About Our Instructors

Leandrea R. Romero-Lucero, Ph. D., LPCC, ACS, CSOTS

Leandrea has been a psychotherapist in New Mexico since 2008 and has been a supervisor since 2014. Leandrea holds a Master’s in Professional Counseling and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision. Leandrea also holds the Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) credential and the Certified Sex Offender Treatment Specialist (CSOTS) certification. Leandrea’s areas of clinical focus are family therapy, adolescent counseling, youth with problem sexual behavior, and adult sex offenders. Since becoming a clinical supervisor in 2014, Leandrea has focused her research and interest on the training of clinical supervisors and how their training translates to the supervision room. Leandrea’s other research interests are related to the child welfare system, specifically working with and supporting kinship families navigate all aspects of the process, how working with sex offenders impacts counselor’s compassion fatigue and work satisfaction as well as how counselor self-care is impacted by various types of employment models (salary v. contract). Leandrea is currently an Assistant Professor in the Online Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania- Lock Haven.  Leandrea co-developed the Clinical Supervision Academy with her colleague, C. Renee LaVail, with the support of Southwest Family Guidance Center & Institute.

Renée LaVail, LMFT, CST, ACS, Doctoral Candidate

Renée is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist & Approved Clinical Supervisor. Working as a psychotherapist for 14 years, Renée began her professional career focusing on family therapy. In 2011, her focus shifted to include sexual health, leading to the eventual launch of her private practice, Albuquerque Sex Therapy. Renée has been a clinical supervisor since 2011 and, once promoted to this new role, had a pivotal realization, “I felt a sense of being woefully unprepared. The skills I had developed as a clinician were not the same skills that I needed to supervise other therapists—all my mental health experience up until that point had been solely as a clinician.” Renée’s experience of being promoted to a supervisory role because she had the right license and was in the right place and at the right time was a common experience among other supervisors in behavioral health. In 2018, in collaboration with colleague Dr. Leandrea Romero and with the support of the Southwest Family Guidance Center & Institute, Renée co-founded and developed the Clinical Supervision Academy. A primary function of the Academy was to provide a safe and informed training ground for supervisors who were already in the weeds and on the ground doing the work. Renée has spent most of her behavioral health career in community mental health. After 13 years, she ended her tenure as a Clinical Director in December 2021 to expand her own organization. Renée is a doctoral candidate in Behavioral Health Leadership & is the founding director of both Albuquerque Sex Therapy and its guiding organization, the Clinical Assessment Group.

“CSA has successfully cultivated an environment of excellence towards the supervision and development of mental health professionals. In addition, CSA has provided and fostered networking and consultation amongst independently licensed mental health professionals who share the common goal of providing best practices for supervisees and clients. I have found a community I am proud to be a part of with CSA!”
—Nichole Strasser, LCSW, Clinical Director of Gold Perspective Therapy