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.
Cathann Dragone-Gutierrez
8-9 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
Anacarmen Guambaña
10-12 Division
guambana@aa.edu | 828-3221
Anacarmen is a fierce devotee to young people and a multi-passionate creative with roots in her beloved Ecuador and northern New Mexico. For well over a decade, she has been living her purpose as a trusted ally for others as they lean into the vulnerable tender places and unpack the messy, alongside the beautiful. She works with kids’ growing edges– normalizing the struggle and co-creating anchors that support a grounded witnessing of oneself to work more gracefully and meaningfully within oneself. The essence of her work is realized as kids come to own their inherent worthiness and capacity for greatness.
When she isn’t pouring deep care, presence and heart into students, you will regularly find her pursuing her aspiring role of “superhero” to her own boy cub and spending time with family. The fullness of her truth isn’t known without making mention of her four decades of study, performance, and instruction of dance, (i.e. ballet, flamenco, hip hop, tribal fusion belly dance, salsa, tango, and Haitian), her affection for putting her hands on the piano, and her “nurture through nature” riff that comes alive by spending time in the wild—from the Spanish Pyrenees’ landscape of contrasts, to the untethered jungle of the Amazon, to our backyard sanctuary of mountains in the Southwest.
B.A., University of New Mexico
M.S., New Mexico Highlands University
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
Rebecca Marianetti
10-12 Division
marianetti@aa.edu | 451-4035
Rebecca has worked extensively in the mental health field in Arizona and New Mexico and has trained with trauma experts from around the world. She has cultivated techniques in mindfulness based stress reduction, which includes an ongoing certification in DBT (Dialetical Behavior Therapy) and Polyvagal Theory informed therapy. Rebecca enjoys helping young people learn how to come into the present moment to create wellness for themselves. She has a regular yoga practice and enjoys anything outdoors, including hiking in the mountains and sailing with her husband and two daughters.
B.S. Psychology, Regis University
M.S.W. Arizona State 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
RULER
At Albuquerque Academy, we prioritize your child’s social and emotional development. We are excited to be implementing RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. RULER is also an acronym for the skills of emotional intelligence: recognizing emotions, understanding emotions, labeling emotions, expressing emotions, and regulating emotions. Research from the field of emotion science finds that children who understand and manage their feelings make more responsible decisions, have stronger relationships, and perform better in school.
Students work on building their skills during family time and advisory. As they learn more about the skills of emotional intelligence, we’d like to do that in partnership with parents. Opportunities for parents and caregivers to learn more about RULER will be available throughout the year. Parents will receive specific dates and times in the weekly newsletter, and that can visit this page for details.
We look forward to partnering with families and encourage you to join an upcoming workshop that provides an excellent overview of RULER for families of middle school students.
