Elena M. Lopez, Psy.D. is the Chief of Resident Treatment at the Special Commitment Center (SCC) on McNeil Island for Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. She is a licensed psychologist and has worked with individuals committed as sexually violent predators for the last 8 years, with 7 of those years in Washington and 1 year in her Internship with Larned State Hospital’s Sexual Predator Treatment Program (SPTP). Prior to her work with the SCC, Dr. Lopez completed training in California with the County of San Diego’s Adult and Juvenile Forensic Services Department and Alvarado Parkway Institute. Her work included providing treatment to Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC), predominantly girls, detained at the Girl’s Rehabilitation Facility (GRF), and addressing the impacts of gang affiliation, family systems, sexual victimization, and trafficking. Additionally, she has had training and experience treating and evaluating adults and children within inpatient and outpatient settings for various psychological issues, to include sexual issues and behavior. Prior to her work in psychology, Dr. Lopez worked at the Fred Finch Youth Center Residential Rehabilitation Program as an Instructional Aide and was a substitute teacher for Special Education in the State of California.

Within her current role as Chief of Resident Treatment at SCC, Dr. Lopez assists and coordinates the clinical rotation for SCC of Western State Hospital’s APA accredited internship program. She served as the SCC representative for the Washington State Sex Offender Policy Board from 2017 to April of 2020, and has recently transitioned into a consultative role for specialized reports and projects assigned to the Board. She is a clinical member of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), a member of the Washington Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (WATSA), and has served as a Board member of our own Sex Offender Civil Commitment Programs Network (SOCCPN) for the last two years.