Counseling & Human Development
The counselors at Albuquerque Academy promote skills-based, social-emotional learning, including helping students develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, and healthy decision making. We believe that these skills are the hallmarks of young adults who are successful in their relationships, college, and workplace environments.
Extras for Students
Puberty Club with Lorrie Swanson and Chris Peknik
Grade 6
Tuesday afternoons at 3 p.m.
Online; parents may register their student by emailing Ms. Swanson.
In this three-session workshop, we cover the basics of human reproduction and the physical and emotional changes that come with puberty.
Yoga and Journaling with Anna Balsamo
8-9 Division
Monday afternoons at 4 p.m.
Meet at the McKinnon parking lot.
Yoga and journaling encourage self-awareness and make connections. We move through beginner-friendly yoga sequences to learn mindfulness skills, connect with our bodies, and find new ways to relax and destress.
Name Your Game with Kevin Mancini
8-9 Division
Wednesdays 4-5:30 p.m.
Meet at the McKinnon parking lot.
Name Your Game club is a chance to let off steam and build relationships. We’ll play any game that’s COVID-safe, from disc golf to video games.
Extras for Parents
Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown book study
Meet the Counselors
Cathann Dragone-Gutierrez
10-12 Division
dragonegutierrez@aa.edu | 596-0590
Cathann was born and raised just outside of Manhattan. After attending school on the upper west side, she and her girlfriends took a road trip across the country. It was then that she fell in love with star-drenched skies in the land of enchantment. After attending UNM for her masters in counseling, she has spent her career working with children and families in both a school and clinical counseling setting. She is an experienced supervisor and worked as a clinical director for a community counseling agency. Her approach to counseling is relationship-based, grounded in interpersonal neurobiological tenants and trauma informed. She spent several years as an adjunct faculty member teaching graduate-level social workers on the topics of grief and loss and issues in supervision. She is an endorsed level-3 infant mental health specialist and child-parent psychotherapist. When she isn’t reading professional texts, she spends her free time raising her two daughters, cooking big Italian meals, hiking with her husband, gardening, and doing yoga. She loves travel and has a knack for finding unique Airbnbs and planning family vacations.
B.S., Family Studies and Human Services, University of New Mexico
M.S., Counseling, University of New Mexico
Paul Marcus
10-12 Division
marcus@aa.edu | (505) 331-9910
Paul’s has developed an eclectic, informal approach to counseling adolescents that is highly relational. He seeks to collaborate with his students to not only problem solve the current challenges they face, but to seek long-lasting change through finding meaning and a sense of purpose that is sensitive to each student’s unique personality. Paul has served as a university professor, training other therapists in family therapy, group therapy, and multicultural counseling, where he has experienced great fulfillment in teaching a new generation of therapists and finds that the responsibility of training his students keeps his clinical skills fresh. His passions include time alone in his home recording studio composing and recording songs he writes, collaborating on music projects, being with good friends, and spending time with his wife and dog in the outdoors.
B.S., Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
M.S., Transactional-Ecological Psychology, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University
Anna Balsamo
8-9 Division
ingraham@aa.edu | 828-3221
Anna fell in love with working with students as an art therapist and counselor at a large public school in Colorado before joining the team at Albuquerque Academy. Anna was born in New Mexico but grew up in Maine and has had a sense of coming back home since returning to New Mexico. She is an artist, a writer, and dabbler in the performing arts. Anna loves exploring the desert landscape and reading books with her cat. She has found her passion through using the arts, as well as mindfulness and yoga, to connect with people and create change and growth.
B.A. Expressive Arts, Burlington College
M.A. Art Therapy/Counseling, Southwestern College
Kevin Mancini
8-9 Division
mancini@aa.edu | 398-3990
Born and raised west of Philadelphia, Kevin attended college in Williamsburg, Virginia. From there, he spent seven years in New York City doing real estate and owning/operating a cafe with friends. Kevin then studied transpersonal psychology in Palo Alto, CA before landing in Corrales. Prior to working at the Academy, Kevin spent eight years as a marriage and family therapist, helping guide both children and adults in living authentic, well lives. Kevin enjoys sports of all kinds, strategic thinking, philosophy, adventures, gardening/yard work, laughing as much as possible, and life on the beach. Kevin’s world always begins with his wife, Jaime, and his three daughters, Jianna, Sage, and Isla.
B.A. Psychology, College of William and Mary
M.A. Counseling Psychology, Sophia University
Lorrie Swanson
6-7 Division
swanson@aa.edu | 828-3270
Lorrie is a native New Mexican having grown up in Los Alamos who has been involved in education her entire professional career. She worked in the Oakland Public Schools before earning her masters degree, and since moving back to New Mexico, has spent time working with the Albuquerque Public Schools and most recently the Rio Rancho Public Schools. Lorrie is a mother of two and enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with family. She is passionate about social justice, meditation, and doing her part to make the world a better place.
B.A. Sociology, Economics minor
M.S.W. Smith College for Social Work
