Neumann University
February, 2017
PCC Newsletter CACREP Pays Visit —
Re-accreditation Team to Arrive Mid-month Some 13 years ago, the accrediting agency CACREP did not have the widespread and recognizable name in counseling circles that it has today. However, those involved in the PMCMH programs at Neumann and the members of the administration had a vision of building not just the master’s but also a future doctoral program and knew that the standards upon which CACREP based its evaluations were the preeminent for counseling education programs. So, over a five year period, all worked to prepare the courses, the clinical and all other aspects to meet the demands. Eight years ago a team of three CACREP evaluators, trained professors from colleges and universities across the U.S. came and reviewed what the Neumann staff and faculty attested were its accomplishments, growing edges and goals. The rest, as they say, is history. In mid-February history will repeat itself as a team of three trained evaluators will again visit the Neumann campus for a period of three days to determine if the PCMHC program in all its many facets meets the criteria enunciated in over 200 standards. Arriving on Sunday, February 19, the evening before the visit, Professors Richard Henriksen, Bellah Kiteki, and Evadne Ngazimbi will fly from Texas, Illinois, and Connecticut to spend two full days reviewing the program. Before leaving on Wednesday, they will read a report of their findings. After a review by the CACREP Board and response by the program will the formal decision be posted. Acting as the Liaison for the evaluation now as in 2009, S. Suzanne, ihm, Ph.D. emphasized the wisdom then and importance now of getting CACREP approval, observing that more and more states are demanding a CACREP-accredited education in order for counselors in training to move toward licensure. She pointed out that the National Board for Certified Counselors, the major certification organization in America, has already announced that by JanuInside this issue: ary, 2022, anyone applying for such certification must have graduated from a CACREP-accredited institution. Sister summarized: “A major issue driving these Alumna works with chil2 changes in the profession is the recognition that in order to achieve parity and dren’s stress through YOGA reduce the diversity of licensure mandates from state to state, a common body of standards is needed. Many consider CACREP to hold the most exacting standards, Professional organizations 3 thus, adoption of these provides an assurance of quality. For this and so many draw students/faculty reasons we are more than grateful for the wisdom of the 20094 Faculty Feats celebrate 4 past/future accomplishments Members of PC Ph.D. first cohort prepare to defend
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AONu receives development grant for career workshop
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Academic opportunities draw researchers
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Office space opportunity
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CACREP ADVOCACY WEEK is a time set aside for counseling program faculty members, students, and graduates to make their voices heard through engaging in advocacy efforts on behalf of their counseling programs and profession. This year, serendipitously, ADVOCACY WEEK the PMCHC program has its CACREP visit. The program has issued a list of activities for each day of the week, ranging from engaging representatives for political change to raising awareness through social media. Ideas for programs as well as topics and suggested advocacy events are posted on RAB, third floor.
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What has 20 legs and stretches?
Alumni will answer: Yoga, especially for children In 2012 Linda Lonergan graduated with the St. Francis Award for Excellence from the then PCC, M.S. program. Since then, Linda has gone on to earn her licensed and to undertake a number of career areas. In this interview with Dr. Sophia Park, Linda shares some of her work, especially with children. As a Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health in the State of Delaware and a Certified Childlight Children's Yoga instructor, I am afforded the opportunity to pursue my dream of helping people of all ages achieve greater health and happiness. I encourage clients in a safe and compassionate atmosphere to increase self-awareness in mind, body, and spirit and use this knowledge to make positive life changes. I offer a variety of services through Heart Song Counseling & Consulting. My private practice, including individual and group counseling, running mindfulness groups at schools, and providing children's yoga classes in before/aftercare programs. Both in my group sessions and individual work, my primary focus is children and their caregivers, but my practice is not limited to children as I enjoy working with adults as well. Recently, I completed the TF-CBT (Trauma focused CBT) for children and adolescents in a certification program provided by the State of Delaware and to strengthen the work I do with children who have experienced a traumatic event. Incorporating mindfulness principles in my practice is a powerful tool I use to help people grow in self-awareness, to learn to manage difficult feelings and to work toward making positive life adjustments. Linda provides group yoga/mindfulness classes for children, as well as school classroom mindfulness instruction to support socialemotional learning within the school setting, engaging in a regular seated meditation practice and yoga practice. Linda believes her experience of the Franciscan tradition through Neumann University while attaining both her BSN (’86) and MS in Pastoral Counseling (2012) has helped shape her passion for bringing loving-kindness and compassion into today’s ever-changing society. Linda expresses the need for her type of intervention, saying, “The world of the child has changed, leaving little time for free play, creative expression, and family bonding. As life’s pace has increased, technology has exploded, and school standards and rigid testing have become the norm often leaving children of over-stressed, lacking sleep, and struggling to find time to be just a kid.” A registered yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance, Linda considers yoga and mindful awareness techniques effective strategies that can facilitate children to grow in awareness of their internal and external worlds, and develop coping skills to foster health in mind, body, and spirit. Linda stresses that “Yoga invites a child to experience a sense of inner connectedness, as each moves, breathes, and notices thought. This can be a useful tool for emotion regulation. As children gain familiarity with their body, physical emotional responses may be detected earlier creating opportunities for enhanced emotion regulation.” Breath work is an integral part of yoga. Children can be encouraged to notice their breath and how it affects the body, emotions and energy. Mindfulness of breath can be explored in a seated meditation practice. Children can practice being mindful of sight, sound, taste, or touch. “My experience with the children has taught me that many find a sense of calm after the seated practice and many have spontaneously reported that they feel ‘more calm at home’ and ‘fight less with their brother or sister’,” states Linda. “There is a growing body of research that supports teaching mindfulness to children, my experience with the children further fuels my desire to share it.” Admittedly, yoga and mindfulness are not utopian answers to alleviating stress for children, but they can be tools to help empower children and allow persons to discover a sense of ease and connection to others as they journey through life.
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The Greater Philadelphia Area Counseling Association (GPACA), a regional chapter of the Pennsylvania Counseling Association (PCA), was established especially to support counselor-educators, counselor-practitioners and students in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Having formed as an offshoot of PCA i[PA Counseling Association] n 2015 with an organizational meeting under the acting president Minna Davis, the organization is now offering its first educational meeting. As a member of the American Counseling Association (ACA), GPACA aims to enhance human development across the lifespan and to serve and represent local issues to the ACA Code of Ethics. The initial event the group will host will take place at Drexel University on Saturday, March 4. Minna Davis will offer a presentation on Trauma-informed therapy. Opportunities to network, gain or offer supervision, continue or advance their professional development, advocate for the counseling profession, and develop and serve in leadership roles will be available. Interest parties may check out their website at https://gpacaweb.wordpress.com/ and stay connected for upcoming opportunities!
AAPC’s Annual Conference
You are invited to join your friends and colleagues for the AAPC 2017 Conference in Decatur, GA, March 22-25, 2017. The theme of the conference is Vision and Opportunity: The Future of Spiritually Integrated Care. With all the changes in the counseling field, and especially with all the structural and organizational changes happening within the American Association of Pastoral Counselors [AAPC] organization, this conference offers a great time to learn about the new and challenging ways that AAPC continues to be a leader in the area of spiritually integrated psychotherapy and care. The conference has been carefully planned to provide meaningful plenary sessions including Dr. Emmanuel Lartey as the plenary speaker for Friday morning. Multiple workshops, specifically addressing the rapidly changing environment of pastoral care and counseling in the twenty-first century. will look at both the vision and opportunity of counseling from a pastoral perspective. Lartey will challenge and re-examine the meaning of pastoral care in modern multicultural societies from a global perspective. The importance of recognizing different cultural influences on individuals will be stressed in order to counsel, guide and empower clients effectively. Illustrations will be provided for how an intercultural approach can work in practice. Of significant note is that three of the PCMHC Faculty, Sr. Suzanne Mayer, Ph.D., Dr. Sophia Park, and Dr. Beth Toler, will be presenting workshops and participating in panel discussions. Cost for students is $155 for the entire conference. For more information and to register, visit aapc.org and follow the link to the annual conference web page.
CONGRATULATIONS! Kasey Seltner, MS 19, received word on February 2 that she had received Honorable Mention in the American Counseling Association [ACA] Graduate Student Essay Contest. The theme was to create a message for the new federal administration the importance of supporting the counseling needs of the populace and the counselors that provide these services. Kasey, who has worked at Assisi House, discussed the needs of the elderly as a challenge for the new administration. She receives a free registration to the ACA conference in San Francisco.
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As the initial months of 2017, draws to a close, faculty in PC, PCC and SFD continue to remain active beyond the classroom in activities of scholarship and service, ranging from academic presentations and servant leadership, to program development, to initiatives in interfaith dialogue. At the end of January, Suzanne Mayer, IHM, presented and facilitated a meeting of those in leadership and formation positions for the Daughters of St. Paul at their retreat center outside Boston. Around the same time, she heard that her application for the Professor Recognition Award covering the previous five years of service to the university was approved. Sister will join with Dr. Park in presenting at the American of Association of Pastoral Counselors [AAPC] to be held in Decatur, GA from March 23 26, 2017. Their presentation, “Using Words: Theological Integration into Counseling from a Franciscan Perspective” will explore integrating theology into training students as counselors and supervisors through the lens of Franciscan tradition and the core beliefs that animate this approach. Sister Suzanne will also be an invited participant in a panel discussion of Graduate Education and CACREP Accreditation, a timely topic as it will follow the PCMHC’s re-accreditation review. Two PCC faculty members currently serve in leadership positions with the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling. Dr. Sophia Park recently accepted the secretary position for the journal. Dr. Beth Toler currently serves as the vice-president. Dr. Park also participated in the second of three workshops on addressing issues in theological education in the twenty-first century. This most recent workshop, sponsored by the Lily-funded Wabash Institute for Teaching & Learning, was held on January 19-22 at Mustang Island, Texas. Dr. Timothy Hanna has started chairing his first dissertation committees for PC doctoral students. Tim’s recent professional development activities included attending a Diversity Training supported by SEPCHE and participating in the Neumann Faculty Teaching & Learning Circle. He continues to develop his research on religion and spirituality in counselor social justice training for publication submissions and future conference presentations. Making for some busy spring and summer months, Dr. Beth Toler continues to contribute to the broader field of pastoral counseling and to develop her ideas on theological and spiritual integration in counseling and counseling education. In March she will serve on a panel at the national American Association of Pastoral Counselors conference in Decatur, GA. In June, she will co-present at Christian Theological Society in Providence, RI, and in July, she will co-present at the national ASERVIC [Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling] conference in Richmond, VA Sister Diane Tomkinson, OSF, organized two sessions of papers sponsored by Women in the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition (WIFIT), which have been accepted for the upcoming International Medieval Congress at Western Michigan University in May 2017. Sister Diane also participated in several interfaith events as part of Delaware’s first annual, statewide Peace Week in September 18-25, including an opening potluck supper bringing together local Muslim, Jewish and Christian residents, and Faithful to Peace: An Interfaith Conversation on Sept. 25, involving participants from over a dozen religious traditions. On January 14, 2017, Sr. Diane and other Sisters of St. Francis joined an interfaith audience attending the Philadelphia premiere of the Sultan and the Saint, a new documentary exploring the peaceful, interfaith encounter between St. Francis of Assisi and the Egyptian Sultan Al-Malik Al-Kamil during the Crusades. As a member of the Neumann Institute for Franciscan Studies Committee, Sr. Diane recently agreed to chair a subcommittee on interfaith dialogue and related efforts at Neumann University.
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Members of First PC Cohort
Moving from ABD to Ph.D. With the first cohort of the Ph.D. in pastoral counseling [PC 17] reaching its “abd (all but dissertation)” stage, the students are moving with their chairs and committees to remove the “a and b” part of the designation and complete the degree. The first cohort of the Ph.D. program is conducting innovative research integrating mental health and spirituality. Dr. Houck, director of the PC progam, emphasizes that “Our students are trained from day one to integrate this discipline in the areas of their advanced clinical training and supervisory skills, counseling education and research interests. Furthermore, they are trained to conduct research in areas of research of both qualitative and quantitative designs. When it comes to their dissertations, students are then free to choose which type of design they will use to complete their research. Within the past year, our first cohort has been involved in various stages of their dissertation research.” In terms of research using such integration, some of the research in which the first cohort are involved include the following (in alphabetical order with the Dissertation Chair): Linda Branco [Suzanne Mayer, ihm, Ph.D.] — Moral Distress in Critical Care Nurses Toni Hemmerich [Dr. Mary Powell] — The Integration of Reiki and Psychotherapy on Depression: The Lived Experience; Christopher McIntosh [Dr. Mary Beth Yount] — A Comparative Study on Seminarian and Cler-
gy Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Services.
Meredith Hardee [Dr. Collen McDonough] — To What Extent Does the Intervention Focused on Invisibility, Distorted Love and Abandonment Issues, within the Substance Use Disorder Population, Change the Levels of Shame as Measured by the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA) Anna Sollenberger [Dr. Ramona Roberts-Palmieri] — LGBT Religious Identity Integration: A Phenomenological Study of the Process of Religious and Sexual Identity Integration Stephanie Wharton [Dr. Beth Toler] — The Influence of Religion and Spirituality on Therapeutic Alliance with Adolescents in Outpatient Psychotherapy. Of these students, the first to complete the Ph.D. in Pastoral Counseling, the initial three listed will be presenting the results of their findings and defending their dissertations in April with the goal of collecting their degrees at the May graduation; the three latter listed are aiming for a defense during the summer months.
LECTURE SERIES: TWO CUTTING EDGE OFFERINGS Just two offerings left in the Spring semester: PCC 726-A: Motivational Interviewing on Friday, February 24- [5:30 — 8:30] and Saturday, February 25 [9 — 4] With Barbara Price Martin, and Jackie Williams PCC 626– A: Mindfulness for Counselors on Friday, March 31 [5:30 — 8:30] and Saturday, April 1 [9 — 4] With Jackie Corsini and Michael Rawlings
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With snow still on the ground and the groundhog’s promise of more to come, the Executive Committee of Alpha Omega Nu is looking at two major events for the Spring semester. The first is a workshop which the Committee members are organizing with the support of a Chi Sigma Iota chapter development grant. The officers applied for the funds when requests came in from membership for help in moving forward after graduation. The day, March 11, will run from 9-12, with registration and a light continental breakWe are so fast starting at 8:30. The workshop will take place in the Student Multipurpose Room in grateful to have the new addition to the Bruder Center, the John J. Mullen Communication Center. The March workshop, which will be organized in a “speed dating type of style,” will received the allow attendees to begin at one station and move to two others over the course of time. At grant funds from each of the sessions, the participants will first listen to a core statement on a topic relating to CSI, which have the steps that are important to put in place in moving from graduate school to professional enabled us to careers. Then the rest of the time will be opened up for questions and discussion. offer this One table will be hosted by Neumann’s own Mary McCaffrey, Director of Career & Personal Development, who will walk the attendees through important processes leading professional to agency, service centers and even partnership careers. Another table leader is Lisa Corbin, workshop. We in her position of Field Placement Coordinator and Adjunct Professor at Holy Family hope it will be a who University, has guided students to make important decisions and organize initiatives togreat resource ward specific career landmarks. Finally, a table gathering of graduates from the PCC profor fellow gram, who have successfully opened and now run their own practices, will offer the do’s and don’ts involved in such an adventure. students and Also in the Spring, the officers are preparing for the induction of new members. recent graduates Letters of invitation have gone out to those who meet the criteria for membership in the alike.” national honor society, including a 3.5 or better GPA, a completion of a semester’s courses Stephanie Fortunato, Elizabeth by the time of induction and that the candidate is “deemed promising for endorsement as a professional counselor whose ethical judgment and behavior will be exemplary [CSI ByBarr, and Michelle laws, Article 4.1]. The date for the induction is set for Thursday, March 30 as the ceremony Engle will take place before the Spring CLE. Candidates have been asked to complete the process of application by the end of February and can do so by going directly online to the Chi Sigma Iota site [https://www.csi-net.org/]. When each applicant finishes, the national society alerts the Chapter Faculty Advisor, S. Suzanne, who then reviews the member against the criteria and signals the process of acceptance should move forward. With over 30 current members, both students — master’s and doctoral — and alumni, this organization offers much promise and support both while each member is in school and once the person’s degree is completed. S. Suzanne notes, “With the society’s emphasis on such value-based counseling. members can look to belonging to CSI as core to who they are both professionally, but even more, as pastoral person.” One goal this year for Neumann’s chapter has been to reach out to graduates to encourage more interaction with the university community. The March workshop is designed to attract not only those new to entering the world of professional counseling, but also those seeking either a different path or more networking.
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When: Where:
Friday, March 31st, 6:30-9:00 pm Bruder Life Center Multipurpose Room
6:30PM-7:00PM: 7:00PM-7:15PM: 7:15PM-8:30PM: 8:30PM-9:00PM:
Registration and Presenter Set-Up Welcome and Opening Prayer Poster Presentations Closing and Recognitions Heavy Appetizers and Refreshments will be served. In an effort to bring forward some of the research being done by student in various programs throughout the university, the Graduate Council explored ways and means this could be done. While it was decided to wait until the next academic year to present a full overview involving all programs with post-graduate students, several faculty determined to “get things started” for the current semester. So, under the direction of Dr. Stephanie Budhai-Smith a call for poster presentation of work on this level went out from Drs. Budhai, Speace, Houck, and Sr. Suzanne Mayer. Therefore before the month of March ends, a representative sample of student research, exploration and areas covered will be on display. This means that areas of research in both education [from the master’s and Ed.D. programs] and pastoral counseling [masters in PCMHC and PC Ph.D.] will be displayed.
Summer semester 2017 PCC 700-A: Psychopathology – blended course beginning on 5/22
PCC 780-R Psychological Testing – online beginning week of 5/22 PCC 781-R Career Counseling – online beginning week of 5/22 PCC 740 A Preclinical alternating Tuesdays, beginning 5/23 continuing until week of 8/14
Schedule announced PCC 750-A –Clinical Case alternating Wednesdays, beginning on 5/24 continuing until week of 8/18 PCC 770-A—Internship I alternating Wednesdays, beginning on 5/24 continuing until week of 8/18 PCC 771-A – Internship II alternating Thursdays beginning on 5/25 continuing until week of 8/18 PCC-550-SFD: Developmental Models – beginning week of 5/23 and continuing to 6/27
Dates for registration will be announced in near future.
We’re on the Web — www.neumann.edu
Department of Pastoral Clinical Mental Health Counseling One Neumann Drive Aston, PA
19014
I am a recent PCMHC grad establishing a counseling center in a renovated barn on my 16–acre farm outside of Oxford, PA. I am looking for a licensed practitioner interested in using one of the large offices in the counseling center in return for providing me supervision and a few overflow clients per week. Great opportunity for someone to offer clients a beautiful environment and farm grounds, complete with nature trails . Please email me @ bvsouder@gmail.com if interested. Pastoral Clinical Mental Health Counseling Newsletter Neumann University One Neumann Drive, Aston, PA 19014-1298 February 2017 _______________________________________
The Pastoral Clinical Mental Health Counseling Newsletter is a department publication issued several times during the academic year. Written by and for the members of the Pastoral Care and Counseling Department, it contains articles, reviews, interviews and forms of reflective material of interest to these members submitted in advance to the editor of the publication. Editor: Suzanne Mayer, ihm, Ph.D. Contributors: Faculty of PCMHC