About Us

Executive Director  

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio: Dr. Bruce-Sanford is the Executive Director of the Counseling Center, a position she has held for the last twenty-four years.  She received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Howard University in 1986. She completed her post-doctoral work at Laurel Community Mental Health Center, Laurel, MD where she obtained supervised training and experience in working with individuals, couples, families, and children.

She has served as a Senior Staff Psychologist at the Counseling Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA and at Penn State University Counseling Center. She worked extensively with a wide array of therapeutic issues germane to college students through both individual and group counseling and psychotherapy.

Dr. Bruce-Sanford has been trained in a variety of theoretical perspectives including Psychodynamic, Systems, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. She works from a Trauma-Informed perspective and her specialty areas include Administration and Supervision, Ethics Consultation, Bi-racial and Multicultural Issues, Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, Interpersonal Relationships, Women’s Issues, and Non-traditional students.

Staff Psychologist

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio: Jeanne Burkhart is a staff psychologist at MSU Denver and has been a part of the staff at the Counseling Center since 2016. She is co-coordinator of the practicum program. She received her PhD in Counseling Psychology in 1995 from Kent State University, and she is a licensed psychologist in the state of Colorado.

Dr. Burkhart has worked at several university Counseling Centers, including Minnesota State University-Mankato (formerly Mankato State University), Baldwin-Wallace College, and Iowa State University. She was the director of a LGBTQI+ center in Minnesota. She was in private practice for twelve years, and her agency primarily served a diverse, low-income population.  Throughout her career she has sought out opportunities to work on issues of diversity, inclusion and equity.

Dr. Burkhart works with clients from multiple perspectives including cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal process, and psychodynamic. She is a generalist therapist who works with most issues, including depression and anxiety. Specialization areas include LGBTQI+ issues, supervision, diversity issues, women’s issues and interpersonal violence/trauma.

Senior Staff Psychologist

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Associate Director, Clinical Operations & Staff Psychologist

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio:  Dr. Edwards is the Associate Director for Clinical Operations and a Staff Psychologist at the Counseling Center. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Edwards has committed herself to working in settings that provide care to underserved communities, including medical centers and educational institutions. Prior to joining the Counseling Center staff at MSU Denver, Dr. Edwards oversaw the clinical services offered to students enrolled at a community college in Chicago. During her 5-year tenure in that position, she supervised doctoral-level graduate interns completing their diagnostic and therapy practicum at the center. Dr. Edwards’s areas of professional interest include first generation students, acculturation, interpersonal violence, supervision of graduate students, and psychoeducational evaluations.

Position Role:
Advanced Practicum Student

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio:  Kelly Terry (she/her) is a fourth year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology (PsyD) program at the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. She graduated from American University with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, minoring in Spanish and Political Science. Prior to entering the field of psychology, she worked in international development and education for several years. She has lived and worked in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Since realizing her passion lies in working psychologically with people to better understand themselves and work through relational difficulties, she has sought out training in behavioral and relational approaches to therapy. She has worked in a variety of settings with people of all age ranges. She finds that co-creating an authentic, warm, and challenging atmosphere in therapy can provide a meaningful space for individuals to be curious about how their past has shaped their present and what their goals are in looking to their future. Her clinical interests include working with trauma, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance use. She is currently supervised by Dr. Anne Edwards.

Position Role:
Advanced Practicum Student

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio:  Emanuel Hermosillo is currently a fourth-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. A child of immigrants, he was born and raised in Pasadena, California. A first-generation college student, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in the Biological Basis of Behavior at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as his Master of Arts degree at the University of Denver. He has been an extern at private practices focused on individual therapy and assessment, integrated primary care, and an IOP working in both English and Spanish across most of the sites. His clinical interests include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy, and therapy with Latinx populations. He is supervised by Dr. Jeanne Burkhart, Staff Psychologist.

Administrative Assistant

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio:  Jody Beardsley earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology as a non-traditional student at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is a Denver native and is pleased to be giving back to her community while working in the Counseling Center. She has been a staff member at MSU Denver for over five years and brings many years of prior business experience to the university. She enjoys working with and supporting students, staff and faculty.

Associate Director, Outreach & Training, & Staff Psychologist

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio:  Dr. Gornell is a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Colorado and is also Board Certified in Clinical Psychology.  He has been at the MSU Denver Counselling Center since 2012. Dr. Gornell has worked with children, adolescents and adults who present with a variety of concerns. His professional experience includes working in community mental health and at a hospital-based counseling center.  He has also taught as an adjunct instructor for doctoral programs in Illinois and Colorado. His areas of interest include mindfulness-based approaches to therapy, depression, anxiety, trauma and spirituality and therapy.

Staff Psychotherapist

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio:  Dr. Tuakoi earned her Psychological Doctorate (Psy.D.) in Clinical Psychology from the University of the Rockies (UoR) in Colorado Springs. UoR was formerly known as the Colorado School of Professional Psychology. She completed her internship at the Sol Vista Youth Correctional Facility and worked at the Colorado State Penitentiary and Denver Women’s Correctional Facility shortly thereafter. Dr. Tuakoi worked with the mentally ill incarcerated population at aforementioned facilities. She then worked with the mentally ill population at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo; she worked primarily with the population found Incompetent to Proceed per criminal charges incurred. More recently, she worked with the Intellectually and Developmentally Delayed population at the Pueblo Regional Center. She is being supervised by Dr. Jeanne Burkhart, Staff Psychologist.

Staff Psychologist

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Staff Psychotherapist

Position Role:
Full-Time Staff

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio:  Dr. Procter earned his Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP). He completed his internship at the Catholic University of America University Counseling Center and completed a 6-month post-doctoral fellowship at Colorado State University Health Network’s Drugs, Alcohol, and You (DAY) Program shortly thereafter. Dr. Procter has worked in a variety of clinical settings including the Mental Health Center of Denver, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and outpatient community mental health centers affiliated with the Colorado Department of Corrections. His current clinical interests include: the developmental complexities of adolescence and emerging adulthood, stress reduction in sport, chronic pain, and substance use/misuse. Dr. Procter primarily practices from a contextual-behavioral orientation and works to integrate developmental psychology, attachment theory and systems theory in all his clinical work. He is supervised by Gail Bruce-Sanford, Ph. D., Staff Psychologist and Executive Director of the Center.

Position Role:
Advanced Practicum Student

Office Location:
Tivoli 651

Bio:  Shaun Fossett is currently a second-year doctoral student in the counseling psychology PhD program at the University of Denver. He was originally from Los Angeles but lived in Missouri for several years before recently relocating to Denver. Past clinical experiences include working in other university counseling centers, community mental health, and integrated healthcare settings. Interests include understanding ways that trauma impact functioning over the lifespan, multicultural therapist orientation, and time-sensitive therapy orientations. He particularly enjoys collaborating with clients to create a meaningful space where they can work to achieve the changes they want to see in their lives. Shaun is currently supervised by Dr. Michael Malmon, Staff Psychologist.