Meet the Board of Directors

 
Patricia Walker, Ph.D.
President and Chair of Professional Development Program
Dr. Walker is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice with over thirty years of experience providing individual and couples psychotherapy and parenting counseling with adults experiencing a wide array of difficulties in their personal and professional lives, and psychotherapy consultation with mental health professionals. Dr. Walker is Chair of the Women’s Issues Section of the Illinois Psychological Association where she leads programs and policies promoting the professional interests of women psychologists and the psychological happiness of women in psychological services and in the broader community. She is on Faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine serving on the selection and training committee of the clinical psychology doctoral internship and directing and teaching ethics. Dr. Walker has given talks to mental health professionals on ethics in reflective practice, Inner Humanism psychotherapy, and helping women through psychotherapy to develop minds of their own and stable self-esteem. She has given talks to public audiences on overcoming gender bias and work-life balance.

 
Carla M. Beatrici, Psy.D.
Vice President for the Collaborative Partnership with Smart Love Family Services
Dr. Carla Beatrici is a Clinical Psychologist with over 25 years of clinical experience providing psychotherapy to individuals of all ages and with a specialization in child and adolescent mental health. Dr. Beatrici is the Director of Clinical Services of an not-for- profit organization Smart Love Family Services located in Oak Park and Chicago. The clinic provides a range of services including counseling for all ages, testing services, and parent education seminars. Dr. Beatrici runs the counseling program where she provides clinical supervision. She has also developed and implemented Smart Love and Inner Humanism staff training programs for healthcare professionals in many settings, including Easter Seals, Early Head Start, the American Medical Association, and Children’s Memorial Hospital. These trainings focus on helping caregivers create positive caring relationships with children as a way to build stable inner self-esteem. Dr. Beatrici is an adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at Loyola Medical Center where she teaches Developmental Theories to psychiatry residents.

 
Sara Johnson, Ph.D., LCSW
Vice President of Operations
Membership Committee Chair
Sara Johnson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 15 years of clinical and administrative experience. She has worked with children, adolescents, and adults in a variety of settings including: a child welfare agency, a therapeutic day school, a substance abuse program, and outpatient counseling centers. Dr. Johnson also has extensive experience coordinating and evaluating services for children and families in the foster care system, as well as providing supportive services to individuals with special needs and disabilities. Dr. Johnson received her MSW and Ph.D. from the School of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago where she has served as an adjunct faculty member.

 
Kari Terrill, Psy.D.
Treasurer
Dr. Kari Terrill is a licensed clinical psychologist with experience providing therapeutic services to children, adolescents, parents, and adults in a variety of settings including community mental health agencies, schools, and outpatient clinics. Dr. Terrill currently provides therapy and testing services; clinical, testing, and administrative supervision; and serves at the Director of Assessment and Learning Services at Smart Love Family Services, a nonprofit agency with office locations in both Chicago and Oak Park. Dr. Terrill helped develop this program during her post-doctoral fellowship, which uses principles of Intrapsychic Humanism to help children and adolescents feel happier, be more successful at school, and reach their full potential in academic settings. She is looking forward to continuing to build her administrative and financial management skills as Treasurer of the Intrapsychic Humanistic Society.

 
Marian Sharkey, Ph.D.
Secretary
Dr. Sharkey is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice with over 25 years experience working with adults, children and families in a variety of inpatient and outpatient community mental health and hospital settings. Dr. Sharkey received her M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the School of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago where she was the founding editor-in-chief of the school's journal, Praxis: Where Reflection & Practice Meet. She is an adjunct faculty member in the School of Social Work at Loyola University and has also taught at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Dr. Sharkey has presented at local and national conferences on the topics of the reflective use of theory in clinical practice, trauma-informed treatment, promoting student scholarship in social work education, and the theoretical principles and practice of Inner Humanism.

 
Ilinka Novakovic, LCSW
Continuing Education Committee Chair
Ms. Novakovic is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice with over a decade of experience providing individual psychotherapy and parent counseling for adults. In her work as a psychotherapist, her goal is to help her clients recognize their self-worth and to build on their innate potential for happier and more constructive lives. In addition to her private practice, Ms. Novakovic is a part-time staff member at Smart Love Family Services, an agency whose counseling services are based on the theoretical approach of Inner Humanism. Ms. Novakovic was a participant in the development and implementation of the agency’s parent seminars, child development courses, and parent coaching and consultation programs. Ms. Novakovic has presented seminars to parents about child rearing and the social, emotional and psychological development of children. She has also developed and presented to other practitioners and mental health providers on the theory of Inner Humanism and its application in their settings.

 
Stephen Budde, Ph.D.
On Demand Learning Committee Chair
Stephen Budde, Ph.D., LCSW, is the Executive Vice President of the Juvenile Protective Association (JPA), a Lecturer at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, and a part-time therapist and researcher at Smart Love Family Services. Dr. Budde has over 30 years of experience in child welfare and mental health as a researcher, teacher, administrator, trainer, consultant, and therapist. He has provided consultation on best practices, evaluation, and quality improvement to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois, Illinois Children’s Justice Task Force, non-profit child welfare and mental health agencies, and philanthropic foundations. Dr. Budde’s research and practice interests include the power of relationships and relationship oriented intervention strategies, implementation and outcomes evaluation, continuous quality improvement, engagement and retention in services, psychiatric hospitalization outcomes, clinical decision making, conceptualizing and measuring child well-being, mental health interventions in early childhood and schools, and philosophy of science.

 
Cheryl Irmiter, Ph.D.
Fundraising Committee Chair
Dr. Irmiter is the Executive Director for the Institute of Medicine of Chicago, a consultant, and on faculty at Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work. She is a nationally recognized invited expert with numerous peer-reviewed journals, a published book, and various education and practice products and services. In 2016, Dr. Irmiter was recognized by her peers as a Gerontological Society of America, Social Research, Policy and Practice Fellow. With nearly three decades of experience in the health care industry, she integrates her business, clinical, research and policy experience to ensure everyone has the opportunity for the best possible life. As a clinician, she treated adults and older adults for mental health and substance abuse/dependence in various health settings. As a health outcomes and translational researcher, she translates policy and research into practice and education, as well as the concepts of human development, pathology and treatment into policy, research, education, and programs.

 
Emily B. Carroll, A.M.
Emily B. Carroll received her A.M. in Clinical Social Work from the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration in 1966 and her B.A. in Psychology and English from Smith College in 1964. Mrs. Carroll was most recently Clinical Supervisor at the Juvenile Protective Association and also served as Program Manager for the Smart Love Parenting Center. She was Coordinator of the Emergency Housing Program at the Stone Institute of Psychiatry of Northwestern Memorial Hospital for seventeen years and the Senior Social Worker in adult inpatient psychiatry at Northwestern for eleven years. She has also worked at United Charities of Chicago, Stock Yards District and Madden Mental Health Center.. She has taught social work interns from Loyola University Chicago and the University of Chicago, and Art Therapy students from the School of the Art Institute. As a faculty member of the Feinberg School of Medicine she supervised and taught medical students and interns.

 
Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D.
Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D., is an author and psychotherapist who works with children and parents, and serves as a consultant to agencies and other mental health professionals. She is a founding board member of Smart Love Family Services, for which she provides ongoing consultation and insight to the clinical and early childhood education staff. She also serves on the Board of the Intrapsychic Humanism Society. Both of these non-profit agencies are based on Intrapsychic Humanism, the comprehensive psychology of child development, psychopathology and treatment developed by Dr. Pieper and her late husband, William J. Pieper, MD.

Dr. Pieper authored two best-selling, award winning children's books, Mommy, Daddy, I Had a Bad Dream! and Jilly's Terrible Temper Tantrums: And How She Outgrew Them. And she co-authored with Dr. William Pieper the best-selling parenting book, Smart Love: The Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Regulating, and Enjoying Your Child; the popular adult self-help book, Addicted to Unhappiness: How Hidden Motives for Unhappiness Keep You From Creating the Life You Truly Want, And What You Can Do (2nd Edition); and Intrapsychic Humanism: An Introduction to a Comprehensive Psychology and Philosophy of Mind. She has written and presented on Inner Humanism psychotherapy, and also on applications of the theory of Intrapsychic Humanism to teaching, parenting, foster care, the question of free will, and children’s dreams and fantasy life, among other topics.

 
Carol Johnson, LCSW
Ms. Johnson is a licensed clinical social worker with over thirty years of clinical experience. She received her MSW from Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work. She has been a psychotherapist at Smart Love Family Services since its inception, where she is Director of Staff Development and a clinical supervisor. She has extensive clinical experience with children, teens, couples, adults and older adults. She was formerly a teacher and school social worker in elementary and middle schools. In her current role, she has developed and presented many seminars and provided consultation on IH and Smart Love topics to parents, schools and community agencies including Lurie’s Children’s Hospital, Easter Seals Headstart and held a parenting group for Cabrini Green residents. Ms. Johnson has written and presented several seminars for the IH Society on topics including parent guidance, and promoting caregiving relationships in schools. Ms. Johnson taught as an adjunct professor at Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work.