Emma Ford Gillan Judicial Therapist Client Services and Family Counseling Division Judiciary of Guam
Emma Gillan, M.S., LPC, is currently in her seventh year of employment at the Client Services and Family Counseling Division of the Judiciary of Guam. While this is one of the lesser-known units of the Court, it is a key community resource as it provides guidance for positive change in the lives of individuals who come in contact with the judicial system due to dire and often life-threatening circumstances. The overall mission of this service is, “to provide clinical services in support of the judicial process; to promote community activities that enhance a reasonable quality of life; to advance partnerships of equality, respect and peace among all people; and to foster social change.” As a Judicial Therapist, providing clinical treatment, creating treatment plans and making clinical recommendations to a judge summarizes Emma’s role in support of this mission. Emma graduated from AOLG in 2005 where her initial foundation was acquired in academics as well as in leadership, community service, collaboration, and teamwork. She earned her baccalaureate degree in psychology, graduating Summa Cum Laude, from Chaminade University in 2008. She then moved to the mainland and expanded her work experience and life exploration. Living stateside further solidified her love of Guam and determination to return to contribute to her home community. Upon her return to the island, she was accepted into the University of Guam’s graduate program in Clinical Psychology, earning her Master of Science degree in 2013. Emma’s academic training there included over 1,100 clinical practicum hours in a broad range of community settings including Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center (GBHWC), and Department of Youth Affairs. Concurrently, she completed a one-year fellowship in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program facilitated by University of Hawaii John A. Burns Medical School in collaboration with UOG CEDDERS. Her work experience as an Individual, Marriage, and Family Therapist Intern, Behavioral Analyst at GBHWC, teaching an Advanced Placement in Psychology course at AOLG, and as a Program Assistant at I Pinangon Campus Suicide Prevention Program at UOG have further strengthened her professional skills set. Emma is currently the President and Public Relations Committee Chair of the Association of Individual, Marriage, and Family Therapists, positions she has held since January 2017. She has represented the organization on Guam’s Sexual Assault Coalition and has organized and facilitated conferences, professional trainings, roundtable discussions as well as fundraisers to fund small emergency grants to eligible individuals in crisis situations and scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students attending UOG and GCC programs in human services, social work, counseling, and clinical psychology. Emma is an accomplished multi-sport athlete who excelled in soccer, basketball, rugby, and volleyball. Her main post-high school sports focus has been as a member of the Haggan Volleyball Club and in representing Guam as a member of the Women’s Gold Medal Volleyball Teams in the 2006 Micronesian Games in Saipan and 2014 Micronesian Games, in Pohnpei, where she also served as team captain. In addition, she represented the island in Women’s Volleyball at the 2013 East Asian Games, China. More recently, she has become a student of jiu-jitsu. Emma’s most exciting adventure and joy is raising Atisa, her high-spirited two-year old toddler, and Atisa’s 10-year sister, Calla, with Wayne Matanane and her strong family network. They reside in a family neighborhood, making Atisa a seventh-generation taotao Maga’, Mangilao.
42 | 50 Under 40: Emerging Leaders in the Government of Guam
