Counseling & Health Services

Elisa Castillo, PhD
Elisa Castillo is the director of counseling and health services. A licensed psychologist, she earned her BA in psychology from the University of Puerto Rico, and her MA and PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She has more than 10 years of experience working with college students, dealing with personal, relational and mental health concerns. She is interested in multicultural counseling, brief therapy, existential and relational therapy, and clinical supervision. She provides services in English and Spanish.

Christine Williams, PhD

Christine Williams is the training director for counseling and health services. She has worked as a counselor at the University of Akron, the University at Buffalo – SUNY, and University of Massachusetts – Boston. She has also taught at Northeastern University and Newbury College. She specializes in helping students learn to manage their stress and balance multiple responsibilities while in school. She also likes working with students who come to college with more serious mental health issues, and to help them be academically successful and get the most out of their college experience. Christine also continues to be interested in research and quality improvement.

Karen Hruska, MA, LMHC
Karen Hruska is the assistant director of counseling and health services. She specializes in substance abuse counseling, health and wellness psychology, relationship issues, and helping students transform stuck behaviors. She is known for her energy and enthusiasm in helping students set and achieve their goals. Having taught at the college level for years, she understands what it takes to be successful in and out of the classroom. Along with individual counseling, she does presentations for classes or student groups.

Squire T. Paige, MA, LMHC  
Squire is the staff counselor in counseling and health services. He received his BA in sociology from Franklin and Marshall College and his MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University. He has worked almost exclusively in his counseling career with adolescents and young adults in educational settings, and is interested in issues around identity and in facilitating self-actualization. He characterizes his clinical orientation as eclectic, primarily mixing client-centered, cognitive-behavioral, and existential counseling styles.

Kimberly Daly, BSN, MSN, FNP
Kim Daly, our health services coordinator, is a family nurse practitioner and associate director of counseling and health services. She received a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, and earned a master's degree in nursing from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She has worked in internal medicine, pediatrics and at a high school-based health clinic. Her interests lie in working with adolescent and young adult populations to promote responsible choices and healthy lifestyles.

Joan Sweeney, MSN, FNP 
Joan Sweeney is a nurse practitioner in counseling and health services. She also coordinates the immunization compliance program. She joined counseling and health services in 2004 after working in a community health setting. She attended the University of Southern Maine where she earned a bachelor's degree in nursing and later completed a master's degree in family and community health nursing from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Her professional interest is women's health.

Patty Wheeler Shea MS, ANP-BC

Patty Shea is an adult nurse practitioner who joined counseling and health Services in 2009. She attended the University of Massachusetts, Lowell where she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing. After working for eight years as an ICU nurse she completed a master’s degree in adult primary care and occupational health from Simmons Graduate School. As an occupational health nurse practitioner she provided care to employees at various corporations and medical centers for many years. She continues to work per diem at Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners Healthcare in occupational health services. She has taught undergraduate nursing students as well.  She especially enjoys working with students in the college setting. 

John Beaulieu, MD
John Beaulieu is the supervising physician in counseling and health services. He attended Salem State and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. He has worked here since 1990, and his professional specialty is internal medicine.

Lynne Gunter-Silva
Lynne Gunter-Silva is one of counseling and health services' administrative assistants. She has worked at Salem State since 1975, first in the affirmative action/personnel office and has been with counseling and health services since 1983. She earned an associate's degree in secretarial sciences from North Shore Community College and additional certificates from Salem State and North Shore Community College, and is particularly interested in providing excellent customer service to our students.

Juliet Carty Greene
Juliet Carty Greene is an administrative assistant for counseling and health services, and has worked at Salem State since 2006. She came to us with a background in office support from her experience at a community health center. As one of our administrative assistants, Juliet coordinates patient intake and assists with the daily operations of a busy healthcare facility, handling confidential patient health information with sensitivity and care. Juliet is working towards a degree in medical office administration.

Counseling Graduate Trainees for 2012- 2013

Annie Robertson is a post-doctoral fellow at counseling and health services. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology in Boston. She also received her MS in rehabilitation counseling psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BA in sociology/anthropology from Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Annie has 11 years of experience working with students at six different post-secondary institutions prior to coming to Salem State. Her clinical interests are broad and include identity development, life transitions and adjustment, treatment of anxiety, gender/cultural/racial/class issues, disability, eating disorders and trauma. Annie’s clinical orientation is primarily integrative, mixing client-centered, multicultural, and positive psychology approaches.

Rebecca Forkner PhD is a postdoctoral fellow at counseling and health services. She earned her BA in psychology and MA and PhD in clinical psychology from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She has 10 years of experience working with college students in four different university counseling centers. She also has experience working with adults, young adults, and teens in community mental health. Rebecca is drawn to a wide variety of cases, from crisis management to short-term treatment to regular and intermittent long-term treatment. She has particular experiencing helping students cope with anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship difficulties, understand and consolidate identity, reduce self-harm, increase distress tolerance, make peace with suffering, and make peace with the self. She describes herself as primarily integrative, drawing from a number of different therapy styles and techniques, particularly psychodynamic, positive psychology, multicultural, client-centered, ACT, and DBT.

Debra A. Olszewski is one our counseling interns in counseling and health services. She is currently a third year doctoral student in clinical psychology at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. She attained her undergraduate degree at Boston College where she majored in economics and philosophy and completed her masters degree in psychological services and counseling here at Salem State. A career changer from the tennis and sports industry, her clinical interests include navigating and charting behavioral change in the areas of depression, anxiety, loss and bereavement, substance use and other health related issues. Debra has worked in community mental health, inpatient dual-diagnosis and emergency department units. She uses an integrative and blended approach including cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing.

Paige Carambio is a clinical intern at counseling and health services. She received an AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, a BA in psychology from Simmons College and she was awarded her MA in Professional Psychology from MSPP. She is currently a fourth year doctoral student at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. She has worked with diverse populations across the lifespan in a wide variety of settings since beginning her graduate work in 2009. She primarily utilizes a positive, strength-based model that focuses on identifying and cultivating innate skills and past experiences to help students overcome stress and anxiety, depression, relationship issues, and trauma, among others.