Veronica Viesca
Biography
Veronica Viesca, PhD, LMFT, is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University, where she teaches courses on couple and family therapy, health psychology, and research. Before joining Pepperdine in 2018, Dr. Viesca served as Assistant Professor and Program Director of the COAMFTE-accredited Family Therapy Program at Texas Woman’s University. Her research focuses on the impact of close relationships on physical health and lifespan, particularly in chronic pain pathogenesis, healthcare utilization, and metabolic disorders. She also explores biopsychosocial-spiritual influences on health behaviors, parental engagement in pediatric care, emotion-focused couple therapy (EFT), and telehealth innovations in clinical supervision.
Dr. Viesca is the co-author of recent book chapters, including Bumpin’ into Therapy: Planning for Parental Leave, Assessing and Managing Virtual Burnout, and Structural and Strategic Interventions for Couple Therapy: Capitalizing on the Limitations of Telehealth (2024). Her peer-reviewed publications include Close Relationships as a Contributor to Chronic Pain Pathogenesis: Predicting Pain Etiology and Persistence (Social Science & Medicine, 2019) and Getting Parents Involved: The Influence of Parental Engagement on Emergency Care Use in Children with Asthma (Families, Systems & Health, 2014). She has presented her research nationally and internationally, with recent topics focusing on dismantling power imbalances in clinical training and integrating evidence-based therapies for gastrointestinal issues.
Beyond her academic and research work, Dr. Viesca is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Mental Health Excellence (CFMHE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to training early-career mental health professionals and advancing economic justice. She is also the owner of the Institute for Relational Well-being (IRWB), a national practice specializing in couple and family therapy. Her contributions to the field have been recognized with honors such as the Loma Linda University Research Excellence Award, the Family Process Institute New Writers Fellowship, and the Texas Woman’s University Research Enhancement Award. Dr. Viesca has served in national leadership roles with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), including Chair of the Elections Council, member of the Component Evaluation Committee, and Portfolio reviewer for the AAMFT Leadership Certificate Program. In 2025, she was elected to the board of directors for AAMFT. She is also a contributor to the Radical Therapist Podcast’s Radical Roundtable and provides practice development consultation to emerging mental health professionals.
With over a decade of clinical experience across community mental health, healthcare, and private practice, Dr. Viesca remains committed to bridging research, clinical training, and real-world application. In her free time, Dr. Viesca enjoys traveling, scuba diving, and cooking with her two daughters.