Dr. Dilani Perera, Ph.D. is the Department Chair and a Full Professor of the Counselor Education Department at Fairfield University who is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor in the state of Connecticut as well as a National Certified Counselor, a Master Addiction Counselor, and a Board-Certified Telemental Health provider through National Board of Certified Counselors. She has been a Counselor Educator for the past 18 years training students to work with underrepresented and minoritized groups. Previous to joining higher education, she worked as a Professional Counselor and Addiction Counselor in a variety of settings including a minimum-security prison, a hospital, an agency, and a private practice. Dr. Perera has 40+ publications in the areas of addiction, assessment, multicultural issues, and training of professional counselors and counselor educators. Dr. Perera is a member of multiple professional counseling organizations. Dr. Perera is a naturalized immigrant from Sri Lanka.