Our staff is comprised of a national network of prominent senior-level counselors and psychologists throughout the United States and Internationally who are committed to meeting the needs of Counselors Without Borders, Inc.
Dr. Fred Bemak
Executive Director and Co-Founder
Dr. Fred Bemak is a Professor Emeritus at George Mason University in the U.S. and Executive Director and co-founder of Counselors Without Borders (CWB). Fred’s research and work focuses on international and cross-cultural psychology; post-disaster mental health, social justice, and human rights; cultural adaptation, and refugee and immigrant psychosocial adjustment. He co-developed the Disaster Cross-Cultural Counseling Model for doing culturally responsive work in post-disaster areas and has done culturally responsive post-disaster work globally, organizing and co-leading teams to work in the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina; Southern California following the destruction of the San Diego wildfires; Costa Rica following a major earthquake; Haiti (funded by USAID and Partners of the Americas following a major earthquake; Thailand following the tsunami; and Myanmar following Cyclone Nargis. He was a consultant in Myanmar for 2 years for the Save the Children Alliance on child protection, human trafficking, post-disaster counseling, and vulnerable children and orphans. Fred has worked in over 55 countries and held Visiting Faculty appointments at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil; University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia; Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey; Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, Mexico; and as a Visiting Research Scholar at the National Taiwan University and Ministry of Education in Taiwan. He has also received four Fulbright awards – one as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer/Researcher (Brazil) and three as a Senior Fulbright Specialist (Scotland, Turkey, and one upcoming in Malta) as well as the Kellogg Foundation Fellowship in International Development and Leadership (2.5-year fellowship to work throughout Latin America and the Caribbean). Fred is an American Psychological Association Fellow (Divisions 52 and 17), an American Counseling Association Fellow, and a Specialists in Group Work Association Fellow. He has authored over 100 publications and is a regularly invited speaker both nationally and internationally. Fred has received numerous awards for his work including the Commonwealth of Virginia 2018 State Council for Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV) Outstanding Faculty Award and an Honorary Distinguished Professorship from Amity University, India.
Dr. Rita Chi-Ying Chung
Director and Co-Founder
Dr. Rita Chi-Ying Chung is a Professor Emerita at George Mason University (GMU), U.S. She has worked with Counselors Without Borders (CWB), organizing and co-leading teams of counselors to the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, to Southern California following the destruction of the wildfires, to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and to Peru to work with the indigenous populations. Rita was also part of the CWB team that was funded by USAID and Partners of the Americas to work in Haiti after the earthquake. She has worked for more than 2 years in Myanmar as a consultant and trainer for Save the Children Alliance on child protection, human trafficking, post-disaster counseling, and vulnerable children and orphans. In Myanmar, she provided national training on post-disaster mental health interventions following Cyclone Nargis. Rita has lived and worked in the Pacific Rim, Asia, and Latin American, and was the former President of Counselors for Social Justice, former Chair of the American Counseling Association (ACA) Human Rights Committee, former Chair of the ACA International Committee, and former Executive Council Member for the International Association for Counselling. Rita’s research and fieldwork have focused on cross-cultural mental health, social justice and human rights, psychosocial adjustment, racial justice, and post-disaster counseling. She has over 100 publications that include 2 coauthored books, one on the psychosocial adjustment of refugees and the other on social justice counseling, and co-developed and written about the Disaster Cross-Cultural Counseling Model. Rita is a regularly invited speaker nationally and internationally, and was invited to speak at the United Nations about her work on the cultural aspects of trafficking Asian girls into the commercial sex industry. She also made numerous training videos on culturally responsive mental health practices with immigrant and refugee populations, disaster counseling, and training social justice counselors and psychologists. Rita has been the recipient of multiple awards, such as the ACA Human Rights Award, ACA Humanitarian Award. ACA Fellow, American Psychological Association Fellow (Divisions 45 and 52), the Commonwealth of Virginia (SCHEV) Outstanding Faculty Award, the Commonwealth of Virginia General Assembly Commendation Award for her work on social justice and human rights, the GMU Spirit of the King (Martin Luther King) Faculty Award, and the recipient of the GMU Presidential Medal for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion.
Dr. Ricardo O. Sanchez
Director and Coordinator of Clinical Services
Dr. Ricardo Sanchez is an Adjunct Professor in the Counseling & Development Program at George Mason University and provides mental health counseling services at Fairfax County Family Services in Fairfax, Virginia; working with clients involved in domestic and sexual violence. He has worked with Counselors Without Borders organizing and co-leading teams of counselors to Pine Ridge, Indian Reservation in South Dakota; supporting indigenous communities in Cuzco, Peru; and Puerto Rico following the destruction of Hurricane Maria. Ricardo has presented at national and international conferences and universities as presenter and invited lecturer including Pontifica Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP); Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA); Universidad Católica San Pablo (UCSP). In 2005, Ricardo founded Inka Wisdom, an organization dedicated to facilitating cross-cultural self-care group expeditions to Cuzco, Peru; incorporating hands-on Inkan healing approaches for professionals in the helping professions.
Dr. Selma Yznaga
Coordinator of Clinical Services Texas/Mexico Projects
Dr. Selma de Leon-Yznaga is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, one of the nation’s largest Hispanic Serving Institutions. Dr. Yznaga has held numerous leadership positions in the Texas Counseling Association (TCA) and the American Counseling Association (ACA). In 2007, Dr. Yznaga founded Texas Counselors for Social Justice, a division of TCA dedicated to addressing the oppression and marginalization of ethnic and social minorities. Most recently her clinical work, advocacy, and scholarship are directed at the treatment of immigration-related trauma at the South Texas/Mexican border.