Northcentral University

5 Kristopher Lichtanski, PhD Greetings! My name is Dr. Kristopher Lichtanski and I have been part of NCU Community for 13 years now as both FT and PT faculty. I am currently a Distinguished Core Adjunct Professor teaching courses and chairing dissertations as well as serving as an IRB Reviewer and Full Board member. Apart from NCU, I am currently the Director of Clinical Training at Saybrook University. My past faculty appointments include City College of San Francisco, University of San Francisco, and New College of California – where I also served as Field Placement Director and later Assistant Dean. My background is in clinical psychology, so I also have a long history of working with various populations, including my own LGBTQ+ community, across several different clinical settings. I am originally from Poland and my journey into the field of psychology started there, although it wasn't a direct path. I was in music school throughout my childhood and I started college in Music Academy, but after the first semester, I realized that this is not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After some soul searching I returned to college to study psychology, focusing on art therapy. I still strongly believe that engagement with the arts is essential for our well-being and I encourage everyone to find some time to read a poem or a novel, or see a play, or go to a live show! From there, my passion for our field only grew, especially when I realized how impactful my work was for individuals, families, and communities around me. Traveling throughout the world, I also had an opportunity to learn from the diverse cultures and from the many ways of understanding and being in the world. As a result, global issues, social justice, equality, and diversity continue to be a major focus in my work. Mindi Mull, PhD Greetings! My name is Dr. Mindi Mull. I am a faculty member and also serve as the Associate Director of Faculty Support and Development in the department of Psychology. I've been with NCU for six years and prior to that taught at several other colleges and universities. I earned my PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Toledo in 2001. I have taught courses in child and adolescent development for almost 20 years and currently teach in NCU's MS program in Child and Adolescent Development. My research interests focus on the cognitive development of preschool – elementary school aged children. Basically, I'm fascinated with how children learn and form new concepts. More specifically, my research has focused on how children develop what is known as a "Theory of Mind." We all have a "theory" or set of beliefs about how the mind works (e.g., our thoughts and emotions influence our actions, we interpret situations based partly on our previous experiences, everybody's mind works a bit differently, etc.). Our theory of mind is incredibly important and allows us to understand others and interact with them in socially appropriate ways. For example, if we misinterpret another person's intentions, we are more likely to respond in an inappropriate way. Without a fully developed theory of mind, we would struggle significantly in many aspects of life. However, no one ever really directly teaches us these things. We simply pick it up through our many interactions with others throughout childhood and adolescence. It is how children learn about the mind and the implications of this learning that fascinates me most. I am also raising my own two children. My daughter, Ava, is 13, and my son, Will, is 10. It has been very interesting for me to see how the research and theory regarding child development plays out (or sometimes doesn't) in real life. Of course, all children are different and development is incredibly complex. I knew this long before I was a parent, but seeing firsthand the development of my own children has only lead to an even greater appreciation of this and more unanswered questions. There will always be more to learn and research in the field, which is very exciting!

• Cover