Leesl Herman

Founder, Chief Executive Officer

Leesl Herman has worked in the field of sex offender management for over a decade. She began coordinating a small contract for juvenile parolees in 2004 that rapidly grew into one of the largest out-patient sex offender treatment programs in California.

She developed and served as Administrative Director for a specialized 6-bed sex offender placement facility for transitional-aged youth for 7 years. This unique facility and its pilot program provided a wide range of reentry services from education to job skills training and life skills development. Leesl contributed to the development of a comprehensive out-of-home placement policy and procedure protocol for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice. Over the past 20 years, Leesl has developed a diverse range of programs and protocols to address the complex and varying needs of perpetrators of sexual violence and those with sexual behavior problems. As Regional Director of Southern California for a large incorporated private practice, she managed contracts with local, state, and federal agencies to provide treatment and management services to their clients.  She believes that clinicians engaged in this important work must attend to their health and wellness, supporting the development of training and practices within ATS. Since 2008 Leesl has been a member of the Board of Directors for the California Coalition on Sexual Offending (CCOSO), chairing multiple statewide training conferences, serving as Chairperson for 2011-2012, and is currently the acting Correspondent of the Board.  In May 2014 she was awarded the Fay Honey Knopp award "in recognition & Appreciation for outstanding leadership and dedication to CCOSO".

Karen Shipley, LMFT

MFT 30213

Co-Clinical Director

Hiram Rivera-Toro, LMFT
MFT16036

Co-Clinical Director

Hiram Rivera-Toro is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has worked since 1979, with high-risk adjudicated and non-adjudicated youth, including adults who have caused sexual harm, adults who have displayed sexual misconduct, sexually abusive youth, sexually reactive children, youth who are gang-affiliated, and clients who experience addiction issues. From 2000 to 2010, Mr. Rivera-Toro served the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, as the Supervising Court Mediator/Evaluator for the Family and Juvenile Law Divisions. He has worked with Anew Therapeutic Services, Inc., since January 2019. He is currently a CASOMB Certified Independent Practitioner, and along with his wife, Karen Shipley, LMFT, the Co-Clinical Director at Anew Therapeutic Services, Inc. Mr. Rivera-Toro holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Behavioral Science, with Emphasis in Psychology from Pacific Union College, Angwin, CA. Mr. Rivera-Toro also holds a Master of Science Degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling from Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA. Mr. RiveraToro was licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist by the Board of Behavioral Sciences of the State of California in 1981. Mr. Rivera-Toro has received mediation training at the Judicial Council of California, the University of La Verne College of Law, and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP). Mr. Rivera-Toro is the former Chairman of the Board of CARE Counselors, Inc., a faith-based counseling organization providing therapeutic services to numerous denominational churches in Southern California, and is the Chief Executive Officer of PAASE Programs Inc., which provides risk assessments and clinical individualized treatment programs to adults and high-risk youth in Southern California. He is also a practicing consultant to residential treatment placement facilities and provides mediation services to specialized cases referred by the Family Law Division of the Superior Court of California from various southern California counties. He and his wife Karen Shipley, LMFT, are former members of Collaborative Divorce Solutions of Orange County. He has been qualified as a provider of expert testimony in child sexual abuse and custody cases, testimony on abusive family dynamics, home assessment, family reunification issues, child custody, visitation, access, and victimization issues.

Christina Bennett, LMFT

MFT: 36337.

Clinical Consultant

"Chris" Bennett is recognized for her numerous contributions to the field of sex offender treatment and management in California over the past 30 years. She has been on the Executive Board of the California Coalition on Sexual Offending for the past 8 years, concurrently serving as the Chairperson of the Annual Training conference of this organization in 2008, 2013, and 2014. Christina is one of the primary authors of the CCOSO Guidelines and Best Practices: Adult Male Sexual Offender Treatment 2010, drawing on her extensive experience providing specialized treatment to both adult and juvenile sexual offenders. An engaging speaker, Christina has regularly presented workshops at the CCOSO annual training conferences.

She began working in the field of sex offender treatment in 1992 while interning as a Marriage and Family Therapist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has worked as a senior social worker involved in creating and facilitating treatment programs including, treatment planning, individual, group, and family therapy, and behavior modification plans at a California licensed non-profit facility providing residential, educational, and therapeutic services to adolescent male sexual offenders, between the ages of 11 and 19. In the following two decades, she has become a leading voice in the field, working to bring best practices and evidence-based approaches to sex offender management to California. Beginning in 2006, Christina worked with adult "high-risk" offenders from the CA Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, treating them and supervising other clinicians providing treatment.  She has spent the last 12 years working with adult offenders. In 2017 she was appointed to the California Sex Offender Management Board. Christina is the 2016 recipient of the Fay Honey Knopp award for "Outstanding Dedication and Committed Service to the field of Sex Offender Treatment" from the CCOSO.