Dr. Rachel Stein completed her undergraduate work at San Diego State University, receiving a BA in Psychology and Liberal Arts & Sciences, graduating with honors. She then continued her education, pursuing a M.Ed. and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Counseling and Psychological Services at Springfield College in Massachusetts.  She was awarded the only full-time teaching fellowship in her department during her master’s program at Springfield College, giving her the opportunity to teach several undergraduate courses as well as work with several Adjunct faculty in their course preparation and testing procedures.  After completing her master’s program, she worked at an inpatient psychiatric facility as both a mental health counselor on the child/adolescent unit conducting crisis intervention, individual and group therapy, and as an intake coordinator performing mental health and chemical dependency pre-admission clinical assessments, working closely with physicians, local law enforcement and emergency response teams. Rachel continued her graduate work, receiving both a MA in Psychology and a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology, with an Individual, Family Child emphasis. She has worked in various nonprofit and clinical settings for over 15 years. She has worked within several in-patient and residential facilities where she conducted mental health and chemical dependency triage intakes and assessments. She was the lead therapist, supervising two treatment teams providing therapeutic services within a level 12 residential treatment facility for high-risk adolescents referred by the Department of Probation and the Department of Children’s Services. Rachel completed her clerkship at the UCLA Office for Students with Disabilities, where she was an advocate for student rights, worked to help students receive their accommodations, and where she conducted diagnostic and character pathology assessments. She finished her pre-doctoral training at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, in their High-Risk Youth program working at an affiliated youth shelter, at the Division of Adolescent Medicine, at the Los Angeles Free Clinic and in their school-based clinic located at a Los Angeles high school.

Rachel has authored a manual developed for a therapist to conduct group intervention for female adolescents who have been victims of acquaintance rape and has stayed actively involved within the arena of domestic violence and violence against women as an invited panelist, educating and speaking on the “Link” for various symposiums throughout the nation. She founded and piloted a Positive Parenting program within two cities in the Orange County area.

Rachel remains actively involved within her community in the realm of public education. She was personally nominated by the school superintendent for the position of a board member on a local foundation that worked closely with and supported the city schools and school district to keep the music, arts and science programs alive and funded as well as provide grants for teachers within the district. She was elected and served on the School Site Council for both a local elementary school and high school where she worked side by side with the principals and teachers for the betterment of the school. She joined with a representative from the county’s Department of Education to create and implement parent education symposiums on a variety of subjects at a local middle school throughout the school year.

Rachel is currently the Assistant Dean for the School of Behavioral Sciences at a small, private university, as well as Senior Associate Faculty for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at University of Phoenix. Rachel was the recipient of the 2024 John Sperling Distinguished Faculty Award and the 2021, 2022 and 2023 recipient of the Phoenix500 Award, which recognizes the top faculty at University of Phoenix. She was also nominated for the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 Faculty of the Year Award. She has been part of focus groups for curriculum changes, student assessments and evaluation methods.  Rachel also regularly collaborates on curriculum revision, material and textbook reviews as well as course development. She has developed and taught courses at several universities, including Positive Psychology, Human Motivation, Interviewing & Counseling, Introduction to Psychology, Introduction to Sociology, Psychopathology, Advanced Abnormal Psychology, Elements of Clinical Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy, Ethics, Influence of Media on Behavior, Technology and Society, and Digital Learning.