Richard Ruth, PhD, is associate professor of clinical psychology and director of training at The George Washington University PsyD program, as well as Founding Core Faculty of the university's LGBT Health Graduate Certificate Program, where he teaches one of the first university courses in transgender health in the United States. A clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, neuropsychologist, and family therapist, he is also on the faculty of the Washington School of Psychiatry, and in private practice. Ruth has authored dozens of journal articles on cross-cultural psychotherapy and psychological assessment, forensic psychology, disability issues, trauma, and mental health ethics, and their intersectionality with LGBT issues—most notably, deafness and AIDS, the need for a transgender-affirmative psychoanalysis, LGBT identities, and trauma in LGBT communities. His published work includes Sometimes You Just Want to Feel Like a Human Being: Case Studies in Empowering Psychotherapy with People with Disabilities and Healing after Parent Loss in Childhood and Adolescence: Therapeutic Interventions and Theoretical Considerations. He has been on the Board of Directors of Division 39/Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association and has represented Division 39 on the APA Council of Representatives. Ruth has taught and lectured throughout the United States and internationally.

Erik Santacruz, EdD, M.Psy, is a clinical psychologist in training at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, where he works with children, adolescents, and young adults infected with HIV perinatally. His work addresses inter-generational HIV-related trauma amongst families affected by the HIV virus and the unique challenges that arise in the efficacy of CBT interventions aimed at addressing depression, medication adherence, and health promotion amongst this population. He graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he earned a doctorate in health education. Santacruz has trained with the renowned sex therapist and author Dr. Ruth Westheimer; with clinical psychologist, radio host, commentator, and author Judy Kuriansky; and with renowned minority psychology/addictions expert Barbara C. Wallace. He is an active member of Columbia University's Research Group on Disparities in Health (RGDH) and was named a Distinguished Fellow in May 2014. Santacruz earned a masters in psychology at The George Washington University's Professional Psychology Program.