Family Therapy Faculty

The full-time faculty of the UHCL Family Therapy program are committed teachers, active scholars, and writers with diverse interests and areas of expertise.

Brent Bradley, Associate Professor, Director of the Family Therapy Program
PhD from Fuller School of Psychology, Fuller Seminary.  MA in Theology.

Research Interests:  Tracking Emotion & Change in-session with couples, families, & individuals.  Outcome and Process research.

Non-Academic Interest:  Mixed Martial Arts.

Desiree Michele Seponski, Assistant Professor
PhD from University of Georgia in Child & Family Development w/specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy, with a graduate certificate in qualitative research.  2010-2011 Fulbright in Cambodia.

Research Interests:  Culturally Responsive Therapies (US and International--Cambodia), Intergenerational Relationships, Gender, Aging, Spirituality, and Ethnicity.

Non-Academic Interest:  Traveled to 6 Asian countries in past year. Ate grasshoppers, beetles, and tarantulas while there (yes, they tasted like chicken...).

W. Jared DuPree, Assistant Professor
PhD from Kansa State University in Human Ecology w/ specialization in Marriage & Family Therapy.  International MBA w/ concentration in consulting & entrepreneurship - University of South Carolina.

Research Interests:  Systemic consulting, creativity & innovation in systems, family businesses, and practice-based evidence.

Non-Academic Interest:  Playing street ball (basketball).

Pruedence Brooks, PsyD
Visiting Assistant Professor
Pruedence Brooks is Visiting Assistant Professor in Family Therapy and has been with UHCL since 2005. She received a PsyD in Counseling Psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University - San Antonio, Texas and is presently working towards licensure as a Psychologist. She received a MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from Our Lady of the Lake University - Houston, Texas and a BS in Psychology from the University of Houston - Central. As a graduate instructor she taught Introduction to Psychology and Social Psychology. Courses at UHCL include: Family Assessment, Research Methods in Family Therapy, Intro to Family Therapy, Family Psychology (on-line), Family Life Cycle, and Professional Ethics. Her clinical training has been primarily with ethnic/racial minorities and she has conducted psychological evaluations and provided therapy to primarily underserved populations. Dr. Brooks completed a dissertation entitled “A qualitative study of factors that contribute to satisfaction and resiliency in long-term African American marriages.”

Pruedence’s research interests include:

• Multicultural counseling
• Satisfaction and resiliency in minority couples
• Systemic postmodern therapies
• Qualitative research methods

She enjoys visiting relatives in her hometown in east Texas, going to the beach, and planning annual family vacations.

Pruedence is an Affiliate Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a Member of the American Psychological Association.

Sam Caldarera
Sam Caldarera, LCSW, LMFT, LPC
Adjunct Lecturer

Sam received his MSW from Tulane University Graduate School of Social Work in June, 1969. He joined the staff of Family Service Center, Houston, Texas and during his tenure, he supervised two district offices and served as the Clinical Director of Marriage and Family Counseling for many years. He also supervised much of the staff in couples, family, individual, and group therapies. During this same time period, Sam was a field instructor for the University of Houston School of Social Work and taught courses in Family and Couples Therapy. He also taught courses in Psychodrama and Gestalt Therapy. Sam, along with three other practicing therapists, founded the Gestalt Training Center in Houston and served on the faculty for ten years. He is a past president of the Houston Association for Marriage & Family Therapy and on the training faculty for the Houston Group Psychotherapy Association. He also has conducted many workshops on Couples Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Psychodrama, and Mindfulness processes. His areas of expertise are especially in the areas of experiential therapy processes.
Sam has also been a musician since childhood and currently has three CD’s on the market. He plays Native American Flute, Didgeridoo, Shakuhachi, Bansuri Flute, and several other world instruments. Sam believes it is important for family therapists to have a self care program and has been a practitioner of mindfulness meditation practices for over twenty years. Sam is not attached to any one method of therapy and believes therapists need to have knowledge of many different approaches and a wide range of intervention skills to meet the varying challenges that clients bring to the therapy process. Sam hopes to instill in his students a desire to grow professionally and personally. And he believes a therapist’s most potent tool is his/her conscious use of self.
Sam has two children and two grandchildren. He lives with his two Persian cats who show great patience listening to Sam play the world instruments he loves to spend time practicing. His favorite activities are being with close friends, performing music, traveling around the world, and watching the birds and squirrels in his back yard.

Robert Hochschild, Ph.D.
Adjunct Faculty

Rob has been an Adjunct Faculty at UHCL since 1982. While usually teaching the Family Therapy Practicum, he has also taught Introduction to Family Therapy, Advanced Family Therapy, and Family Life Cycle. Rob is also in private practice and an Associate of the Houston Family Institute since 1979. After graduating with a BS in Mathematics from Rollins College in 1968, Rob taught mathematics in a junior high school in University City, MO. Though he enjoyed teaching, he shifted his focus from education and mathematics to psychology and became actively involved with students who were having difficulties and with their families. He co-founded Youth Emergency Service (YES), a peer-counseling center for students within the school district and helped transition YES to a counseling facility, runaway house, and crisis center in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

While teaching mathematics, he met Charlyne (Char), an English teacher, and they married in 1971. Charlyne was also integrally involved in the development of YES, and is currently a school counselor. Rob and Char have two adult daughters.

Rob received his Ph.D. in Clinical and Community Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1976. He completed his Clinical Psychology Internship and a Child and Family Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine and a Marriage and Family Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Texas Research Institute of Mental Sciences. He then was the Founder and Director of the Family Therapy Program at the Michael E. Debakey Veterans Administration Center in Houston before going into private practice.

Rob is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist and a Psychologist. He is a Clinical Member and Approved Supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and a member of the American Family Therapy Academy. He has been a Board Member of TAMFT and past president of HAMFT. He is also a member the American, Texas, and Houston Psychological Associations.