Psychology

Mike Johnson
Chair of Psychology Department

M.Sc. University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
B.A. La Salle University, Philadelphia, USA

Mike Johnson, currently serving as Chair of the Psychology Department at UNYP, received his M.Sc. in Experimental Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is currently conducting his Ph.D. research at the Sexology Institute of the 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague in the area of Medical Psychology and Psychopathology. He also attended advanced training in Sexual Medicine at the University of Oxford on scholarship from the European Society of Sexual Medicine.   At UNYP, he teaches courses in General Psychology, Research Methods, Statistics and Science and Sexuality, and has twice received UNYP’s Outstanding Faculty Award. He speaks English, Czech and German and in his free time he enjoys bodybuilding.

Will Bennis

Ph.D., University of Chicago, USA
M.S., University of Southern California, USA

Will Bennis is a cultural psychologist / cognitive anthropologist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in the Department of Psychology, Committee on Human Development. Following his doctoral degree, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow, first at the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, then in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. His research and scientific interests—all of which concern the interaction between cognitive processes, the environment, and culture—focus on judgment and decision making, gambling behavior, and moral sensibilities.  At UNYP, he teaches Cultural Psychology and Research Methods.

Joseph Dodds

MPhil, Psychoanalytic Studies, Sheffield University, UK
MA, Psychoanalytic Studies,Sheffield University, UK
BSc, Psychology and Neuroscience, Manchester University, UK

 Joseph Dodds is a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) of the British Psychological Society (BPS), and is a member of several other professional organizations such as the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society, the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP), the Institute of Counselling, the British Association of Art Therapists, the Higher Education Network for Research and Information in Psychoanalysis (THERIP), the International Psychoanalytic Studies Organization (IPSO), and the Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and Life Sciences. He is an advanced candidate in the Czech Psychoanalytical Society (International Psychoanalytic Association) and a Reviewer for the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling and Frontiers in Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience. Mr Dodds is a psychotherapist in private practice, and at UNYP teaches the courses ‘Experimental Psychology’, ‘Social Psychology’, ‘Living in Social and Political Crisis’, ‘Film/Analysis: Cinema of the Mind’, and ‘Psychology of Art’. He also lectures at Charles University’s CIEE Study Center and the Anglo-American University. He holds a BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience from Manchester University, an MA and an MPhil in Psychoanalytic Studies from Sheffield University, a Diploma in CBT and a Diploma in Addiction Counselling from the University of the West of Scotland, and numerous other professional qualifications. He is currently completing his PhD at the University of Bolton. Dodds' research interests include the dialogue between psychoanalysis and neuroscience, and the application of psychological and insight into the domains of society, art and nature. Currently his main focus is on the psychology of climate change and he is author of the book Psychoanalysis and Ecology at the Edge of Chaos: Complexity theory, Deleuze|Guattari, and psychoanalysis for a climate in crisis (Dodds, 2011).

Jan Fiala

MUDr. Third Medical Faculty, Charles University, Czech Republic

Dr. Jan Fiala graduated in 1998 from the Third Medical Faculty, Charles University in Prague and started his career as a clinical psychiatrist in the same year. He executed managerial functions in institutions providing health care and education and in 2007 he undertook the C.E.O. role in Fiala Partners s.r.o. Since 1998, Dr. Jan Fiala researches human motivation and its application in macroeconomics as a specific topic. He gives lectures in management, managerial psychology, is a sought-after coach and an advocate of the cognitive-behavioral approach in coaching. Dr. Jan Fiala publishes in Czech and in English (The Concise Dictionary of Economic Terms, 2007, Ekonomicky slovnik s odbornym vykladem cesky a anglicky, 2009). Dr. Fiala teaches Industrial Psychology as well as running seminars on Psychological Interviewing Techniques for UNYP students.

Désirée Gonzalo

Ph.D. University College London, UK
D.Clin.Psych, King's College London, UK
M.Sc. University College London, UK

Désirée Gonzalo received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. There she conducted research in the areas of depressogenic attributions in individuals with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in the effectiveness of psycho-education as a stabilization tool in asylum seekers and refugees with PTSD. She received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Functional Imaging Laboratory (Institute of Neurology) at University College London, where she conducted research in the area of functional neuroanatomy of learning and memory and multisensory integration. She also held a 4-year postdoctoral research position at Hamburg University in Germany, where she continued along the same research lines as during her PhD. She received her M.Sc. in Neurological Science from University College London, during which she conducted research in the area of functional neuroanatomy of language. She also received a B.Sc. in Neuroscience from Sussex University, where she conducted research in the area of invertebrate learning. Dr. Gonzalo currently teaches Statistics and Research Methods for Social Sciences at UNYP. At present, she works as therapist at the City Practice Prague and for the student counseling services at UNYP and NYU. She is a member of the British Psychological Society. Dr. Gonzalo's professional interests are mainly in the practice of clinical psychology and clinical research, as well as in teaching. She is also interested in languages, cultures, and writing. She speaks English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, and is learning Czech.

Eva Janebova

Ph.D.,Charles University, Czech Republic
Mgr., Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Janebová Eva, Ph.D. specializes in intercultural and international education. At the momonet she is also an Associate Profesor at the Department of Educational Science and Central European Studies at Faculty of Arts, Charles University and also works as a Liaison for Council for International Education Exchange for the university. She has worked with Czech NGOs in the field of inclusive education and teachers training. She studied her postgraduate studies at Teachers College University of Columbia and completed them at Charles University. As also visited University of Minnesota as an international scholar lately. She currently teaches Educational Psychology with UNYP.

Carol A. Leitschuh

Ph.D., Oregon State University Corvallis, USA

Dr. Carol Leitschuh is a Fulbright Scholar in Child Development in the Czech Republic and an Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar for the European Union in Adapted Physical Activity.  She holds positions as Affiliate Faculty with the Center on Neurobehavioral Development (CNBD) and the Center on Early Education and Development (CEED) at the University of Minnesota. These affiliations reflect her ongoing work on the assessment and intervention strategies to promote positive developmental trajectories for very young children. This began in earnest with an Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services sponsored dissertation on the movement skills of young children prenatally exposed to cocaine polydrugs. An Initial Career Award also from OSERS enabled the research to develop and validate a valid and reliable tool for monitoring the development of infant/toddler movement skills. Dr Leitschuh is also the author, with Dr John Dunn, of Special Physical Education, 9^th Ed.  Her academic position with the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota included coordination of a special education licensure and general kinesiology courses such as motor development, foundations in kinesiology and the guiding of master’s and doctoral projects and research. At UNYP she teaches courses in Developmental Psychology.

Craig Mc Nulty

Ph.D., University of East Anglia, UK
M.Sc., The Institute of Psychiatry, London University, UK

Dr. Craig McNulty is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with training and experience in cognitive and behavioral therapy techniques and in diagnostic and evaluative psychometric assessment and personality profiling. He received his M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology from The Institute of Psychiatry, London University and his Doctor of Clinical Psychology (D.Clin.Psy) from the University of East Anglia. He has eighteen years of post-qualification experience in the treatment of anxiety, and stress related disorders; depression, phobias and post-traumatic stress as well as experience in the assessment of the psychological effects of human rights abuse and psychological distress among refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. He also acts as an independent expert in civil and criminal litigation. Dr. McNulty has professional training in UK employment law and holds a postgraduate certificate in management. He is currently an associate practitioner and service manager with The City Practice, an independent clinical psychology service providing diagnostic assessment, therapy and counseling services in the U.K. and the rest of Europe, with consulting rooms in London and Prague. He also manages the UNYP Counseling Center. Dr. Mc Nulty teaches Abnormal Psychology and Counselling Theories in the undergraduate program, and manages the professional case supervision in the Clinical-Counseling Master’s program.

Michal Miovsky

Ph.D., Palacky’s University Olomouc, Czech Republic
M.A., Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Vice-dean for health non-medical professions on the 1^st Medical Faculty and head of the Center of Addictology of the Psychiatric clinic of the 1^st Medical faculty, Charles University in Prague and Head of Center for Addictology of Psychiatric Clinic under umbrella of the Faculty (www.adiktologie.cz). He is an editor of Adiktologie Journal (indexed by SCOPUS) and a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Groups in Addiction and Recovery, and Czech and Slovak Psychiatry. He is also a fellow researcher of the National Focal Point for Drugs and Drug Addictions, specializing in qualitative methods and research in the field of addictions and responsible for development of evaluation tools and building of a system of quality and efficiency control of preventive and treatment care. He teaches the UNYP course in Chemical Addiction.

Ludek Nerad

RNDr., Charles University, Czech Republic
Ph.D. (CSc.), Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

Dr. Ludek Nerad’s main area of interest lies in functional organization of the brain. His decision to build his professional career as a neuroscientist grew while he was a student of physics at the School of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague. He completed his CSc. studentship in biology at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, where he continued working in brain research until 2000. Then he moved to New Zealand to work in the same field for 5 years. Besides, he taught a fourth year course on “Experimental methods in psychology”. Dr. Nerad currently teaches Human Biology and Biology and the Brain at UNYP. His other foreign contracts in brain research included the University of Provence in Marseille, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and University of Dundee. In his experiments he used various behavioral, surgical, electrophysiological, histological, and computational methods. He is a co-discoverer (with Dr. David Bilkey) of ‘flutter’, a 12-Hz EEG rhythm in the rat brain. Despite his wide experimental experience, he puts more emphasis on theory. He is currently working on a monograph about the principles of conscious awareness.

Ondřej Rak

PhDr. Charles University in Prague, Philosophical Faculty, Cultural Studies
M.A. Charles University in Prague, Philosophical Faculty, Cultural Studies
B.A. Empire State College, UNYP, Psychology

Dr. Ondřej Rak completed his PhDr. in Cultural Studies at Charles University in Prague and is currently working as an HR Consultant and Marketing Manager at Image Lab s.r.o, one of the Czech Republic’s top HR training and consultancy companies. As an HR Consultant, Dr. Rak has cooperated with many companies delivering trainings and consultancy projects. The main companies included Škoda Auto, ABB, Lincoln, DSV, Iveco Irisbus and many others. During his career, he went through many trainings himself, including a Trainer Qualification with Volkswagen A.G. from which he obtained the Volkswagen Service Trainer Certificate. Dr. Rak is also active in the academic world. He has taught university courses on the topics of Psychology of Management and is currently teaching Personnel Psychology at UNYP. His university studies were focused on two main areas: Psychology and Cultural Studies. In Psychology, his main areas of interest were depression treatment and also connection between psychology and business. In cultural studies, his research was focused on social and psychological impacts of destruction of the old town in Most in the Czech Republic. He speaks English and Czech, has a Rhodesian Ridgeback, Káťa, loves fast cars and plays drums in hard rock band called Kdyby Psi.

Marek Preiss

Docent, Palacký University, Czech Republic

Ph.D., Charles University, Czech Republic
M.A., Charles University, Czech Republic

Dr. Marek Preiss is a full time instructor and researcher at UNYP.  He earned his Ph.D. from Charles University in Clinical Psychology, and the title of Docent was conferred by Palacký University, in Olomouc.   He has also undergone extensive training in psychodynamic therapy. In addition to teaching Psychology of Adjustment and Theories of Personality, and his involvement in curriculum review and overseeing State Exams for the psychology department, he also works part-time as a Clinical Psychologist and researcher at Prague Psychiatric Center.  His research interests include academic dishonesty, studies of cognition and how to improve our memory and reasoning skills, and also studies of clinical populations, such as personality disorders.

Veronika Svoboda, Ph.D.

Ph.D. California School of Professional Psychology, USA
B.A. San Diego State University, California, USA

Dr. Svoboda is a clinical psychologist, working in her private practice with the City Practice psychological services group in Prague.  She received her bachelor’s degree at San Diego State, and continued for her master’s and doctoral degrees at the California School of Professional Psychology.   She specializes in emotional trauma, EMDR, relationship issues, self-growth, anxiety and depression.  Her other interests include multi-cultural issues, relationships and emotional intelligence. At UNYP, she manages the professional case seminar for the Clinical Psychology Master program, and in the bachelors program, she is teaching Family Dynamics.  In her spare time she enjoys skiing, hiking and outdoor adventures.

Jaroslav Šesták

Ph.D., University of Missouri, USA
CSc., Czech Technical University
M.Eng., Czech Technical University

Dr. Jaroslav Šesták  was born in the village ‘Držkov’ (North Bohemian Mountains) where he still possesses a small farm. He obtained a degree M.Eng in silicate chemistry (1962) and Ph.D. in solid state physics (1968), both in Prague, the latter degree was approved while he spend a year at the University of Missouri at Rolla as an assistant professor in ceramics (UMR 1970). Jaroslav devoted his scientific proficiency in experimental and theoretical studies related to the field of material thermodynamics and after communistic persecution (when he was not permitted to teach) he was finally allowed to became a full professor in material sciences and engineering (1993) and was credited by the highest gradation of D.Sc. for his life achievements. He edited and authored 15 books and monographs, published almost 300 papers that have received almost 2500 citations.  Jaroslav was a cofounding member of ICTAC (1965), Thermochimica Acta (1970) and Journal of Mining and Metallurgy (1997) and is a member of the editorial board of Journal Thermal Analysis as well as he participates in other scientific and educational boards. Beside his scientific career he was a league basketball player, mountaineer (Himalaya, Caucasus, Asian Pamir, South American Andes and the European Alps – earning needed funds as an occasional window-cleaner roping down tall buildings), ski instructor, politician (deputy and member of the Prague government 1994-1998, once a candidate for the seat in the Czech parliament) and enthusiastic globetrotter (notoriously carrying a sleeping sack in his backpack while participating at scientific conferences). Within this hobby he has also became a recognized photographer who held twenty one photo-exhibitions and as a renowned scientist, he was invited to make photo-exhibitions at a number of international conferences Jaroslav ventured a curiosity not yet common within scientific circles when he illustrated his recent book “Heat, thermal analysis and society” by 60 full-page artistic photos. HE teaches in UNYP's Natural Sciences division.

Filip Smolík

Ph.D., University of Kansas, USA
M.A., Charles University, Czech Republic

Dr. Filip Smolík earned his Ph.D. on a Fulbright Scholarship in the Child Language Doctoral Program at the University of Kansas, and teaches Developmental and Cognitive psychology at UNYP as well as serving as a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. His particular interests are in the field of language acquisition, developmental psycholinguistics and psychology of language. He has designed special software for the analysis of child language data in addition to publishing many papers and book chapters on the subject.  Dr. Smolík teaches courses in Developmental Psychology, Cognition, and Statistics in the psychology curriculum.

Neela Winkelmann-Heyrovská