CommUnify Names Nuvia Almanza as Clinical Director of Behavioral Health Services
The Board of Directors of CommUnify (www.CommUnifySB.org), a Community Action Agency, is pleased to announce Nuvia Almanza, AMFT has been promoted to the newly created Leadership Team position of Clinical Director of Behavioral Health Services (BHS) with CommUnify, effective
Monday, February 13, 2023. She is a registered Associate Marriage & Family Therapist (AMFT) with more than fifteen years of experience in program development, operations, and administration, as well as direct services to children, youth, and families with such organizations as CALM.
Mrs. Almanza first joined CommUnify (then Community Action Commission/CAC) in 2007 as a Therapeutic Response Aide. She has worked with CommUnify’s Family Wellness Program for over 15 years and has
served as the program’s Mental Health Practitioner Supervisor since 2012. She was also appointed as the Interim Clinical Supervisor for a 2-year period between 2019-2021, during the height of the pandemic. “In the past several years, our community has seen increases in the rate of depression and anxiety among people of all ages. CommUnify has adopted a whole-person approach to serving our children, youth, families and seniors, providing a wide array of programs to not only support an individual’s basic needs, but also their physical, social, and emotional needs,” said Patricia Keelean, CEO of CommUnify. “By creating the new Behavioral Health Services department, we will ensure CommUnify has the expertise and capacity necessary to meet the current and future mental wellness needs of those in our community. Once we made the decision to establish this new department, it became clear very quickly who should take the lead role. Nuvia’s breadth of knowledge and experience, combined with her compassion for those she serves, will provide the leadership needed to support residents countywide.”
As Clinical Director of BHS, Mrs. Almanza will oversee such vital programs as Family Wellness and Transitional Age Youth (TAY), and Adolescent Family Life Mental Health Overlay programs and will supervise 15 full-time staff throughout CommUnify’s service footprint.
In addition to her position with CommUnify, Mrs. Almanza is a former Board member for Planned Parenthood.
“It has been my privilege to work with CommUnify and to learn and grow with the organization,” said Mrs. Almanza. “I’m very proud of the good work we do to support children and families in our community, and the creation of this new position will address the challenges that they face in these uncertain (almost) post-Covid times.”
Mrs. Almanza is a long-time resident of Santa Barbara County, and grew up in Goleta where she graduated from Dos Pueblos High School. Mrs. Almanza then went on to graduate Cum Laude from University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Chicano/a Studies and a Minor in Applied Psychology, and earned a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Latino/a Mental Health from Antioch University. She possesses certifications in The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS), Trust-Based Relational Intervention, and Sand Tray Therapy Practices.
