Our Staff
The SFCC staff members — Linda Krippner, Avi Leibovici, Karla Hernandez and Karyn Maczka — offer a wealth of expertise and resources to the Caltech community.
Staff members are readily available and accessible throughout the work week and after hours. SFCC staff members speak a variety of languages and are able to obtain a translator if you or a family member speaks a language that we do not provide.
Linda Krippner, Psy.D.
Linda Krippner is the Director and provides consultation and counseling.
Linda has been with SFCC since 2002 and has served as the program's Director since 2008. She is a licensed psychologist with a background that emphasizes health psychology, community resources, and crisis intervention and response. She offers specialized interventions in stress management and relaxation training.
Linda received her bachelor's degree in Psychology from The University of San Diego, and her M.A. and Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles.
Avi Leibovici, LCSW
Avi Leibovici provides consultation, counseling, and targeted outreach.
Avi has been with SFCC since 1991. During his tenure, in addition to individual and family counseling, he has accomplished extensive staff development activities on campus and created a number of workshops and programs for the Caltech community.
In addition to his work at Caltech, Avi has over 27 years of experience in the mental health arena, specializing in counseling immigrant populations. He has lived, studied, and worked on three different continents and speaks five different languages. Avi is fluent in Spanish, English, Hebrew, French, and Romanian. His second area of expertise is in crisis intervention with an emphasis on the prevention and management of violent behaviors.
Avi received his bachelor's degree in Social Work from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his Master's in Social Work from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Karla Hernandez, LCSW, DSW
Karla Hernandez provides consultation, counseling, and training.
Karla joined the SFCC team in July of 2013. Previously she was the Director of a Permanent Supportive Housing program for a community health clinic in West Covina. Prior to her role as Director, she worked for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health in various roles, specializing in chronic mental health disorders, the criminal justice system, substance abuse, and children and families. Karla is fluent in Spanish. Additional areas of training and interest are spirituality, sexuality, couples counseling, and psychophysiology education combined with biofeedback gaming with children and adults.
Karla received her bachelor's degree in Women Studies and Political Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and her Master's and Doctorate in Social Work from the University of Southern California.
Karyn Maczka, LMFT
Karyn Maczka provides consultation and counseling.
Karyn joined the SFCC team in 2018, while also working at Caltech's Student Counseling Center. Prior to arriving at Caltech, Karyn worked in different settings including the Department of Mental Health, community counseling centers, and private practice. As a multicultural clinician, Karyn enjoys working with people from various backgrounds while maintaining a culturally sensitive approach, and she offers services in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. Among her areas of focus are relationship dissatisfaction, family distress, anxiety, depression, career-related concerns, disordered eating, cultural identity issues, life transitions, and acculturation.
Karyn received her bachelor's degree in Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles and her master's degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University.