SIXTEEN COUNSELING STUDENTS GRADUATE

EMPATHIC TIMES SUMMER EDITION MAY 12, 2014 The Official Newsletter of JMU Counseling Programs We don t just report the news. We FEEL it. Previous editions available online at http://psyc.jmu.edu/counseling/newsletters.html SIXTEEN COUNSELING STUDENTS GRADUATE Our commencement ceremony on May 9 was a joyful and special occasion this year, with 16 counseling students completing their training. Thom Field and Rebecca Heselmeyer were awarded the Ph.D. degrees in our doctorate program in Counseling and Supervision. Evenor Aleman, Jay Hayden, Craig Lien, Mueni Masambia, Anne Metz, Meredith Reeed, and Brette Stephenson received their M.A. and Ed.S. degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Our School Counseling graduates included Sarah Armstrong, Victoria Bice, Elizabeth Cranford, Brittany Gibson, Ann Tolley Hynes, Kelsey King, and Christy Norment. In keeping with our tradition, we held a special candle lighting ritual for graduates before the formal commencement. With their relatives and friends looking on, the graduates joined faculty members in a final circle ceremony. Our best wishes to all our graduates! We re proud of you! To see photos of the Graduation 2014 ceremony, you can go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmucounseling/sets/ COUNSELING STUDENTS AND FACULTY WIN AWARDS At the annual Department of Graduate Psychology Spring Celebration on May 8, many of our students and faculty were honored for their exceptional accomplishments over the past year. Thom Field received the Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Scholarship. Aimee Brickner was given the Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Teaching. Anne Metz received both the Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Service and the Most Distinguished Graduate Student Award. Congratulations and best wishes, grads! Three special Counseling Programs Awards also were given to students. Daria White received the William Hall Award for Contributions to the Learning Community. Jay Hayden and Kelsey King were honored with the Helen Moore Award for the Pursuit of Counseling Excellence. Meredith Reed and Victoria Bice were given the Carl Swanson Award for Service to the Counseling Profession. 1

The work of several faculty members received special recognition at the event. Debbie Sturm received the Department of Graduate Psychology Award for Service. Lennie Echterling was given the Department of Graduate Psychology Faculty Award for Distinguished Scholarship and received the Madison Scholar Award by the College of Health and Behavioral Studies. Jack Presbury was honored with the Psychology Graduate Student Council with its Distinguished Teaching Award. DEBBIE STURM TO DIRECT COUNSELING PROGRAMS Debbie Sturm, who has been Coordinator of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program, will also take on the duties of the Director of Counseling Programs this fall semester. She is spending time in Italy and Malta for several weeks before immersing herself in our assessment procedures, summer courses, and a CACREP self-study for the Ph.D. Program. Lennie Echterling, who has served in the role of Director for more years than he can remember, will continue on as Coordinator of the Ph.D. in Counseling and Supervision. He is looking forward to teaching more, promoting the doctorate program, and playing more with his grandkids. Michele Kielty and Renee Staton will be sharing the duties of Coordinator of the School Counseling Program. They are excited to continue the positive momentum of the program and, given that they are such collaborative colleagues, we are certain that they will be generous in sharing with one another. Best wishes, fearless leaders! DAVID FORD JOINS COUNSELING FACULTY David Ford, who recently was awarded his Ph.D. from Old Dominion University, is joining our JMU Counseling faculty as an assistant professor and will begin teaching this fall semester. David is a National Certified Counselor and a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in North Carolina. His areas of interest include diversity, multiculturalism, addiction counseling, and African American males in higher education. David is also a talented musician who has served as pianist, musical director, and minister of music for several churches. He is a wonderfully personable guy who brings energy, dedication and enthusiasm to our learning community. We are very happy to have him as the newest member of our Counseling faculty! SUMMER INSTITUTE OFFERS VALUABLE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES Our Eighteenth Annual Summer Institute in Counseling will take place from Monday, June 16, to Friday, July 18. The theme of this year s institute, cosponsored by the Virginia Counselors Association, is Promoting Resilience and Competence. The Summer Institute features 13 workshops and courses on such topics as the DSM-5, nature-based play therapy, gender issues in 2

counseling, suicide risk assessment and hospitalization, eco-psychology, introductory and advanced motivational interviewing, human sexuality, ethical decision making, introductory and advanced hypnosis, clinical mental health counseling, and school counseling. JMU is an NBCC-approved provider of continuing education units or you may take some of the offerings for graduate course credit. We have detailed information posted on our Counseling Programs web site: http://psyc.jmu.edu/counseling/school/summerinstitute.html. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. CVCA HONORS JMU COUNSELING STUDENTS AND FACULTY Earlier in April, the Central Valley Counselors Association (CVCA) presented awards to a record number of current and former members of the JMU Counseling learning community. CVCA honored alumna Janice Lewis with the Support Member Award, alumna Emily Barnes with the Emerging Leader Award, alumna Jenn Kurbel with the School Counselor of the Year Award, alumna Vanessa Redmond with the Chapter Member of the Year Award, faculty member Debbie Sturm with the Community Counselor of the Year Award, student Victoria Bice with the CVCA Student Member of the Year Award, and alumna Teresa Haase with the Counselor Educator of the Year Award. CVCA Co-Presidents and JMU faculty members Michele Kielty and Debbie Sturm presented the awards at the annual breakfast. Congratulations, award recipients! You can see more photos of the winners at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmucounseling/sets/. STUDENTS GARNER OTHER JMU AWARDS Graduating Clinical Mental Health Counseling student Anne Metz received the annual Graduate Student Association IMPACT Award for her outstanding achievements throughout her graduate career here at JMU. For more information about Anne s accomplishments, go to http://www.jmu.edu/stories/grad/2014/a-metzandfulcher.shtml. Congratulations, Anne! Rebecca Heselmeyer, who is graduating from our Ph.D. in Counseling and Supervision Program, is this year's student recipient of the JMU Diversity Enhancement Award. President Alger presented Rebecca with the award at a reception in April. Throughout her graduate career, Rebecca has been tirelessly dedicated to investing time and energy in projects that focus on these 3

concerns. Well done, Rebecca! For more information on her achievements, go to http://psyc.jmu.edu/counseling/supervision/features/heselmeyer.html. Daria White, another of our doctoral students, received the JMU Award for Feminist Scholarship and Creative Work for her exhibit, "Balkan Women," which featured dramatic photographs and narratives that bore witness to the historical traumas of elderly women in Bulgaria. Her exhibit has been displayed at several venues, including Eastern Mennonite University, the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, the Cultural Center of Bansko in Bulgaria, and the Forbes Center Lobby at James Madison University. Beautiful work, Daria! Elizabeth Cranford, one of our graduating School Counseling students, received the Virginia School Counselors Association s Graduate Student of the Year Award for James Madison University at the VSCA conference this Friday. Congratulations, Elizabeth, on your welldeserved award! COMPS TO TAKE PLACE IN MAY AND JUNE The oral comprehensive examinations will take place throughout the summer to accommodate the schedules of both students and faculty members. The comprehensive examination now includes important components that sample counseling knowledge, skills and practices: practicum documentation of activities, recorded tape segment of counseling work, accompanying transcript and written analysis, oral examination, and follow-up session. Clinical Mental Health Counseling students also submit a proposal for the Ed.S. Research Project and a completed committee approval form. ED.S. PROJECT AND DISSERTATION DEADLINE SET If you are completing your Ed.S. research or Ph.D. dissertation this summer semester, then you must submit your final report to The Graduate School by Friday, July 11. For a thesis and dissertation manual that includes format instructions and a helpful checklist, you can go to: http://www.jmu.edu/grad/current_students/thesis_dissertation.shtml. Remember to make an appointment with The Graduate School s Director of Student Support to review the format of your draft manuscript prior to submitting the final copy. Your review may be conducted in person at The Graduate School office or by email. VAPT ANNUAL WORKSHOP RETURNS The Virginia Association for Play Therapy (VAPT) will hold its annual Come Play With Us! Workshop at JMU s Festival Conference Center on Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14. Under the guidance of Anne Stewart, president of VAPT, the workshop will feature Dr. Eric Green, who will present Building Sandcastles in the Sky: Integrative Sand Tray Therapy with Children and Families. For more information regarding the VAPT summer conference, go to: http://vapt.cisat.jmu.edu/. The workshop is designed for professionals, faculty, and students in mental health, education, special education, and allied health professions. If you have questions regarding registration and accommodations, you can contact Anne Stewart at 540-568-6601 or stewaral@jmu.edu. 4

COUNSELING PROGRAMS WELCOME OUR NEWEST STUDENTS We are happy to introduce you to the newest members of the Counseling Programs learning community! New Clinical Mental Health Counseling students include: Kristina Blakely, Cannie Campbell, Agnes Carbrey, Hunter Greer, Trevor Haase, Samuel Hogan, Matt Martin, Caitlin Powell, and Bryant Satterlee. The new School Counseling students include: Brittany Cover, Pierre Durant, Kelsey Newman, Kara Shifflett, Anda Weaver, Luke Wilkinson, and Nicole Yoder. Welcome, all! We re excited that you are joining our learning community! OUT OF THE DARKNESS WALK A SUCCESS On Sunday, March 30, a surprising number of walkers braved the snow, sleet, rain, and wind to participate in the fourth annual Out of the Darkness Walk. Supported by the Central Valley Counselors Association and hosted by the officers and members of JMU's Chi Sigma Iota, the event raised funds for research and services sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This year, the event raised over $6,000! More importantly, the walk provided relatives and friends a meaningful opportunity to share their memories of loved ones lost to suicide, offer support to one another, educate the public regarding this important issue, and honor the resilience of the human spirit. To see photos of the Walk, you can go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmucounseling/sets/. This event would not have been possible without the active involvement of dozens of CSI officers and members, JMU counseling students and alumni, community volunteers, faculty members, and practitioners. Thanks and congratulations to everybody involved for this outstanding accomplishment! APPLICATION FOR GRADUATION DUE THIS MONTH If you plan to complete your training by Friday, August 8, there is a simple procedure that you should follow. First, you must complete the Application for a Graduate/Doctoral Degree form at http://www.jmu.edu/grad/current_students/degree_completion.shtml. Please note that the 5

Graduate School will not accept forms completed in pen. You must first complete the form electronically and then print it. Make sure that you will be completing all the requirements and that you have no outstanding Incompletes by the end of this summer semester. Then, meet with your advisor, who will review and sign your application. After that, see Carl Guerin, who will help you obtain the signatures from the program director and department head. Carl will make a copy of the form for our files and send the form to The Graduate School. The deadline is Friday, May 30, so don t wait until the last day to do it. PROGRESS NOTES Our birthdays for this summer include: May birthday people (and dates) include: Kristina Blakely (16), and Ed McKee (27). The June folks are: Rachael Johnson (2), Korey Lamb (12), Hunter Greer (13), Angie Strite (18), and Kim Heverly (29). July birthdays include: Eleanor Whitehurst (2), Nicole Yoder (13), Matt Martin (17), and Lennie Echterling (17), and Thom Field (23). The August people are: Agnes Carbrey (8), Cheri Greenfield (13), and Jamie Claytor (15). Be sure to pass along happy birthday wishes to these people. Please send corrections and additions to the Empathic Times Editorial Staff, aka Lennie, at echterlg@jmu.edu. 6