Mission

The Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity (ISSI) was established at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the spring of 2004. The mission of ISSI is to further our understanding of sexual identity, its development and synthesis, and to be a resource to students in training and those in the community who are stakeholders in these discussions. We do this through research, training, and clinical services/consultations.

2009-2010 ISSI Team

ISSI Core Team Members

Front row: Kristina High*, Alicia Tomasuno (Asst. Outreach Coordinator), Heather Poma*, Katherine Chisholm, Heidi Jo Erickson (Graduate Assistant). Back row: Veronica Johnson, Mary Zaher, Jill Kays (Teaching Assistant), Dr. Mark Yarhouse (Executive Director), Dr. Elizabeth Suarez (Director of Research), Audrey Atkinson, Robert Kay* (Research Assistant), Katie Maslowe (Outreach Coordinator), Ryan Calhoun. Not pictured: David Colpitts, Camden Morgante*.

* Web site contributing editors.

Current ISSI Affiliates

• Cornelius Bekker, Dlitt. et Phil, Associate Professor, Regent University
• Heather Brooke, PsyD, Clinical Coordinator, Abuse Treatment and Prevention Program mercyFirst, New York
• Janet Dean, PhD, Clinical Director of the Center for Counseling, Asbury College
• Stanton L. Jones, PhD, Provost & Professor of Psychology, Wheaton College
• Stephen Stratton, PhD, Associate Professor of Counseling & Pastoral Care, Asbury College
• Gary Strauss, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Rosemead School of Psychology
• Erica S. N. Tan, PsyD, Eden Counseling Center, Norfolk, Virginia
• Warren Throckmorton, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology & Fellow, Psychology and Public Policy, Grove City College

Dr. Mark Yarhouse

Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D., is the Hughes Endowed Chair of Christian Thought in Mental Health Practice and Professor of Psychology at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he is a core faculty member in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.

Yarhouse has spent several years promoting dialogue between people who view the topic of sexual identity differently. In 2000 he chaired a groundbreaking symposium at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention that brought together gay psychologists and conventionally religious psychologists to discuss common ground in treatment options for persons sorting out sexual and religious identity conflicts. He chaired similar symposia (dialogues between professionals who represent different communities) at the APA on the many meanings of marriage (among different religions and among various groups within the gay community), services for adolescents experiencing sexual identity confusion, and a recently-proposed sexual identity therapy framework.