Our Faculty and Staff

Education:

• M.A. - Boston College - Mental Health Counseling
• Ph.D. - Nova Southeastern University - Marriage and Family Therapy

Maria A. Levi-Minzi, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Services and is the lead faculty member for the Master of Human Service program in Child Protection. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Levi-Minzi spent 14 years at the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities (ARSH) at Nova Southeastern University in different capacities; she was project director of private and publicly funded research projects among substance using populations including sex workers, people living with HIV, young adults, the elderly, and juvenile justice populations, and she served as a research scientist, analyzing data for publications, presentations, and grant applications. She has extensive experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods, instrument development and testing, and intervention design and application.

Until her appointment to Assistant Professor in 2020, she was also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Family Therapy and the Department of Justice and Human Services. She has taught courses including substance abuse treatment and critical issues in systems theories, research methods, foundations in family, diversity, and conflict resolution, survey issues in criminal justice, and grant writing. In addition, she has been a Co-Principal investigator and program evaluator on several research projects, including: "Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) on Adolescent Males Committed to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice;" “Evaluation of SAMHSA Targeted Capacity Expansion Program: Substance Abuse Tx for Minorities at High-risk for HIV;” "Postdoctoral Training in General, Pediatric and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene;" “Predoctoral Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene;” and “Pediatric Dentistry and AEGD Residency Collaborative on Autism Spectrum Disorder. ”

Dr. Levi-Minzi also provides individual and group counseling services to adults suffering from mental health problems and substance use disorders, including court-ordered clients.