Our Team.
Michele Grethel, PhD, LCSW
Founder & Director
Dr. Grethel has private practices on Manhattan’s UWS and in Connecticut, offers telehealth, group, and retreat services for clients and providers. She is a USC Social Work faculty member and clinical researcher. Her work focuses on supporting people, especially adolescents and young adults exploring LGBT, not-parent expected (NPE), donor-conceived, or adoption identities, aiming to reduce stigma and barriers.
She uses an interdisciplinary trauma-informed approach with DBT, CBT, Mindfulness, Relational, Narrative, and Trauma-Informed therapies. As principal investigator of the FAIR project, she led research, including the article on unexpected paternity from DNA testing and the disclosure dilemma. The Spring 2023 marks the start of 360° interviews exploring the NPE family journey.
Dr. Grethel earned her PhD from NYU and MSW from Columbia.
Jennifer Lewis, PhD, LCSW
Dr. Lewis is the Director of the Masters of Social Work (MSW) and the Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) Program in Los Angeles and the Virtual Academic Center at the University of Southern California. Her pedagological interests include specialized neurobiologically informed treatment for individuals who have lived experience with trauma and addiction. Dr. Lewis’s current research interests include her work with the FAIR project, collaborating on the design of the study and interviewing participants. Most recently, she co-authored a book reducing access to lethal means for suicide prevention at the Golden Gate Bridge. Her book was selected to be showcased at the upcoming LA Times Festival of Books. Her professional interests include the intersection of complex co-occurring disorders such as addiction, trauma, suicide prevention, stress and resilience.
Dr. Lewis has held a private practice in Arizona and San Diego, California.
Dr. Lewis received her Phd in Social Work from New York University, and her MSW from Boston University.
Lily Ross, PhD, LCSW
Dr. Lily Ross has been an instructor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work since 2011. She has taught a broad range of courses focusing on children, youth, and families. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she has used an interdisciplinary, trauma-informed approach in her direct practice, supervision, consultation, and program management. Lily has worked in schools, community-based programs, nonprofit organizations and Department of Mental Health contract agencies. Lily’s doctoral studies focused on the ways increased social support and belonging can impact students’ motivation in schools. Using the family stress model, her dissertation study deepened understanding about connections between parents’ stress, supports, and perceptions of children’s behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.