The College of Graduate Studies at Immaculata University offers programs designed to prepare leaders and practitioners in business, health care, education and psychology. Doctoral degrees are available in clinical psychology (APA-accredited), educational leadership (K-12) and higher education. Master’s programs include degrees in cultural and linguistic diversity, counseling psychology, educational leadership, music therapy, nursing, nutrition education, and organization leadership. Learn more at www.immaculata.edu/graduate.

Immaculata University is a Catholic, comprehensive, coeducational institution of higher education, located on the Main Line between Malvern and Exton, 20 miles west of Philadelphia.

Before coming to Immaculata, she was a post-doctoral resident at the Reading Hospital and Medical Center, where she supervised the outpatient dual diagnosis program and provided individual and group therapy for adults with addictions and mental illness. She has also served as a therapist and school counselor at various schools and behavioral health centers in the Philadelphia area.

In addition to school counseling, Acri is experienced in school administration, having served as the principal of Saint Veronica School, St. Peter School, Sacred Heart School, and Immaculate Heart Elementary School over the course of seventeen years. At each of these schools, she participated in their instructional services teams for counseling and psychoeducational referrals. She has also taught in the elementary school systems of the dioceses of Allentown, Pa., and Lima, Peru.

Acri holds two master’s degrees, one in bicultural and bilingual studies from Marywood University, and one in counseling psychology from Temple University. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Immaculata in 2010 and is a licensed practitioner in Pennsylvania.

With regard to her research interests, she reported, “My most recent research was on multidisciplinary management of chronic pain, particularly in Pennsylvania nursing homes. I am very interested in the use of clinical hypnosis in the treatment of pain, trauma, and addictions, and I received my training in hypnosis through the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.” She has been a member of the Greater Philadelphia Society of Clinical Hypnosis and of the American Psychological Association’s Division 30, the Society of Psychological Hypnosis. She plans to continue her clinical work while teaching at Immaculata and to obtain certification in clinical hypnosis.

“I feel honored to be part of our full-time psychology staff and eager to give back to the school that has given so much to me,” Acri commented.