Dr. Monaco is a licensed clinical psychologist who earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in San Diego. Her dissertation research focused on the dissemination of evidence-based treatments for PTSD, including Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE). Dr. Monaco is skilled at treating substance use disorders and common co-occurring conditions, including anxiety disorders, ADHD, PTSD, and OCD. She has led SMART Recovery meetings and was the President and Treasurer for the San Diego Regional Advisory Board for SMART Recovery. Dr. Monaco also has experience working in the Substance Dependence Research Group at the New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University, administering and adapting structured clinical interviews for DSM-5 substance use disorder assessment. Dr. Monaco is a trainer for CMC:Foundation for Change and has co-led multiple weekend-long trainings to intensively train parents in CRAFT and MI skills. She uses a collaborative, compassionate, and strengths-based approach in her works with individuals and families.