Tyler Suran, MA, APCC

Faculty Biography

Tyler Suran, MA, APCC (he/him)

Doctoral Candidate in Counselor Education and Supervision, The Chicago School

Tyler Suran is a California BBS registered Associate Professional Clinical Counselor, experienced Outpatient Mental Health Program Director, and certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor (CCAAPP). Navigating behavioral healthcare as a first-generation, neurodivergent, and queer professional, Tyler is a Los Angeles-based clinical leader, strategist, and scholar-practitioner. He holds a BA in Global Health from Arizona State University, an MA in Professional Mental Health Counseling (Addictions Specialization) from Lewis & Clark College, and is a Counselor Education and Supervision doctoral candidate at The Chicago School, alongside completing an advanced sex therapy certificate at CIIS.

Driven by a commitment to decolonizing behavioral healthcare, Tyler grounds his pedagogy and practice in Relational-Cultural Theory, Trauma-informed, Affirmative, and Attachment-based lenses. Tyler often brings evidenced-based interventions, including CBT and DBT, into his direct clinical work. His intersectional, anti-racist approach was shaped by global health projects in Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa, and Tanzania, as well as a specialized clinical internship serving queer, trans, polyamorous, kink, and BDSM communities.

Tyler brings an extensive portfolio of acute care, crisis intervention, and public health management into the classroom. His domestic expertise spans the care continuum. Trusted with building, expanding, directing, and managing quality improvement and curricula design for high-acuity PHP/IOP tracks, Tyler’s leadership moves past the therapeutic room. He has been acknowledged for executing wildfire emergency transition management and community integration, earning stakeholder recognition for clinical quality and coordination of care excellence. His most recent work includes providing street response crisis intervention and dual-diagnosis treatment to unhoused community members. Notably, he served as Senior Clinician for the Skid Row Mental Health Wellness Center at The People Concern, utilizing harm-reduction and housing-first models. These frontline realities reinforce his conviction that clinical quality and operational viability must coexist to protect vulnerable populations and workers.

As an academic mentor, Tyler rejects performative jargon for a transparent, welcoming pedagogy centered on clinician well-being. He pairs high standards of clinical accountability and documentation mastery with an educational stance of assuming best intent. Reflecting this dedication, his doctoral dissertation on minority burnout investigates specialized supervision modalities to prevent burnout among LGBTQIA+ associate therapists, empowering the next generation to navigate complex systems while reclaiming their clinical voices.