UPAC's Management
Leaders creating leaders in San Diego
Behavioral Health Management Team
Dixie Galapon, Ph.D.
As the Director of Mental Health Services, Dr. Galapon is responsible for administrative oversight, contract compliance and budget compliance for all mental health and recovery programs which serve the entire age spectrum - children, adolescents, transition aged youth, adults and older adults. Dr. Galapon is a Filipina and received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego. Dr. Galapon has been with UPAC for over 10 years, and has served the needs of all diverse communities, with emphasis on serving the needs of the Asian, Pacific Islander and other refugee and immigrant communities. Her expertise includes domestic violence, mental health interpretation, club house models for chronically mentally ill, post traumatic stress disorder, suicide prevention and intervention and education for families affected by schizophrenia. Dr. Galapon is also responsible for providing cultural competence training to professionals in the community, and works on policies to eliminate disparities in healthcare through various committee and council efforts.
Dr. Galapon currently serves on the County of San Diego HHSA Cultural Competence Resource Team, Commission on Children, Youth & Families, Adult/Older Adult Council and Children's System of Care Council and Suicide Prevention Committee, and the San Diego Mental Health Contractors Association Executive Committee. She co-founded the Coalition for Abused Refugee and Immigrant Women, and authored the "Quilting Patterns of Non-Violence," the first report on culturally competent domestic violence service delivery for refugee and immigrant women in San Diego County.
Angela Chen, MFT, MBA.
As the Director of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Programs, Ms. Chen manages the clinic and school based mental health services for children and families with Medi-Cal insurance and with no medical insurance in San Diego Unified School District Central Region, Vista and Oceanside Unified School Districts. Ms. Chen also manages the innovative Community Services for Families Program which assists families with child abuse and neglect services. Of Chinese descent, Ms. Chen received her Masters in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton, and her Masters in Business Administration from University of California, Irvine. Ms. Chen is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) and has 12 years of clinical and 6 years of managerial experience in mental health service delivery. Her expertise includes non-profit organizations contracting with County Departments of Mental Health to provide services to children and their families who qualify for Medi-Cal and Early Periodic Screening, Detection and Treatment (EPSDT) programs.
Ms. Chen serves on the San Diego County Commission on Children, Youth & Families Diversity School House as the Training Coordinator, Clinical Standards Committee, and the Children's System of Care Council Outcomes Committee. Ms. Chen also serves on the North County Network Oversight Committee, a collaboration among the Rady Children's Outpatient Psychiatry, Palomar Family Counseling Services and North County Lifeline outpatient service providers.
Sunnyo Pak, M.F.T., CCGC, NCGC
As the Director of Addiction Recovery and Treatment Programs, Ms. Pak manages the non-residential alcohol and drug treatment services to Asian and Pacific Islander adults, and intensive day care treatment services to drug Medi-Cal eligible youth from the diverse ethnic communities in San Diego County.
Ms. Pak also manages the Problem Gambling Technical Assistance program, which provides outreach, prevention education, training, evaluation, information, and referral to schools, providers and other community groups. Of Korean descent, Ms. Pak is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and is a California and nationally Certified Gambling Counselor. Ms. Pak has 8 years of experience, during 7 years of which she has provided multicultural and multilingual material development, assessment, referral and counseling for gambling problems among individuals and families of diverse ethnic communities. Ms. Pak has extensive experience in presentations and trainings in the areas of co-occurring disorders, mental illness and substance/gambling addiction and she has been an active advocate for the need of gambling prevention and treatment services for San Diego County residents. Ms. Pak serves on the San Diego Alcohol and Drug Services Providers Association Executive Committee and the California Council on Problem Gambling Board of Directors.