An experienced team of four professionals make up our executive staff, and we have a board of 16 directors with expertise in many different fields as well as nine honorary board members. The Guidance Center team comprises nearly 200 mental health professionals, support staff, administrators and interns.
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Development Officer
Chief Clinical Officer
Areas Manager, VP
Assistant Director, Long Beach Unified School District
Mental Health Advocate
Immed. Past Chair
Program Facilitator, Long Beach Unified School District
Senior Account Executive
Regional Sales Director, Mutual of America
Partner, Magee & Adler, APC
Deputy Superintendent, Long Beach Unified School District
President, California State University, Long Beach
Former Mayor, City of Long Beach
U.S. Representative, CA-42
California State Senate District 33
Founding Partner, Keesal, Young & Logan
Sheriff, Los Angeles County
Former Sheriff, Los Angeles County
Former Mayor, City of Long Beach
Assistant Superintendent, Long Beach Unified School District
Councilwoman, City of Long Beach, District 1
Patricia Costales, LCSW is the CEO of The Guidance Center, a non-profit children’s outpatient mental health agency in Long Beach, CA.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Occidental College, where she was a member of the Psi Chi Honors Society, and completed her Masters of Social Work degree at the University of Southern California in 1992. She began her career in mental health as a clinician, developing a particular expertise in the areas of child sexual abuse treatment and in crisis assessment and intervention of children and families post-abduction. She served for many years as the lead clinician on the Los Angeles County Child Abduction Task Force, and retains an active interest today in teaching and presenting on issues related to child trauma, clinical ethics and political advocacy as it relates to mental health. In addition to her leadership role with The Guidance Center, Patricia served for four years as an adjunct professor at the School of Social Welfare at UCLA, where she taught a graduate course on public policy and mental health.
Prior to joining The Guidance Center, Patricia served as the Vice President of Clinical Operations at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, where she was responsible for the oversight of services to more than 44,000 clients. She also chaired the Compliance Committee and the Quality Improvement Committee, reinforcing her experience in providing quality services that are ethical, effective and community-based.
Patricia is President of the Association of Community Human Services Agencies’ Board of Directors and a member of the National Association of Social Workers. She is also a mother of twin sons, and a volunteer at their school and in the community.
Rhea Morallos is the Chief Financial Officer of the Guidance Center, a non-profit outpatient mental health agency in Long Beach, California.
Rhea graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines. She also earned her Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Rhea has over 25 years of experience in Accounting and Finance from audit, legal services to manufacturing and transportation.
Prior to joining The Guidance Center, Rhea gained most of her experience working in Budget & Grants Management, Forecasting, and Strategic Planning at Long Beach Transit (LBT). There, she served as a member of the Finance and Budget Department Team for 15 years. Her role as LBT’s Comptroller enabled her to promote the value of storytelling behind the numbers through her own concept of the “ARRT” of Financial Reporting – Accuracy, Reliability, Relevance and Timeliness. Her strong advocacy for teamwork and collaboration earned LBT its first Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association. She is known to empower leaders within the organization with the use of its financial numbers in maximizing the capabilities of their resources.
Outside of work, Rhea enjoys theater arts, music, reading, watching sports with her husband, cheering on her two daughters in their athletic competitions, and spending time with her extended family.
Inspired by The Guidance Center’s mission, Rhea’s passion for serving others has never been stronger. She is excited to help children and their families achieve their dreams through The Guidance Center and is looking forward to sharing the importance of mental health with our community. This is truly a reflection of her family mantra: Dream, Achieve, Share.
Kevin Cunanan is the Chief Operating Officer of The Guidance Center, a non-profit outpatient mental health agency in Long Beach, California.
He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration & Management Degree from Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, California in 2001. He furthered his education in Business Management and Entrepreneurial Studies by successfully completing his Executive Masters in Business at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California in 2016. Kevin will be enrolling into a Juris Master/Masters of Studies in Law at a Top Ten Law School in California.
Kevin has over 20 years of work experience in Business for Executive roles in Human Resources, Operations, Administration, Business Development, Marketing, and Legal/Risk Compliance Management. He has worked in industries that were in for-profit sectors such as manufacturing, construction, design/engineering, real estate/development, food and beverage, hospitality (hotels/restaurants), and property management.
In the course of Kevin’s work adventures and in his many Senior Leadership and Executive Roles, he has been working with CEO’s and founders and their Board of Directors of legacy and startups companies to enter into the path of growth and profitability to successful mergers and acquisitions into a Fortune 500 Company.
Kevin enjoys playing basketball, golf, wallyball, hiking, competitive running, and spending time with his large family, close friends, and their family dog. He has a passion for mentoring early career professionals in business growth and sustainable profitability in mastering efficiency in people, process, and systems. He is an active participant at his past universities as a counselor, non-active adjunct professor, and guest speaker for fellow professors in entrepreneurial studies and management.
A fundraiser with more than 20 years experience, Lorraine Lyou joined The Guidance Center as Development Director in July 2008.
Before joining The Guidance Center, Lorraine served for eight years as Development Director for Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center. Prior to that, she was Development Director for the California League of Conservation Voters, an environmental lobbying organization. Lorraine spent two years as Development Associate for Rock the Vote, a non-profit dedicated to helping young people participate in the political process and previously held fundraising positions at the University of San Francisco, the Scripps Research Institute, the La Jolla Playhouse and the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from San Diego State University in Communicative Disorders in 1989. Lorraine also served on the board for the Wiseburn Education Foundation, which raises funds to enhance educational programs within the Wiseburn School District. She was a board member for five years, including one as president.
With a family member who struggles with mental illness, Lorraine has experienced first-hand the stigma, shame, and challenges associated with psychological disorders. Her non-profit expertise and personal experiences serve as the foundation for the passion and commitment she brings to her job with The Guidance Center.
Angelina Palma-Williams, LCSW is The Guidance Center’s Chief Clinical Officer. Angelina earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University Long Beach, where she was also an executive officer of the Black Student Union. She completed her Masters of Social Work degree with an emphasis in children youth and family at the University of Southern California in 2009. Angelina has been dedicated to community mental health for 17 years and has 15 years of DMH experience. Angelina has demonstrated commitment to The Guidance Center’s mission as she has held various positions within the agency starting as an MSW intern and promoting over the years from a clinical therapist, QA specialist, Clinical Supervisor, Clinical Program Manager, and now Chief Clinical Officer.
Angelina holds various credentials, certifications, and is trained in a number of evidenced based practices. These include a Pupil Personnel Services Credential, TFCBT, MAP, and Seeking Safety certifications. Angelina is also a trainer and supervisor in each of these evidenced based practices. In addition, Angelina is a certified trainer in Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) through the ZeroSuicide Institute. Angelina has a passion for driving diversity, equity, and inclusion and served as the first chair of The Guidance Center internal DEI taskforce now known as JEDI Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
It is through her clinical work and JEDI involvement that Angelina is able to fulfill her value of service to others that was modeled to her by her grandmother.
