Counseling Faculty and Staff

Dr. Sherrionda Crawford

Dr. Sherrionda H. Crawford is an Associate Professor of School and Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), credentialed as a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S) in Georgia and Alabama, and a Certified School Counselor in the state of Alabama. Prior to becoming a professor at Troy, she provided valuable counseling services to children and adults in both clinical and school counseling settings. Dr. Crawford actively volunteers for the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) as a scholarship reviewer and mentor. Her research interests include trends in school counseling, interpersonal violence, and suicide prevention, as well as skill acquisition for counselors-in-training.  

Dr. Elizabeth Dennis

Dr. Elizabeth Brittany Dennis received her M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from Auburn University. She has four years of counseling experience in community mental health and private practice settings serving children, adolescents, and families. Her research areas of interest include trauma, grief, and infant mental health.

Stephanie Howard

Dr. Stephanie Rogers Howard is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program at Troy University. Dr. Howard earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Counselor Education and Supervision from Auburn University. Additionally, she earned her certification in Educational Administration and Leadership from Auburn University in Montgomery. Furthermore, Dr. Howard has a master's degree in School Counseling from Alabama State University and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Louisiana State University. Prior to Troy, Dr. Howard practiced as a Professional School Counselor for over 25 years, working extensively in various educational settings as well as teaching as an adjunct in graduate programs.  A former president of the Alabama School Counselor Association and the Alabama Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, Dr. Howard served on the Alabama Counseling Association Executive Council in varying positions. Her research interests include the effectiveness of part-time/split school counselors and the exploration of the ideal versus actual roles and tasks of school counselors.

Dr. Joshua Southwick

Dr. Joshua Southwick, PhD, CRC is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program at Troy University. He earned both his master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and his doctoral degree in Disability Disciplines with a specialization in rehabilitation counseling from Utah State University. He has extensive experience in rehabilitation counseling as a practitioner, educator, and researcher. As a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), he has provided direct services to transition-age students and individuals with visual impairments. He has experience teaching a variety of undergraduate disability and graduate-level rehabilitation counseling courses. His current research interests include quality assurance in vocational rehabilitation processes and outcomes, professional identity, and the utilization of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in vocational rehabilitation settings. 

Lindsay Stokes

Dr. Lindsay E. Stokes, Ph.D., LPC (AL), NCC is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program at Troy University. She earned her master's degree in Counselor Education with concentrations in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and College Counseling and Student Development at East Carolina University and her doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision from Auburn University. She has had six years of experience in providing counseling services to students and accommodation support for students with disabilities in a higher education setting. Dr. Stokes also has four years of experience providing children, adolescents, adults, and couples counseling services in a private practice setting. She has a passion for using innovative strategies and evidence-based practices in her teaching, counseling, and supervision approaches. Dr. Stokes' current research interests focus on women with chronic illness and their interpersonal relationships, supporting individuals with disabilities and chronic illness in the private practice setting, and supporting early career counselors.

Dr. Sharon M. Weaver

Dr. Sharon M. Weaver, PhD, ALC is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program at Troy University in Troy, Alabama. She is also the Coordinator of the Rehabilitation and Disabilities Undergraduate Program. She holds a certificate in Rehabilitation and Leadership Management. Her research interests include improving programming for incarcerated women, independent living for individuals with significant disabilities, and promoting social justice for marginalized individuals. 

Teresa Sneed Bradley

Departmental Secretary

Starrah Huffman

Dr. Starrah Huffman, PhD, LPC, NCC, NCSC is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program at Troy University- Montgomery. Dr. Huffman has over 24 years of combined professional experience in the K-12 and post-secondary sectors.

She has an earned Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D.) in Counselor Education and Supervision from Auburn University, Auburn, AL; Education Specialist Degree (EdS) and Masters of Education Degree (MEd) with a concentration in School Counseling, a Master's Degree (MEd) in English Language Arts (6-12) from Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL; and a Master's Degree (MEd) in Educational Leadership-Instructional Leader from Auburn University Montgomery, Montgomery. Dr. Huffman is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Alabama, a National Board-Certified Counselor (NCC), and a National Board Certified School Counselor (NCSC)-National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); and holds a Class AA Certification in School Counseling and a Class A Certifications in Educational Leadership.

Dr. Huffman's research interests center on serving marginalized and diverse student populations in K-12 schools through school counseling including special needs students, students in the foster care system, students in poverty, and students of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Dr. Huffman has participated in presentations at several conferences and local school/district workshops, including the Alabama Counseling Association (ALCA) Conference and the Southern Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES) Conference, and has had a publication in the Journal of Asia Pacific Counseling, as part of a research team. Dr. Huffman serves on the ALCA Executive Board as ALCA Annual Conference Co-Chair, ALCD-Alabama Career Development Association Secretary and has been recognized as the division's Past President, ALCA Chapter VII President, and ALCA Emerging Leader.

Dr. Rodney Maiden

Dr. Rodney Maiden is an Associate Professor in the Division of Counselor, Rehabilitation, & Interpreter training on the Montgomery campus. He holds a Rehabilitation and Counselor Education doctorate from the University of Iowa. Dr. Maiden is passionate about serving persons with disabilities and underrepresented populations. His academic and professional experiences in the field are transcultural, having served in Louisiana, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, and India. Troy Montgomery Gamma Beta Phi's selected Dr. Maiden as the Teacher of the Year, which he considers a significant highlight of his academic career.  

Dr. Maiden integrates his professional experiences with students and real-life circumstances to improve practice in the classroom. He has an extensive background working with persons with a disability, mental illness, or both. Previous professional occupations include working as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Forensic Rehabilitation Instructor, and Mental Health Technician. He volunteers with various organizations, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness

Before his tenure at Troy, Dr. Maiden was the Program Director for the University of Wisconsin- Stout Criminal Justice and Rehabilitation program. He created one of the nation's first collaborative agreements in which students can graduate with an undergraduate degree and complete the Police academy. Dr. Maiden has published several research-based articles and delivered numerous conference presentations at Regional, National, and International conferences. His research interests include multiculturalism, ex-offenders, disaster and trauma recovery, international studies, and disability issues.

Melissa Ferrell

Departmental Secretary

Dr. Robert Carlson

Dr. Robert Carlson is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program at Troy University- Phenix City. Dr. Carlson is a licensed psychologist, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a National Certified Counselor (NCC), a Master Addiction Counselor (MAC), and a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor (CPCS). Along with his academic position, he also runs his own private practice and provides clinical supervision and program evaluation services. He holds several degrees, including a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Emory University, an MS in Counseling and Guidance from Columbus State University, an M.A. in Psychology from Georgia Southern University, and a B.A. from Georgia Southwestern College.

Dr. Shelley Reed

Dr. Reed has worked for over 20 years in the Community Mental Health Counseling field. She is Licensed as a Professional Counselor (LPC), Certified Addictions Counselor II (CACII), Master Addiction Counselor (MAC), Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor (CPCS), and QPR Gatekeeper Trainer.  She has worked in the field in a variety of settings. Dr. Reed has been on the Leadership team and serves as President for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Columbus, GA affiliate since 2015.

Dr. Reed is currently an Assistant Professor in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program (CRIT) at Troy University. She serves in several leadership positions including the Clinical Director for the CRIT Division. She has also served as the Faculty Advisor and currently serves as the Co-Faculty Advisor for Chi Sigma Iota. She serves on numerous University, College, and Department committees including the University Mental Health Wellness Taskforce. She and her colleagues received a state-funded grant in Suicide Prevention in Higher Education for four consecutive years. The grant allowed her, and her two colleagues, to provide education to increase awareness and prevention of suicide among university faculty, staff, and students. Events, Webinars, and an Annual Suicide Prevention Conference have been held for the last three years. She has presented this work and her other research interests, including Counselor Preparation, at numerous national, regional, and state conferences as well as published in Peer-reviewed Journals.  

Kimberly Chandler

Departmental Secretary 

Dr. Samantha Booker

Dr. Samantha “Sam” Booker, Ph.D., LPC-S, IMH-E®, is the Assistant Chair of the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program at Troy University. Dr. Booker is the Coordinator of the School Counseling Program and the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Program. She is a certified PK-12 school counselor, a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in Alabama, an infant family specialist, and a private practitioner. She is also a certified DC: 0-5 Trainer and infant mental health reflective supervisor. Her research interests include birth to five training for practitioners, prevention and intervention techniques with PK-12 students, and school counselors' role in early intervention. 

Dr. Emma Quadlander-Goff

Dr. Emma Quadlander-Goff is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Division at Troy University-Dothan. Dr. Quadlander-Goff received her M. S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Troy University and her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from Auburn University. She is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and credentialed as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Alabama. Dr. Quadlander-Goff has focused on providing grief therapy to her community. Her research interests include unexpected loss and bereavement, trauma, and ADHD.

Dr. Jihene Ayadi

Dr. Ayadi is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling and also serves as the Clinical Coordinator at the Augusta Campus of Troy University. She completed her MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from Valdosta State University and earned her Doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Arkansas.

Dr. Ayadi is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and certified supervisor (CPCS) in the state of Georgia. She is also a nationally certified counselor (NCC) and an approved clinical supervisor (NCS) with the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC). In addition, she is a certified QPR Gatekeeper Trainer for Suicide Prevention and a certified EMDR provider. Dr. Ayadi also serves as the Eastern District Representative of the Georgia Licensed Professional Counselors Association.

Dr. Ayadi has worked with graduate students in various roles, such as an educator, advisor, and counselor. She is committed to advocating for students and providing them with all the necessary resources for a successful academic journey. Additionally, she serves as a mental health provider for individuals, particularly military personnel, veterans, and their families.

Dr. Bogusia Skudrzy

Dr. “B”, Bogusia Skudrzyk is an Associate Professor and a Coordinator of the Clinical Training, at Troy University, Pensacola. Over the past three decades, she has been involved with counseling service delivery, teaching, training, consulting, and research. Embedded into her practices (in residential, outpatient, private practice, school, agency, and community settings) is the emphasis on understanding wellness and healing through a cultural lens, multicultural creative expressions, expressive arts, group work (teamwork, group counseling, psychoeducational groups, support groups), forming meaningful relationships-living, learning, loving, and working. She is passionate about learning. Specifically, she is curious about cultural ways of identity construction, connecting across life span and especially when life circumstances could rip the fabric of humanity apart: loss/grief, addiction, crisis, trauma, cancer, terminal illnesses, and conditions.

She has been teaching in Counselor Education (CACREP) programs for over 25 years- assessment, clinical supervision, group work, career counseling, growth promoting/strength-based approaches, teamwork, community building, needs assessment, counseling across life span is her passions-embedded into her counseling/clinical practice, teaching, training, consulting, and scholarly work.

She values teamwork, collaboration, and community engagement. Most of her work (over 100 scholarly contributions) has been created and developed through collaborative teams. She has been co-publishing/publishing (scholarly articles, book chapters, books) in national journals, nationally recognized book publishers, utilizing blind review process; and facilitates/co-facilitates presentations/workshops at international, national, regional, and local level. She values a servant/leader approach. She has been involved with ACA (American Counseling Association) as a member, co-chair, and chair of various committees and task forces, including International Relations, Diversity Task Force, Strategic Planning Committee. She has served as the President of ASGW (Association for the Specialists in Group Work, a division of ACA) and assisted with the development of national multicultural competencies relevant to group work. In addition, she has served on numerous university wide task forces (strategic planning, curriculum development, accreditation, student leadership development, faculty development).

She has been involved with the co-creation of community engagement that focuses on wellness, community building, and healing. She has been actively involved with Hospice services, Cancer/oncological counseling, addiction counseling, and community building, including the development of parenting support groups, peer support groups, and outreach relevant to coping with addictions and crises. She is an active volunteer member of the ACA/American Red Cross team member. She is a native of Poland, with deep connections to Midwest-St. Louis and Carbondale, Il area, Northeast, Southeast, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and she is happy to call Pensacola, Fl her new home. Dr. “B” remains grateful for the opportunities to learn from and learn from healers, educators, and trainers who have helped her strive to walk the path of never-ending transformation. Kurt Lewin and Alice Miller (born Alicja Englard), Sam Gladding, Irvin Yalom, Sherlon-Pack Brown, Carolyn Thomas, Ana Puig, Teina Piripi, Tipene Pickett, and Joyce Manahi, are some of the numerous individuals/professionals/healers who continue to inspire her and help her remember that the marvelous light that shines within us, that flows through love, will continue to bring light to the darkness that remains present. Dr. “B” feels very honored and excited to join the Trojan family and support the discovery of our “Inner Trojan Warrior” that strives to share with the communities that surround us the Spirit of “One family, one spirit, one Troy.” Most of all, she is thankful to her ancestors and family whose roots are connected to the Beskidy mountains-Carpathian region of Southern Poland, the Olza river flowing over Cieszyn - her home town in Poland, called Cieszyn, a place of being joyful, and her two adult children, Emily and Christopher who, like strong and caring branches, flow and respond to the current winds of life that is their own, while connected they remain, by invisible cable, to time-honored traditions of people, their ancestors that have come before them.

Dr. Sharon Thompson

Dr. Sharon Thompson is an associate professor of counseling and psychology for Troy University in Pensacola. 

She received her Ph.D. from the University of Alabama and her master's from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Thompson is credentialed as an NCC, LMHC, Licensed School Psychologist, Florida Qualified Supervisor, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, Infant Mental Health Specialist, and Trauma Specialist. She is certified in TBRI, EMDR, Accelerated Resolution Therapy, MESE, and Gottman.

Her research areas include play therapy, art informed therapy, grounding techniques, brief trauma therapy, counseling refugees, and working with foster and adoptive families. She has taught and worked in more than 48 countries and lives in Cantonment, FL with her husband, 2 kids and one entitled and slightly deranged dachshund.

Dr. Tregon Fitch

Dr. Trey Fitch has taught counseling and psychology for over 20 years. He is a licensed mental health counselor, a board-certified counselor, and an approved supervisor for the state of Florida. Dr. Fitch has experience from the Texas A&M Commerce Counseling Center, East Alabama Mental Health, and the crisis hotline. His research interests are in counselor training and supervision. 

Dr. Dale Heppe

Dr. Dale Heppe is a licensed mental health counselor currently works as a Lecturer in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training Program at Troy University-Panama City, FL. He has a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from Walden University and more than twenty years of experience specializing in individual, couples, and family therapy, and he is an approved supervisor for the state of Florida. Dr. Heppe is a well-known relationship therapist who has presented at national conferences and spoken to general audiences on the topic of Anger Management.

Dr. Jennifer Marshall

Dr. Jennifer Marshall is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation & Interpreter Training at Troy University, Panama City site and has taught in higher education for over 15 years. She was previously the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Berea College in Berea, KY. She has had numerous publications in national and state journals and enjoys presenting and publishing with her students. Her research interests are in group work. 

Dr. Tabitha Hall 

Dr. Tabitha Hall is an Associate Professor at Troy University. Since graduating with her Master of Science in Clinical Counseling in 2004, she has worked with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families in psychiatric inpatient, outpatient, school-based, home-based, foster care, and online settings. Dr. Hall graduated with her Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling in 2010 and has served as a tenure tracked professor since that time. Her research interests include empirically based treatments, group counseling, MI, and mental health counseling with pediatric oncology patients and parents. Dr. Hall has more than 25 empirically based publications, is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, National Certified Counselor, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and is Gottman Level 1 and 2 certified. Additionally, Dr. Hall has chaired and served on several doctoral dissertation committees, has served as an invited editor for the Journal for Specialists in Group work since 2013, and has been working with the Counsel for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Program since 2008.

Hope Tipton

Dr. Hope Tipton is an Assistant Professor of Counseling at Troy University in the Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Interpreter Training- FWB.  She is credentialed as a P-LPC and certified School Counselor in Mississippi. Prior to coming to Troy, she served as an Assistant Professor at another university, served in the public-school sector, and has traveled nationally and internationally, presenting at conferences. Her research interests included the effective development of counselors-in-training, neuroscience, and crisis prevention/intervention.

Dr. Paola Premuda-Conti

Dr. Paola Premuda-Conti is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation & Interpreter Training at Troy University, Tampa Site. She formerly coordinated the undergraduate program in Rehabilitation and the master's program in Rehabilitation Counseling at Troy University Dothan Campus. She received her master's in Rehabilitation Counseling and doctoral degrees from the Rehabilitation Institute at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, IL) and an advanced post-doctoral fellowship in rehabilitation research in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA). She worked as a psychometrist, vocational evaluator, job placement specialist, and program evaluator. She taught at the School of Psychology, Universidad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay for 3 years before coming to Troy. In Uruguay she helped develop a supported employment program for youth with Down syndrome. Her research interests include employment of people with disabilities, especially people with traumatic brain injury and people with cognitive problems, vocational evaluation, and outcomes research.