Monica Payne, Executive Director

Monica Payne is the Executive Director of the Youth and Family Training Institute (YFTI) and an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.  For twelve years prior to becoming Executive Director, she had been the Evaluation Director at YFTI and was responsible for the outcomes, process, fidelity, and satisfaction data collection for PA counties implementing High Fidelity Wraparound. She and her team were contracted to work with over twenty grants funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) to provide evaluation services and consultation.

Monica has been trained in both clinical psychology and education and has been passionate about working with youth, adults and families in a variety of ways for the past twenty-five years. Prior to her work at YFTI, she spent eight years coordinating three large longitudinal National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded research studies under David Brent, MD in the Department of Psychiatry and co-authored eleven trauma-related peer-reviewed articles in psychiatric journals. She has also worked as an outpatient and in-home family and play therapist, taught secondary Social Studies at a local high school, and was an Adjunct Professor for undergraduate psychology courses at Duquesne University.

Monica obtained her training in Clinical Psychology at Duquesne University, completing her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees, and ended her studies with a Ph.D. (ABD). She also obtained a Master of Arts degree in Teaching at the University of Pittsburgh. She is married to her wonderful husband, Jim, has three adorable cats, plays bass guitar in a local band, and loves sports, gardening and traveling in her free time.