Dr. Lisa Costas
Associate Professor
Dr. Costas earned her doctoral degree in counseling psychology and her master’s degree in clinical psychology at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas. She has a specialty in couples and family therapy and a minor in school psychology. She has been a core faculty member with the Florida School of Professional Psychology (FSPP) for eleven years.
She serves as lead instructor for the couples and families concentration and also teaches in the areas of psychotherapy interventions, ethics, lifespan development, group therapy, psychotherapy practicum seminar, and diversity. Prior to joining FSPP, she was a visiting assistant professor in the counselor education master’s program at the University of South Florida (USF). She has also been an adjunct instructor in psychology at the undergraduate level at various institutions in the Tampa area.
Dr. Costas is a licensed psychologist in the state of Florida. She has extensive experience in collegiate mental health serving as staff psychologist at various local university counseling centers and as director of clinical services at the USF-Tampa counseling center. She has clinical experience working with diverse populations especially Spanish-speaking Latinx. She also has experience in group and couples counseling, brief therapy, risk assessment, career counseling, EAPs, and community mental health.
In addition, she has extensive experience supervising interns at an APA accredited internship site and facilitating interns’ didactic seminars on assessment and supervision. In addition, she clinical experience working with children, adolescents, and families. Her theoretical orientation is integrative with emphasis on CBT, systems theory, person–centered, solution-focused, and psycho-dynamic approaches.
Dr. Costas has been actively involved in the Tampa Bay Latinx community. She has been a member of the Tampa Mayor’s Hispanic Advisory Council for the last 13 years. She is a past president and lifetime member of the Tampa Hispanic Women’s Association (HPWA), a local organization that mentors and supports Latina students and professionals. Through this organization, she developed a mentoring program for Latina college students and young professionals. She is an active member of APA and various APA divisions as well as the National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA). She presents regularly on issues related to diversity and Latinx psychology.
Dr. Costas is committed to educating and mentoring culturally competent psychologists in order to lessen the significant need for providers, especially Latinx psychologists, who can work with growing diverse communities. She is also an advocate of education initiatives and services that can address the needs of the Latinx and other underserved communities and ensure the multicultural and language competencies of those who serve them. She is a native of Puerto Rico and has resided in the Tampa area for over 25 years.
