About

The IPS Center at Divine Mercy University is an outpatient mental health facility providing clinical services to adults, adolescents, children, families and couples. Services are provided by advanced doctoral students, closely supervised by licensed clinical psychologists. We are committed to providing the community with high quality, affordable counseling services that understand the emotional, biological, social, spiritual and psychological aspects of a person. Clients of any faith or background are welcome at the Center.

At the heart of the counseling we provide is a deep respect for the dignity of each person and a commitment to providing appropriate sound psychological services within the context of each individual’s unique background. All counseling services are provided on a confidential basis as we adhere to the strict guidelines of HIPAA and state laws. The IPS Center is part of the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. program operated by the Institute for the Psychological Sciences (IPS) of Divine Mercy University.

Mission

The mission of the IPS Center at Divine Mercy University is to prepare psychology graduate students and post-graduate trainees, in the methods of psychological therapies and evaluations consistent with the Catholic view of the human person.

In serving our clients, we endeavor to enhance the growth and development of persons, marriages, and families. We promote awareness and improvements in mental health through research, education, and training, with a special focus on how psychological and spiritual functioning can be mutually integrated in clinical practice in order to enhance the well being of the client.

This mission is based on the values of bringing the best principles of psychology integrated with the principles of the Catholic Faith, with an emphasis on appreciating the inherent dignity of every person and the goal of fostering true freedom from psychological or emotional difficulties.

The IPS Center accomplishes its mission through direct clinical counseling services to the clients and communities we serve, training of graduate students and post-graduate trainees, education of the public, and evaluating models of treatment.

Clinical Services

In order to accomplish its educational functions of training and supervision and at the same time serve the mental health needs of the community, the IPS Center provides counseling services to persons, who are eligible to benefit from outpatient services provided by clinical trainees, regardless of socioeconomic status.

Education & Training

The IPS Center provides education, clinical training and professional supervision to graduate students and postgraduate trainees with the aim of fostering professionalism, practicing the psychological sciences in keeping with the Catholic Church’s view of the human person, as well as deepening their understanding and ability to implement evidence based psychological therapies and evaluations across a a variety of clinical counseling scenarios.

Staff

Clinical Externs are available on a rotating basis

Ian Masson, MS

Director

Ian Masson, MS, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor
Ian Masson is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Virginia. He graduated with his masters in clinical psychology from the Institute of Psychological Sciences, now Divine Mercy University, in 2013. For the past 8 years Ian has worked in a mental health agency providing counseling services to children, adolescents, and adults, and directed a program that taught parenting skills to parents whose children were at risk of removal from the home. During that time, Ian received certifications in Child Centered Play Therapy and Relationship Enhancement® therapy for couples and families. He returned to Divine Mercy University as director of the IPS Center in 2021. Ian’s clinical interests include working with children and their families to address emotional regulation and behavioral concerns, addressing relationship concerns between couples, and working with individuals to better understand and respond to their internal emotional world. Ian utilizes modalities in counseling that are largely based on relationship as the healing factor, including Child Centered Play Therapy, Relationship Enhancement Therapy, and interventions from Internal Family Systems. Ian views the relationships clients have in therapy, with others in their lives, and within themselves as key to achieving healing and freedom.

Licensed Mental Health Clinician HIPAA Privacy Officer

Anthony J. Flores, LPC, CT

Licensed Professional Counselor
Anthony J. Flores, LPC, CT holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Saginaw Valley State University, and a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Divine Mercy University, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Virginia. He has been specially trained in an integrated model of contemporary psychology and Catholic/Christian anthropology and theology. He enjoys working with couples, and clients struggling with trauma, PTSD, OCD, and mood disorders. In addition to his clinical work, he is a Certified Facilitator/Instructor and Clinical Traumatologist with the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology, and has extensive deployment and field experience responding to traumatized persons in the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters. Anthony believes in utilizing a holistic approach to treatment, addressing client welfare in body, mind, and soul by using a variety of techniques and modalities best suited for each client, including Cognitive Behavioral therapy, experiential and existential approaches. He enjoys teaching as much as he enjoys clinical work and is particularly interested in topics such as attachment theory, narcissistic abuse, and the integration of Catholic spirituality and mental health and psychology.

Assistant Director

Kristi Vivirito, Psy.D.

Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Vivirito is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences (IPS) at Divine Mercy University (DMU) in 2019. She completed her Pre-Doctoral Internship at Baylor University Counseling Center in Waco, Texas and returned to Virginia to complete a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at DMU which included provision of psychotherapy and psychological assessment at the IPS Center as well as teaching courses in the PsyD program at IPS. Dr. Vivirito’s professional work is focused on the practice of psychotherapy and the formation, training, and supervision of clinicians. Dr. Vivirito’s clinical interests include attachment theory, Emotionally-Focused Individual and Couples Therapy (EFIT/EFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and the integration of a Catholic vision of the human person as applied to psychotherapeutic intervention and clinical supervision.

Training Director

Sr. Mary Patrice Ahearn, Psy.D.

Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Sister Mary Patrice Ahearn is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Michigan and the Commonwealth of Virginia and a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. Her clinical work has focused on service to the Church with the assessment of candidates to religious life and the seminary, and in working in therapy with priests, religious and seminarians. After completing her postdoctoral work, Sister worked at her community’s Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center in Alma, Michigan and then worked for about 2 years teaching Applied Psychology and Counseling at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney Australia. After her assignment in Australia, Sister became the Director of Counseling Services at the Pontifical North American College in Rome for 3 years. She returned to Divine Mercy University in 2021. Sister’s professional interests include individual and group psychotherapy and her theoretical background utilizes psychodynamic, interpersonal and attachment theories. Sister is also interested in integrating a Catholic understanding of the human person with the best the science of psychology has to offer. She ultimately sees psychotherapy as a relationship that, if attended to well, can lead to insight, self-knowledge and with the hope of gaining interior freedom from whatever is holding the person back from achieving his or her goals.

Licensed Mental Health Clinician/Intake Coordinator

Mary Silva, MA, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor
Mary Silva is a Licensed Professional Counselor with ten years of clinical experience providing individual, couples, and family therapy for adolescents and adults. Mary received her MA Degree in Counseling Psychology from Adler University in Chicago and her BA Degree in Psychology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. Mary has worked in a variety of settings including community mental health, psychiatric inpatient treatment, mobile crisis response, and private practice. Mary has experience providing strengths-based and compassionate care for clients experiencing mood, anxiety, substance use, and trauma disorders. Mary finds purpose in helping to improve the quality of life and relationships for her clients who are experiencing mental health concerns and interpersonal challenges. Mary believes in a holistic approach which focuses on the physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual components of each person. She utilizes a variety of approaches in her work with clients including Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Attachment Theory, and Trauma-informed Care. Mary’s clinical goal is to help others live authentically by integrating sound principles of psychology with the truths of the Catholic faith.
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