Meet The Board
Jennifer Lotz, PsyD — President
she/her Dr. Lotz has been a member of RPA since 2013 and has been an RPA Board Member since 2023. She is a licensed psychologist in Santa Rosa, CA offering in-person and telehealth services. She previously worked in multiple college counseling centers in California and Ohio prior to opening her private practice in 2019. Dr. Lotz works from an interpersonal/relational perspective with a multicultural lens, offering both individual and group therapy. Dr. Lotz specializes in helping individuals looking to improve their interpersonal relationships and those seeking to process and heal from childhood abuse and sexual trauma. Dr. Lotz frequently works with young adults, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their families, health care workers, and foreign-born individuals.
Dr. Lotz graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and went on to earn both master’s and doctorate degrees from the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She received a Graduate Council Fellowship while in graduate school. She assisted in the development of Focused Brief Group Therapy (FBGT) and authored the FBGT Treatment Manual used globally to enhance the practice of brief therapy groups. She has presented the approach at the American Group Psychotherapy Association’s annual meeting six times. She holds a certification in TeleMental Health from the Zur Institute. She has volunteered with Hospice, AIDS Resource Center (ARC), Safespace programs, and the Sonoma County Pride Parade. PFLAG honored her with an Ally Award in 2010.
• • •
Alexis Petrakis, PsyD — Vice President
she/her Dr. Petrakis joined RPA as a member in 2023 and currently works in Sonoma and Marin counties, as well as via telehealth, and conducts individual, family, parent coaching and group therapy services as a member of a group private practice, Bridge to Bridge Psychotherapy group. As an integrative therapist, I enjoy collaborating with each patient to identify the unique clinical combination that will help them to address and attain their mental health needs and goals. Trained from a Psychodynamic framework, it has been rewarding to integrate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Gender Affirming Therapy into my practice. I have a particular passion for supporting the LGBTQIA community and am a current WPATH member (wpath.org) with training on providing competent therapy for youth and their families as well as adults as they navigate their gender and identity. Additionally, I continue to offer therapeutic services as a generalist psychologist and have training and expertise in supporting issues such as anxiety, depression, parenting, family relationships, feminist psychology, externalizing behaviors, self-harm, trauma, health psychology and adjustment to life stressors.
Across my seventeen years working in the field of psychology I have had the privilege of providing mental health care as an individual, group and family therapist as well as a school-based therapist in elementary and high schools, an evaluator for psychodiagnostic assessment, and a clinical supervisor. I have conducted services in various outpatient settings as well as the hospital and emergency department at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, where I completed my internship and post-doctoral training years. After finalizing my license in 2015, I worked for four years in Southern California providing therapy services in community mental health clinics and participating in the APA internship and training program as a supervisor. Returning to the Bay Area was always a goal for me and my family and for three and half years I provided mental health care to children, youth and families at the Kaiser Permanente Marin-Sonoma Department of Psychiatry before shifting to private practice in 2023.
• • •
Sandy Peace, PsyD, CST — Treasurer
she/her/Dr. Dr. Peace is a California licensed psychologist and AASECT certified sex therapist in private practice. She works from her home office in Petaluma providing individual, couples / partners, and group therapy via telehealth. Dr. Peace utilizes a wide range of therapeutic techniques: CBT, DBT, EMDR, solution-focused, somatic, mindfulness, psychodynamic, relational, and multicultural. She is a generalist clinician with expertise in identity development, LGBT+, polyamory / ENM (Ethical Nonmonogamy), trauma, relationships, and sexuality.
Dr. Peace received her doctorate in clinical psychology from John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill in 2012. She was supervised by Dr. Michael Pinkston at her 3rd year practicum at Sonoma State University Counseling Center. After completing her internship and post-doc at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Counseling Center (where she worked with Dr. Jennifer Lotz), she moved to Los Angeles and started a private practice in DTLA in 2015. There Dr. Peace was active with the Los Angeles County Psychological Association, including providing training for the Couple’s Therapy Special Interest Group on working with bisexual and polyamorous clients, and she was a community organizer and educator in the polyamorous and bisexual communities. She moved back to Sonoma County in 2020 during the pandemic to be near her personal support network.
Dr. Peace’s first career was in the AEC field doing payroll, accounting, and financial engineering, marketing and business development. (She was on the engineering team that helped create development impact fees for new neighborhoods in the City of Rohnert Park.) She is also a foodie who loves planning and hosting events.
• • •
Cheryl Nygard, PsyD — Secretary & Membership Chair
Dr. Cheryl Nygard has been a member of the Redwood Psych Association since 2012, joining the organization while launching her private practice. She is a licensed psychologist in California and works with adolescents, adults, and families, treating eating disorders, trauma, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, grief, and self-esteem concerns. Dr. Nygard uses an integrative approach that includes cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, brief therapy, mindfulness-based practices, family systems, somatic psychology, DBT, art therapy, and crisis intervention. She is EMDR-trained, conducts bariatric surgery psychological evaluations, and regularly engages in continuing education in eating disorders, trauma, law and ethics, cultural diversity, and clinical supervision.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Cheryl Nygard serves at Lomi Psychotherapy Clinic as Director of the Doctoral Intern Program, Lead Psychologist, and Clinical Supervisor. In these roles, she oversees pre- and post-doctoral training, including recruitment, hiring, training, supervision, and evaluation, and provides individual and group supervision to practicum students, interns, and associate clinicians. She earned her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Meridian University in 2009, with a dissertation focused on eating disorders, holds an MA in Psychology from the Institute of Imaginal Studies, and a BA in Psychology from Dominican University of California, where she graduated summa cum laude with department honors.