John Nicoletti, Ph.D.

Dr. John Nicoletti is a co-founder of Nicoletti-Flater Associates with his spouse Lottie Flater, and has been a police psychologist in the Denver-metro area for more than 25 years. Over the last ten years, the Nicoletti-Flater private practice has expanded into the field of violence and violence prevention. After years of work with national corporations and government agencies, such as the United Postal Service, United Airlines, NASA, Johns Manville, and the U.S. Department of Energy, Dr. Nicoletti has established himself as a national expert in workplace violence. He was an invited speaker at the 10th World Conference in Disaster Management (June 25-28, 2000; Ontario, Canada) and was a keynote speaker at the 2001 National Students Assistance Conference (April 2001, Florida). Dr. Nicoletti was also asked by the Columbine Review Commission to testify numerous times and was cited many times in The Report of Governor Bill Owens (May 2001).

In 1993, Dr. Nicoletti co-published Violence Goes to Work (1997, MSEC), a very well received prevention manual for employers, which has been reprinted four times. Dr. Nicoletti also co-wrote Violence Goes to College (2001, Charles C Thomas, Publisher), and Violence Goes to School (2002, National Educational Service). Dr. Nicoletti has conducted hundreds of workshops, training seminars, and consultations across the U.S. - Client list.

Dr. Nicoletti received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University in 1972. During his career, Dr. Nicoletti has received many awards for his distinguished contributions to the field of psychology. Most notably, the Colorado Psychological Association awarded him the E. Ellis Graham award in 1996, and the American Psychological Association awarded him the Karl F. Heiser Presidential Award in 1998 for advocacy on behalf of professional psychology. He is a member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals and the International Association of the Chiefs of Police. Dr. Nicoletti is also part of the Colorado Governor’s Commission on Bioterrorism.

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Lottie Flater, L.C.S.W.

Lottie Flater specializes in the areas of police psychological services, workplace violence, school place violence and trauma interventions. She has presented at and received specialized training from the FBI. Among her accomplishments, Lottie has provided onsite consultation and debriefings for individuals who have been deployed to McMurdo Bay and the South Pole Station in Antarctica. She co-authored the book Violence Goes to Work: An Employer's Guide. Ms. Flater works with many state and federal law enforcement agencies, school systems, financial institutions, private corporations, and airline industry leaders. She worked in the school system as a Special Education Director, providing a variety of psychological services, and she was called in to help with trauma recovery for law enforcement personnel, students, and parents after the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado. Ms. Flater has provided training and consultation to schools and businesses across the country in order to help prevent violence.

Evan Axelrod, Psy.D.

Dr. Evan Axelrod received his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Behavioral Forensics, from the University of Denver. He has been a staff member of Nicoletti-Flater Associates since June, 2000. Dr. Axelrod previously worked in the areas of emergency response and crime prevention. He is an experienced provider of therapeutic services to children, adolescents, couples, families, and individual adults. In addition to providing general counseling services, in both inpatient and outpatient settings, Dr. Axelrod is also providing training and therapeutic services in the areas of crisis and trauma intervention and debriefing, anger management, stress management, high-risk relationships, conflict resolution, peak performance, verbal communication, managing special populations, parenting, suicide/suicide-by-cop, and workplace and school violence. He also conducts both direct and indirect threat assessments and pre-employment evaluations. Dr. Axelrod is currently involved with the Colorado Bar Association’s domestic violence project and is working on new project to evaluate Internet-related violence.

Betty Crowell, Director of Professional Services

Ms. Betty Crowell has worked for Nicoletti-Flater Associates for 15 years. She brings with her an extensive background in the legal field, having worked as a litigation paralegal for 10 years. Prior to this work, Ms. Crowell was the marketing coordinator for a commercial real estate company. Currently, she coordinates testing, therapy, and workshops for Nicoletti-Flater Associates.

Anne C. Field, LCSW

Ms. Field received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Houston in 1998. She worked in the psychiatric and health care setting before joining Nicoletti-Flater Associates in July, 2000. Ms. Field specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, depression and grief, anxiety disorders, and trauma debriefing. She works with adults and with couples.

Joelle Kruml, Psy.D.

Dr. Joelle Kruml received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver. She also received her Masters in Forensic Psychology and her Masters in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver. Dr. Kruml has received specialized training in the areas of violence, trauma, Neuropsychology, and child/adolescent issues. She gained this experience from working within corrections and at residential treatment facilities, as well as at Denver Health Medical Center, the Denver VA Medical Center, and through international research in South Africa. Dr. Kruml is an experienced provider of therapeutic services to children, adolescents, couples, families, and individual adults. In addition to providing general counseling services, Dr. Kruml also provides training and therapeutic services in the areas of psychological assessment and group development, anger management, stress management, parenting and step-parenting, divorce, suicide/suicide-by-cop, crisis and trauma intervention and debriefing, and workplace and school violence. Dr. Kruml has been a staff member of Nicoletti-Flater Associates since August of 2006.

Don Lyon

Don Lyon provides consultation services in the following venues: workplace violence, school violence, crisis management and recovery, threat management, behavioral profiling, transportation and facility/product security and safety, professional sports security and safety, hiring and termination practices, client consulting, international travel, and counter-terrorism. He has been the Director of Security & Safety for Colorado Rockies Baseball, Inc., Denver, CO, since its inception in 1993. From 1992 to 1999, Mr. Lyon was the Director of Safety, Security and Training for Nationsway Transport, and was responsible for all DOT and OSHA compliance issues, loss prevention, accident and injury prevention, and investigations; Workmen Compensation claims; and the Modified Return to Work Program. Before 1992, Mr. Lyon worked 23 years with the U.S. Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Investigation, during which time he spent 16 years as a Hostage Negotiator and Crisis Management Instructor. From 1990 to 1992, he was the Supervisory Senior Resident Agent, Intermountain Division, Billings, Montana, and was responsible for the management of nine FBI offices located in Montana. He was involved in creating the first federal and state multi-agency Drug Task Force, working closely with the Governor's office and heads of other federal law enforcement agencies to prioritize crime problems and manpower allocations. From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Lyon was assigned to the FBI Headquarters, Washington, D. C., Counterterrorism Section, Middle East Unit.

Sally Spencer-Thomas, Psy.D.

Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas received her doctorate in psychology from the University of Denver in 1995. For over a decade, she has worked for both Regis University and Nicoletti-Flater Associates in the capacities of counselor and health promotion specialist. Dr. Spencer-Thomas has received specialized training in the areas of violence and trauma as an employee of the Denver Police Department and the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at the Boston VA Medical Center. Currently, Dr. Spencer-Thomas is the editor of the Nicoletti-Flater publication “Health Perspectives”, a quarterly document distributed to multiple law enforcement agencies nationally for the purposes of increasing the awareness of mental health issues. She has co-authored two chapters for the FBI, the first on domestic violence and the second on suicide. In the fall of 1999, she was invited to present to the FBI on Police Response to Civilian Suicide. Dr. Spencer-Thomas is also the co-author of several violence prevention books including Survival-Oriented Kids in a Violent World, Violence Goes to School, and Violence Goes to College.

Debra Tasci, Psy.D.

Dr. Debra Tasci has over 25 years experience in the field of mental health, helping individuals and families deal with their grief and trauma. She has extensive experience in trauma debriefing with airline personnel, law enforcement agencies, emergency medical workers, and victims of crime. She holds a Master's Degree in Social Work and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology. For Nicoletti-Flater associates, Dr. Tasci conducts counseling and trauma debriefing and has co-authored a book on trauma and recovery.

Jaime L. Brower, Psy.D.

Dr. Jaime Brower received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Behavioral Forensics and Psychological Testing, from the University of Denver.  She has been a staff member of Nicoletti-Flater Associates since June, 2002. Dr. Brower has previously worked in mental health facilities, schools, corrections, and hospitals. She is an experienced provider of therapeutic services to children, adolescents, couples, families, and individual adults.  Dr. Brower specializes in working with emergency personnel and violence.  She conducts numerous school and workplace violence assessment, covering the areas of physical violence, sexual harassment, and hostile work environments.  In addition to providing general counseling services, in both inpatient, outpatient settings, and remote locations, such as Antarctica, Dr. Brower is also providing training and therapeutic services in the areas of crisis and trauma intervention and debriefing, psychological assessment, anger management, stress management, high-risk relationships, conflict resolution, peak performance, verbal communication, managing special populations, parenting and step-parenting, divorce, suicide/suicide-by-cop, as well as workplace and school violence.    

Cristin McCaskill, Psy.D.

Dr. McCaskill has worked in the forensic psychology field for numerous years.  Four of which have been with Nicoletti-Flater Associates.  She received her doctorate from the University of Denver and is currently practicing as a police psychologist.  Dr. McCaskill specializes in pre-employment screenings, individual therapy, and critical incident debriefings.  She has had the distinguished honor of working in Antarctica and has conducted many trainings on subjects ranging from workplace and school place violence to stress management and verbal judo techniques.