a national network of 61 coordinated task forces, representing more than 5,400 federal, state and local law enforcement.

“Internet crimes are always challenging,” DeQuiroz says. “But we’ve managed to arrest more than 100 child predators in our Task Force in Hawaii.”

Olivia DeQuiroz administers a mock polygraph test.

With the nation’s strategic focus shifting towards the Indo-Pacific region, the NCIS Hawaii Field Office’s multi-faceted capabilities are even more in demand. Stretching from the Pacific coastline to the Indian Ocean, the area is home to more than half of the world’s people, nearly two-thirds of the world’s economy and seven of the world’s largest militaries. And in the years ahead, as the region drives as much as two-thirds of global economic growth, its influence will only grow—as will its importance to the United States.

A former electrician with his family’s business, Teves started as a Technical Investigative Specialist (TIS) Agent in 1987 and became a Technical Enforcement Officer in 2014. He is now the sole provider of technical support for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, as well as providing technical security for the entire Pacific Command.

“Before there was internet, I was looking at an actual bulletin board while I was on campus, and I came across this poster that read: Naval Investigative Service (NIS), Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), Special Agent position. Overseas travel, Worldwide locations,” recalls Teves, whose official NCIS title is currently Technical Surveillance Specialist. “I had no idea what it was, but it sounded sexy so I applied. About nine months later, I was hired as an Agent.”

Pia Teves, wearing tank top, were on temporary duty travel to provide protective service for Adm. Samuel J. Locklear, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command during his official visit to Manila, Philippines in 2004. — Pia Teves, wearing tank top, and his colleagues were on temporary duty travel to provide protective service for Adm. Samuel J. Locklear, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, during his official visit to Manila, Philippines in 2004.

Often misperceived as a branch of the military, NCIS is not. It is, however, the federal law enforcement arm of the Department of the Navy. Comprised primarily of civilian 1811 special agents and a small cadre of active duty Marine Corps active duty investigators, NCIS has more than 14 field offices and over 190 locations. Its special agents are stationed worldwide in support of military operations.

With historical roots tied to the Office of Naval Intelligence, the modern NCIS was formally established in 1966 as the Naval Investigative Service. It was re-organized and assigned a civilian director in 1992, along with a name change to the now Naval Criminal Investigative Service. With this re-branding, NCIS also became a primarily civilian agency as an insulation against military command influence.

“We’re an agency of around only 2,500 members, which is relatively small compared to the major players, like the DEA, ATF and FBI,” Meana points out. “But our capabilities are well respected, and we are well known for our role in counterintelligence, protective service and force protection operations.”

Solving crimes and catching the bad guys, though, aren’t the only issues that the NCIS Hawai‘i Field Office faces. Integrating itself into the local community is vital, as well, which is why the team can be seen throughout the year at a variety of functions. Some outreach efforts focus on awareness and education, spanning across such topics as internet safety and sexual assault prevention to identity theft and cybercrime.

Kay Een flashes a shaka while in Baghdad, Iraq circa 2005.

A Special Agent since 2020, Kenessey deals with death investigations, child enticement, fraud, arson and all federal-level investigations that involve criminal and security matters with the Navy.

Upon learning that her mentor, Associate Professor Dr. Joe Allen, passed away in December 2021, Kenessey was saddened by the news. “Technically I wouldn’t be here if Dr. Allen hadn’t written a letter, and told me to check out NCIS,” Kenessey says. “I think Chaminade lost a valuable professor and mentor. As I said, he was an integral part of where I am today both academically and professionally.”

Kay Een, meanwhile, praises Chaminade for its welcoming atmosphere and for the experiential learning that helped her land a job with NCIS. As NCIS’ Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Een supports NCIS’ progression in the DEI arena by supporting enterprise initiatives to implement the best business practices, encouraging collaboration, and delivering proven solutions to nurture a ready and resilient, globally-engaged workforce. She was introduced to the NCIS Honors Internship Program while a Silversword.

“Much like my time at Chaminade, I believe there is great value being surrounded by people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives,” says Een, who is now in her 20^th year with NCIS. “Being in a place that fosters diversity through inclusion is key to growing an innovative and agile workforce.”

As far as the authenticity of CBS’ popular NCIS franchise, Meana, Teves, DeQuiroz, Kenessey and Een agree that the drama doesn’t always get it right. “We have a close relationship with the show, and we’ve worked with them closely,” Meana says. “They try to stay close to reality, but they do add their own fictional twist.”

PsyD Candidate Realizes Her Dream

June 13, 2023

Getting through a Transportation Security Agency (TSA) check point is no laughing matter. Nor should it be a crying one, unless you just learned that you’ve just been accepted to your dream university. After flying to Hawaii to visit Chaminade University, Jodie Gerson ’23 was en route home to Las Vegas when she was notified that she was accepted into the Doctor of Psychology Program in Clinical Psychology at Chaminade’s Hawai‘i School of Professional Psychology.

“I got up to the TSA agent and he asked if I was OK,” Gerson laughed. “I told him I was crying out of joy because I just received a call about my acceptance into Chaminade.”

Gerson, who had already held a master’s in Clinical Psychology and another master’s of science in Marriage, Family and Child Therapy, was already an accomplished professional, holding such management roles as Clinical Program Manager with the Nevada Youth Parole Bureau, Director at WestCare, Nevada, and Director of Performance Improvement and Risk Management with Spring Mountain Treatment Center and Spring Mountain Sahara Hospital.

“My wife, Chris, told me that I had met all my goals, except one, which was to apply to doctoral programs,” said Gerson, who is completing her internship with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia this July. “I had several offers across the board, but Chaminade really appealed to me so I flew out to visit.”

Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington and Dr. Sean Scanlan present Jodie Gerson with her PsyD degree.

Once on campus, Gerson said the setting was perfect, and she knew immediately that Chaminade was the right fit. Not only did it offer a doctoral program that she liked, but the university checked off another one of her boxes: cultural diversity.

“Oh my gosh, I thought to myself,” Gerson recalled. “This is THE one. After I did my interview, I took a tour of the campus, and it just felt right. I had to get in.”

Her interview was on a Tuesday and by Friday she received the call from the admissions team. Informed of her next steps in order to reserve her spot, Gerson immediately called Chris, and asked if she could send a deposit since she would be in the air.

“I didn’t even have a chance to tell Chris that I was accepted, and now I was asking her to send money to Chaminade,” Gerson smiled. “Even though they gave me a few extra days to complete the necessary steps, I didn’t want to take a chance of losing my spot. There was no way I was letting this opportunity slip by.”

A Certified Expert Trauma Professional who has worked in the field for more than 25 years, Gerson said she was still challenged by the doctoral program, which helped her gain a deeper analysis and understanding of clinical psychology. She also formed strong bonds with her fellow doctoral candidates.

“She has an incredible resume, and has been on multiple boards, including HPA (Hawai‘i Psychological Association) and APA (American Psychological Association),” said Dr. Sean Scanlan, Clinical Psychology Director with the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences. “Her work experience, with adults, adolescents and children, includes assistance and intervention with the homeless, individuals with mental illness, minors in foster care, forensics, youth parole and persons with HIV/AIDS.”

When Gerson returns from Washington, D.C. in July, she will begin a new job with the Department of Health Family Court Liaison Branch at the Hawai‘i Youth Correctional Facility and Detention Home, where she will advocate for teens, and assess risk, needs and protective factors in our youth populations.

She will also continue her studies, seeking to attain her Board certification by taking the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards’ Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), a rigorous process that could take as long as her PsyD program.

“Service to the community is one of the values that Chaminade upholds, and it’s one that I strongly believe in as well,” Gerson said “It has been a great experience, and I have no regrets.”

HPA Board Appointments

March 9, 2023

Psychology faculty members gain HPA board seats

The Hawai‘i Psychological Association (HPA) members have elected several Chaminade University faculty to its 2023-2024 Board. Sean Scanlan, Ph.D., becomes the society’s next president-elect. Also appointed to the HPA Board are Lianne Philhower as Secretary, Katie Chun as Clinical Division Representative and student representative Kendyl Oshiro.

Dr. Scanlan is currently an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and is the Director of the Hawai‘i School of Professional Psychology. He earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, and is licensed as a clinical psychologist in Hawai‘i. He has held several psychology-related administrative positions since 2000 and has served as the program’s director since 2014. His interests are in child and adolescent psychopathology, assessment and treatment. For more than 20 years, Scanlan has worked with hundreds of Hawai‘i’s children and adolescents as a therapist, behavioral consultant, parent trainer, treatment program director, teacher and coach. His specialty is in autism spectrum disorder and externalizing behavior disorders.

Dr. Philhower, Psy.D., M.P.H., is an Associate Professor and licensed clinical psychologist. Her diverse professional background includes working in public health environments, outpatient community mental health programs, private practice, school consultation and education. She utilizes a developmentally-informed, Cognitive Behavioral perspective that is highly compatible with Health Service Provider in Psychology’s (HSPP) aim to educate and train students employing a practitioner-scholar model. As a scholar, Philhower has provided community trainings, consultation and presentations, and has supported the research projects of countless students. She continues her own education and scholarship by pursuing a Ph.D. in Integrative Medicine.

Jeff Stern, Ph.D. has been appointed to the State Board of Psychology.

Dr. Chun is an Associate Professor who earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Francisco Bay campus. Upon returning to Hawai‘i, she worked in child maltreatment and family trauma as a Hawai‘i-licensed clinical psychologist. After working at a nonprofit community mental health center, she went into private practice, providing assessment and therapy services to children, adolescents and adults in individual, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and family therapy, as well as emotional and behavioral consultation. She also worked as the psychological evaluator at a K-12 independent school. Chun is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), the APA Division 5, and HPA.

As the leading resource for psychological health, research and policy in the state, HPA’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for the people of Hawai’i by encouraging, integrating, applying and communicating the contributions of Psychology in all its branches. The organization also seeks to strengthen public relations, advocate for a psychologically healthy community, develop solutions for mental health care, be responsive to the multiple cultures in Hawai’ i, promote the highest standards of professional ethics, and to diffuse psychological knowledge through meetings, conventions and publications.

In other faculty news, Dr. Jeffrey Stern was recently appointed to the State Board of Psychology, which oversees licensing laws and professional conduct among other issues. Stern received his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa and has been a licensed psychologist in Hawaii for more than 15 years. He is a past president of the Hawaiʻi Psychological Association and has been an HPA board member for more than a decade. Besides maintaining a clinical practice and teaching full time, Stern is the clinical director of the Hawaiʻi MCHLEND (Maternal Child Health – Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) program, supported by a Federal training grant. He has served as an expert witness in due process hearings, frequently writes testimony as a member of the HPA Legislative Action Committe, and chaired the committee that drafted the continuing education statute for psychologists in the state. His research interests and current activities are focused on children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and their families and workplace well-being.