Last updated on Thursday, July 31, 2025
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 Name : John Souza Jr.
Title : Assistant Professor
Unit : Department of Family and Consumer Sciences
Address : 2515 Campus Road
Honolulu, HI 96822
Room : Miller Hall 201G
Phone : (808) 956-2258
Fax : (808) 956-2419
E-mail : jgs808@hawaii.edu
Website : https://mftlab.ctahr.hawaii.edu
Specialties : Marriage and family therapy practice and training
Experiential therapeutics (sandplay therapy, nature-based therapy, use of AI)
Deliberate practice
Practice-based evidence and research
Professional Prep/Appointments :
Doctorate of Marriage & Family Therapy (DMFT), 2012
Argosy University Twin Cities (AUTC)
Clinical concentration: Clinical psychopharmacology and addictions studies
Doctoral Thesis: The Relational Diagnostic Assessment: Bridging the Practice-Research Gap in Culturally Diverse Communities
M.A. Marriage & Family Therapy, 2008
Minnesota School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Twin Cities
B.S. Business Administration, 2005
Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN
Minor: Organizational & Industrial Psychology
Projects :
Experiential Systemic Supervision
(PI: MFT supervision project)
Do You Know the Way to Licensure? From Graduate School to Professional Practice: A Study on Trends in Hawaiʻi’s Mental Health Workforce
(PI: Ongoing Research Project)
Relational Climate Assessment and Violence in Hawai'i's Agricultural Worksites
(PI: Inactive: 2024-present WCAHS Pilot Study Grant Project)
The MFT Lab: Advancing the Art and Science of Marriage and Family Therapy
(Director: In Development. Visit us in Miller Hall 111)
Masters Program in MFT
(Co-Chair: In Development)
Culturally-Based Community Connection for Resilience
(Contributing Investigator: 2024-2028 DHHS-Funded Research Project)
Is Your Intelligence Real or Artificial?
(Grant Mentor: UROP Grant-Funded, Student-Led Project)
Hawai'i Associate Licensing for MFTs, MHCs, SWs, and Psychologists
(Co-Bill Author: Rollout: July, 2026)
Hawai'i-Approved MFT Supervisor Designation Program
(Co-Developer: Sponsored by the Hawaiian Islands Association for Marriage and Family Therapy-HIAMFT)
Empowering Future Therapists: Local BIPOC Licensure Journeys Discussion
(PI: Inactive 2024 SEED IDEAS Grand-Funded Project)
2024-2025 HDFS Faculty Hiring Committee
(Chair: Inactive)
Courses:
HDFS 340 Intimacy, Marriages, and Families
HDFS 333 Adolescence and Early Adulthood
Professional Interests :
Innovative Experiential Therapeutics
Marriage and Family Therapy practice and training
Experiential therapeutics and supervision
Selected Publications :
MFT Supervision in Hawai'i book
(Co-editor; chapter contributor; in development)
Childhood Trauma Play Thearpy textbook
Jungian, Gestalt, and Nature-Based Play Therapy
(Co-author on each chatper, respectively; in development)
Routledge
Freedle, L. R., Souza, J., Jr., & Ram-Souza, V. (in review). Stories in the sand: A multicultural approach to disaster resilience during a volcanic eruption in Hawaiʻi. Practice Innovations.
Souza, J., Jr., & Downey, M. (accepted). The myth of independence: Nature-based family therapy with emerging adults. Family Relations
Jain, S., Souza, J., Jr., & Le., T.N. (accepted). Mental Health Equity for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Farmers in Hawai'i. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
Freedle, L. R., McGee, M., Blechman, S., Souza, J., & Zandbergen, D. L. (2021). The lava ate my school: The use of group sandplay to reduce anxiety and post-traumatic stress in displaced elementary school students. Journal of Sandplay Therapy, 30(2), 129-147.
Freedle, L. R., Goodwin-Downs, D., Souza, J., Jr., & Cipponeri, A. (2020). The added value of sandplay therapy with emerging adults in an outdoor behavioral healthcare program. Journal of Sandplay Therapy, 29(1), 129-144.
Souza, Jr., J. (2019, June). Pacific Quest’s family program for emerging adults. We are NATSAP: Family therapy edition.
Souza Jr, J. G. (2012). The relational diagnostic assessment: Bridging the practice-research gap
in culturally diverse communities. ) [Applied clinical project, Argosy University/Twin
Cities]. Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global.
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