Vito M. Vacirca

• Conducted initial intake assessments for new clients, facilitating diagnosis, treatment planning, and safety planning to establish effective care pathways.
• Provided individual therapy, group therapy, and milieu psychosocial behavior health services and activities for clients within scope of practice.
• Performed crisis intervention and risk assessments, addressing immediate client needs and enhancing safety measures.
• Assisted clients with discharge planning and coordination of care.
• Hawthorne Crisis Center - Short-Term Acute Residential Treatment (START) for adults 18+ with severe mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders who are Medi-Cal funded, Medi-Cal eligible or uninsured.

• Oversaw financial planning and allocation of funds to support student events and initiatives.
• Managed and monitored CSI budget of $7,000, ensuring accurate tracking of income and expenses.
• Maintained transparent financial records and presented updates to executive board members.
• Coordinated reimbursement processes and ensured compliance with university policies.

• Assessed course performance for 62 students through detailed grading of case write-ups.
• Evaluated students' assessment techniques, formal diagnoses, and treatment plans of vignettes and film characters.
• Initiated student discussions during 'turn and discuss' periods to foster engagement in large lectures.
• Formulated weekly announcements to communicate course logistics and expectations effectively.
• Held office hours to address student inquiries regarding course content and career development.
• Provided resources and mentorship to support student involvement on campus.
• Guest lectured on application processes for counseling graduate programs.

• Cultivated diverse community of undergraduate and graduate students passionate about skateboarding.
• Coordinated social events and group activities, fostering an inclusive environment for student organization.

• Led a team of undergraduate students in Psi Chi under faculty mentorship.
• Implemented experimental study involving literature review, IRB proposal, and data collection.
• Presented project titled 'Witnessing Positivity: Influence of Positive Social Interactions' at UCLA PURC and CSUSM URC.
• Hosted workshops on reading research papers, conducting literature searches, and research methodologies.
• Facilitated discussions on current literature relevant to ongoing project throughout the year.

Research Assistant position: Head of phone screening.

• Trained new Research Assistants (RAs) on how to conduct a scripted, over the phone, psychological evaluation of potential study participants, and how to safely respond when participants present suicidal ideation.
• Guided RAs on how to respond to administer PHQ-9, OASIS, Functional Interference, and MINI-Spin, along with questions pertaining to mental health, drug and alcohol use, medication, diagnostic history.
• Authored evidence based protocols on how to properly assess symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, Schizophrenia, alcohol use disorder, along with common study rule outs.
• As a study confederate, provided evidence based support to participants with suicidal ideation and schizophrenia spectrum diagnoses.
• Conducted quality checks on fMRI data using UNIX command line tools.
  Analyzed functional neural imaging (AFNI) for structural and functional alignment.
• Evaluated activation in striatum, occipital lobe, and pre-central gyrus areas.
• Ensured accurate overlap of structural and functional data throughout analysis.

• Facilitated twice-weekly discussion sections for five to ten students, fostering reflective dialogue on personal growth.
• Created a safe environment for students to share mental health struggles, ensuring empathetic and appreciative responses.
• Held office hours to provide support on class logistics and course content inquiries.
• Graded discussion section write-ups and developed grading policies to ensure fairness.
• Posted logistical announcements and moderated online forums to engage students in critical thinking.
• Evaluated final papers assessing clinical intake interviews, focusing on sociocultural and cognitive factors.

• Collaborated with North Seattle Community College advisors to design academic workshops and transfer sessions.
• Developed and hosted monthly meetings for first-year students on Seattle Promise scholarships.
• Led project initiatives while organizing and coordinating team meeting schedules.
• Resolved conflicts through compromises that benefited all parties during busy academic schedules.
• Delivered effective lectures and presentations to audiences of 10-14 students.
• Cultivated mentor-mentee relationships to support student development.

• Acquired knowledge of in-depth processes and procedures to craft products ready for finish carpentry installations.
• Professionally communicated with clients on behalf of the company, quickly learned jargon required to deliver and retrieve materials, and performed detail-oriented tasks in a labor intense high-risk environment.

• Instructed snowboard classes for 3-7 novice students aged 7 to 19, fostering a supportive learning environment.
• Communicated complex motor skills with encouraging language, identifying challenges and delivering constructive, evidence-based feedback.