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 twenty 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 National Renewable Energy Lab, Lockheed Martin, Environmental Protection Agency, Raytheon, U.S. Department of Justice, Xcel Energy, and the Minnesota and Colorado Departments of Transportation. Dr. Nicoletti has established himself as a national expert in workplace violence. He has been an invited speaker at numerous national conferences on violence. Dr. Nicoletti was also asked to be part of a team reviewing the Virginia Tech shootings. Recently, Dr. Nicoletti has been working with churches throughout the country in preventing violence.

Dr. Nicoletti has co-published three books in the area of violence:  Violence Goes to Work, Violence Goes to School, and Violence Goes to College. Dr. Nicoletti had his second edition of Violence Goes to College published in March 2010.  He 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 the past Chair of the Psychology Section of the International Association of the Chiefs of Police. Dr. Nicoletti is also part of the Colorado Governor’s Commission on Expert Emergency Response Commission.

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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

Ms. Betty Crowell has worked for Nicoletti-Flater Associates for 20 years as Coordinator of Professional Services. 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

Anne first joined NFA as an intern in 1995 while in the process of finishing her Bachelor of Science degree from Metropolitan State College of Denver. Anne completed the Human Services Professional program and graduated Summa Cum Laude. She went on to receive a Masters in Social Work degree in 1998 from the University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work. She focused on mental illness/health and psychotherapy. She was licensed in the state of Texas in 1998 and in Colorado in 2000 as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Re-joining NFA in 2000, Anne has provided individual and couples psychotherapy to adult patients. Her areas of treatment and study are depressive and anxiety disorders, grief intervention and management, eating disorders, stress and anger management, trauma, crisis intervention, critical incident stress debriefing, and interpersonal and couples relationships. She participates in crisis consultations and interventions when needed and has taught police officers participating in the Peer Support seminars.

During her 1997-1998 Masters Degree program, Anne completed an internship, then worked for the Baylor Psychiatry Clinic within the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. The focus was psychiatric social work, individual, and group psychotherapies. She received daily supervision by psychiatrists and LCSW’s within the clinic and in the community. Anne maintained a small private practice that began while in training. Prior to Baylor, Anne interned for the Texas Department of Corrections at its maximum-security prison for mentally ill inmates. Anne worked on both the acute and chronic floors. The focus was psychopathology and intervention.

Anne worked for the Harris County Hospital District in Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston, on both medical and psychiatric floors for both acute and chronically ill patients of all ages. As a training hospital for the Baylor College of Medicine, Anne again worked in teams with doctors, students, and staff from every discipline. The focus was psychosocial assessments, diagnostics, individual and group psychotherapies, case, forensic, and discharge management, family support and psychoeducation, and psychopharmacology. She developed a new program for and worked in the psychiatric outpatient clinic within the hospital.

Before Anne went back to school to finish her Bachelor's degree, she was a professional meeting planner for a non-profit veterinary association. This involved extensive travel and administrative duties. At that time Anne wrote for and was published in the association’s magazine.

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, psychological assessment, and child/adolescent issues. She gained this experience through 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, she also conducts crisis consultations and interventions, pre-employment evaluations, promotional psychological assessments, and pre-deployment screenings with the United States Antarctic Program.  Dr. Kruml provides training and therapeutic services in the area of psychological assessment and group development, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  She is licensed in the state of Colorado as a Clinical Psychologist.  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 30 years of clinical practice helping individuals, couples and families.  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.  She is a certified Employee Assistance Professional, a member of the American Psychological Association, the Colorado Psychological Association, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.  Additionally, she is a Substance Abuse Professional, with expertise in the area of chemical dependency, and she conducts substance abuse evaluations for the Department of Transportation for individuals holding safety sensitive jobs.  She has completed training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) designed to help couples in distress, is trained in EMDR, and is the co-author of the Trauma Recovery Handbook.  She has been working for Nicoletti-Flater Associates since 1996, doing individual/couples/family counseling, fitness for duty assessments, trauma debriefing/defusing, chemical dependency assessments, and psychological assessments for job applicants seeking employment in Antarctica.  She has also been a consultant to the Denver Police Peer Support Team since 1996.

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.  

Heather Morris, Psy.D.

Dr. Morris has been with Nicoletti-Flater Associates since 2003. She received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver, with an emphasis in forensic behavior analysis. Dr. Morris specializes in forensic psychology consultation, behavioral violence risk assessments, and critical incident trauma intervention. In addition, she is experienced in providing therapeutic services to children and adolescents. Dr. Morris is also a part-time professor at Metro State College of Denver. She recently co-authored a chapter with Dr. John Nicoletti in Violence Goes to College 2nd Edition.

Robin Eskey, Psy.D.

Dr. Robin Eskey received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in forensic psychology, from the University of Denver. She has been a staff member of Nicoletti-Flater since 2001. Dr. Eskey specializes in individual and couples therapy, and provides services in the areas of trauma, grief, and critical incident debriefings. In addition, she has provided training in anger management, stress management, suicide/suicide-by-cop, workplace and schoolplace violence. Dr. Eskey also holds a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology and a Masters in International Management. She has served as adjunct faculty at the University of Denver, teaching clinical interviewing and psychotherapy skills, for the Graduate School of Professional Psychology.

Tom Farrington, M.A.

Tom Farrington is on staff as a a psychology intern as he works to complete his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver. He holds a Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology and has hands-on experience working with offenders in the Psychology Department of the Bureau of Prisons as well as first hand trauma experience in his work investigating death scenes with the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner. He has been involved with Nicoletti-Flater since 2007.  Tom primarily provides individual and couples therapy as well as providing profession-related trainings and contributing to risk assessments.  He also assists in working on two books with Dr. John Nicoletti and Ms. Sara Garrido, including Violence Goes to Church and Violence Goes to Work.

Sara Garrido, M.A.

Sara Garrido has been with Nicoletti-Flater Associates since 2009. She received her Master’s in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver and is currently working on her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver, with an emphasis in forensic psychology. She has worked in corrections for the past two years and now assists staff in forensic psychology consultation, behavioral violence risk assessments, and critical incident trauma intervention. In addition, she is experienced in providing therapeutic services to adolescents and adults, including victims of domestic violence. She is also currently working on two books with Dr. John Nicoletti and Mr. Tom Farrington, including Violence Goes to Church and Violence Goes to Work.