Dr. Elana Payton is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). She holds a Master’s in Professional Counseling and earned her EdD in Counseling Psychology from The Arizona School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University.

Dr. Payton has 20 years of experience as a school guidance counselor and is well versed in the area of diversity, special education, behavior, crisis, and trauma adolescent counseling services. Dr. Payton’s education and work experience allow her to create professional development programs that support under-represented, marginalized, and at-risk students. Dr. Payton has experience working with adolescents and their parent/guardian(s) at each stage of academic and personal development, analyzing complex situations, addressing student conduct, and finding amicable resolutions. She is uniquely skilled in conflict resolution and restorative justice practices, which is beneficial in working with populations who have experienced varying degrees of trauma.

Dr. Payton’s doctoral program and dissertation research enabled her to further explore pathways of success for youth via an examination of correlations between generational risk and health factors that impede positive academic development and life choices. She examined historical trauma and generational PTSD of native populations focusing on how trauma manifests through generations resulting in risk behaviors that impede academic success. Dr. Payton’s research revealed significant implications for prevention and interventional counseling and teaching practice to address achievement gaps, high-risk behaviors, and policies that counter progressive academic success for underserved populations.