We believe that the best way to learn the art of leadership is not merely through the obtaining and executing of good information and technique but through embodiment 鈥� entering into the wild drama and dance of pursuing life with one another on behalf of others. Each of you brings a richness of vision, ability, and desire. Embracing the fullness of who you are, we invite you to participate and to create on behalf of 天美视频 community. Student life at 天美视频 is a living collage reflecting the vision, interests, passions, and personalities of our students!

Student Groups at 天美视频 are peer-facilitated communities designed to connect and resource students in relation to their shared interests or identities. There will be opportunities for our new students to begin getting connected to student groups during Community Weekend and Fall Residency.

Underrepresented student groups are spaces wherein students gather with others who share similar experiences and perspectives related to underrepresentation around their culture and/or identity. We know that it can be costly and exhausting to engage in contexts where one is underrepresented. Student group gatherings offer space for processing, conversation, and deepening connections. These groups expand students鈥� network of support, help students to grow their capacity to learn and thrive in relation to their culture or identity, and provide resources for engaging in learning spaces and future professional contexts. We currently have the following three groups BIPOC Student Group (centers underrepresentation around race/ethnicity); LGBTQIA+ Student Group (centers underrepresentation related to sexual orientation and/or gender identity); and Access (connects students who have neurodiversities, disabilities and/or chronic pain).We are currently looking for students interested in joining the student facilitation teams for these three groups. If you would like to get involved, contact Becca (rshirley@theseattleschool.edu).

Interest-based student groups allow students to cultivate connections based on shared areas of interest. These groups ebb and flow depending on student desire and capacity. We currently have one active interest-based student group called Sage, which gathers students who are returning to school later in life, after a long time away, often while caring for their families or aging parents. Examples of interest groups from the past include an Artists鈥� Council, Lit (student print publication), and Eagle & Child for Theology students.

Student Leadership is a team of students who volunteer to serve the student body as a whole, and meet on a weekly basis. This team is not elected, but open to all who have a heart to serve and to cultivate community together. Our mission is to foster student engagement in our learning community by facilitating collaboration, conversation, and mutuality among students, staff, and faculty. We practice active listening, turning towards one another, and cultivating trust and belonging in all our shared spaces. We seek to recruit a diverse team that represents as much of the student body as possible. Student Leadership hosts seasonal gatherings like Fall Vespers and Community Dinners, and engage ad hoc projects in collaboration with the other student group leaders, faculty, and the Student Services team throughout the year. . Anyone interested in joining Student Leadership can do so at two points in the year: in August, and in January. The initial term of commitment is one academic year from the month during which one has started. For more conversation about student leadership, email studentleadership@theseattleschool.edu or at Becca (rshirley@theseattleschool.edu).

Read more about Student Groups and Student Leaderships here.

The Student Leadership team is eager to meet you and we are planning some fun opportunities for students to get to know one another during Community Week and Fall Residency September 10-13! Look for us in the blue t-shirts around campus on September 10!

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Bio: Dr. Barton is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Washington. She received her BA in Psychology from Concordia University-Portland, her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Fuller Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Seminary, and MA in Theology from Fuller Seminary. Dr. Barton has also pursued additional training in Contemporary Analytic Psychology and Neo-Jungian Studies through Pacifica Graduate Institute.

While she has worked in a variety of mental health settings, engaging emerging adults in meaningful therapy and investing in the development, training, and mentoring of the next generation of deeply human and present clinicians have been her passions. Before joining the faculty of 天美视频 in 2024, Dr. Barton served in university counseling centers for 20+ years. She has taught undergraduate courses in psychology and world religions, directed the training program for master’s and doctoral level counseling students at Pacific Lutheran University Counseling Services, and served as the director of the Counseling Center at PLU.

Dr. Barton grew up in rural Washington State with a diverse denominational background and an appreciation for the joys, challenges, and opportunities for navigating the 鈥漣n-between鈥� spaces of identities, stories, and communities of belonging. In both her ongoing therapeutic practice and in walking alongside healers in training, Dr. Barton is interested in building capacity to be deeply present to self, other, and world; integrating head and heart knowledge in an embodied way; and facilitating enhanced agency and ownership of one鈥檚 own voice.

Beyond work, Dr. Barton believes in the importance of being engaged in community, family life, and connection with the natural world. She teaches courses in her faith community, serves on local neighborhood coalitions that support youth thriving, participates in her church worship band, enjoys board games and meaningful (and ridiculous or fun) conversations with her partner and three children, and can regularly be found basking in God鈥檚 creation on local hikes or in National Parks.

What are you currently reading?

I tend to read multiple things at once to satisfy my many interests.聽 Right now, in addition to a lot of policy/procedures and textbooks for 天美视频, I am:

• 聽Reading Steve Inskeep鈥檚 聽Differ We Must:聽 How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America (2023) and reflecting on the deep need in our present reality to engage across and through difference.聽
• Continuing to explore my interest in Jungian psychology and its applications by reading聽 Joan Chdorow鈥檚 1997 edited collection of writings by Jung: Jung on Active Imagination and the classic聽 Romancing the Shadow: A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital, Authentic Life (Zweig & Wolf, 1999)
• Following up on a recommendation from a spiritual director friend with whom I have shared conversation about the importance of (re)building meaningful connections amongst those in our church communities by reading聽 The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible (Chittister, 2006)
• Scratching my historical fiction itch with PNW writer, Kristen Loesch鈥檚 The Last Russian Doll (2024) and Adam Ehrlich Sachs genre-bending, mind-tickling Gretel and the Great War (2024)

What have you been listening to lately?

The sounds of birds, water, and the wind in the trees; music by Chopin while working or reading; a variety of lectures from The Great Courses (from literature to history, philosophy, etc – these lectures and Apocalyptica are what I listen to while working out), Lectio 365; the beauty and wildness of a square foot-challenged house of 6 people who all play instruments (yes, there鈥檚 a drum set in my 鈥渉ome office鈥�) and are practicing dance, cheer, signing etc., throughout the day.聽聽

What did you enjoy this summer?聽

聽This past summer I enjoyed hiking in the mountains and drinking in the beauty of North Cascades National Park; having moments of awe and wonder both on family camping trips and in my annual solo retreat; and accompanying my children as they entered into adventures that allowed them new 鈥渁has鈥� – seeing the world with new eyes,聽 deepening their curiosity, and posing challenging questions.聽聽

What research or questions do you find yourself drawn to at the moment?聽

In the past year, I presented at a panel conversation on loneliness.聽 I am captured by the questions of what it is we mean when we talk about an 鈥渆pidemic of loneliness鈥� and what it is in our culture, environments, and ways of living with one another that is giving rise to alienation from ourselves and each other. What is it that we as psychologists, and those who reflect from theological and spiritual perspectives,聽 have to offer in this regard?聽

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would they be?

Just one? I鈥檇 like to cheat on this one. I鈥檇 love to grab some Thai food (mangoes and sticky rice compulsory), sit down around a table with Victor Frankl, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Carl Jung, and Steven Hayes, and see where the conversation goes.聽

If you weren’t in your current profession, you’d be….?

I鈥檝e had the fantasy of opening a bookstore, cafe, third-space of community that hosts opportunities for folks to engage in conversation with one another about topics that we seem to have a hard time entering into with one another right now. Seems challenging鈥� meaningful鈥xciting鈥�. like I would need to learn some entrepreneurial skills.聽

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But how do we orient and connect when students and classmates are joining at different times, from different places, with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and identities, and with varying degrees of ease related to technology and access?

These questions have shaped much of our work within the Student & Academic Services team (SAS) in recent months and years. If you are a new student at 天美视频, I would imagine that questions like these have shaped your experience as well. Some of you in the 2024 cohort started taking classes this winter or spring. Others have just enrolled and are figuring out how to access student email and wondering where to get textbooks. Some have begun connecting during our monthly summer zoom coffee or happy hours. And some are also supporting children starting school while you prepare to start school yourself. Wherever you are today, however you are feeling about starting classes in September, we are here for you. We value your presence, our relationship with you, and the ways you will shape this learning community.

For many years we’ve held a tradition of asking our incoming cohort to reflect on who they are as they begin their degree program, and to introduce themselves creatively using a simple sheet of paper. This non-graded “Who Am I?” assignment is a way of collectively representing the people, perspectives, and stories that make up your incoming cohort.

During the fall term, we hang these compositions in an art installation in our Community Gallery on the 3rd floor of the school building. Afterward, we gather these pages into a portfolio and archive them alongside nearly two decades of cohorts who have participated in this assignment. We return to these portfolios every year as we are sending our graduating cohort, inviting them to look back at the person they were when they started, and to see the host of alumni that surround them as a great cloud of witnesses. These pages are a cherished part of our community鈥檚 story.

How to complete the Who Am I? assignment:

New students, here is your task: Using any media of your choice, answer the question Who are you? We invite you to consider three categories as you reflect and introduce yourself through this assignment: Who are you as an embodied listener, a meaning maker, and a community healer?

You may be as creative as you’d like: collage, paint, sketch, color, write a poem, a song, a story, include your picture or a picture of those people, places, or things you love. . . or don’t. In the case of a song or poem you are free to make an audio recording of yourself but please also prepare an image that connects to it, whether it is the lyrics or some other visual representation of you that can hang with the collection in the third-floor gallery

This assignment is due on September 11th. Bring it with you when you come to campus for Part 2 of New Student Orientation. We will spend some time sharing these pieces with one another that afternoon. We will then hang the visual pieces in the third-floor gallery for you to see and interact with when you come to campus. And, after the fall term, we will gather and keep these pieces in the portfolio archives alongside past cohorts.

If you have questions about this assignment, feel free to post them in the discussion in the Frameworks & Intersections group in Populi or email me directly at rshirley@theseattleschool.edu.

For a bit of inspiration, we鈥檝e included a smattering of Who Am I? pages from past cohorts below.

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And even as we savor this lingering summer sweetness, anticipation is growing for the arrival of fall.. The staff, faculty, and student leadership at 天美视频 are deep in the work of preparing for the coming school year, planning events to welcome and orient new and returning students into our learning community!

The Student & Academic Services Team is here to support our incoming students as you prepare to begin school this fall. We will be your hosts for New Student Orientation, and will continue to journey with you throughout your degree program.

Becca Shirley, Manager of Student Life Programs, she/her (rshirley@theseattleschool.edu). You will hear from me about details related to New Student Orientation as well as community-wide gatherings, such as our fall Community Weekend and other student life events throughout the year. I work with our student leadership teams to cultivate pathways of connection for students and your families. I also work with our underrepresented student groups to provide resources, support, and connections for our underrepresented students (BIPOC students, LGBTQIA+ students, students with disabilities, non-Christian students, international students, etc.). I am available for one-to-one conversation on campus or on Zoom whenever you have questions or concerns or need someone to talk to. I also manage the Nourish Market campus store and am available there on a regular basis.

Ligaya Good Avila, Academic Programs and Financial Services Manager, she/her (lavila@theseattleschool.edu)

Ligaya is the primary point of contact for manages Financial Aid for all students, and is available to help with any financial questions. (low-residency and on campus). Ligaya is also the Residency Coordinator for low-residency students. If you鈥檙e enrolled in a low-residency program, you will receive emails from Ligaya ahead of each residency with information to help you plan logistics for your travel, schedule, and lodging.

Mac Martin, Academic Advisor, she/her (mmartin@theseattleschool.edu)听

Mac is available to discuss course planning and scheduling throughout your time at 天美视频. She is here to make sure you are on the path that is best for you!

Daniel Tidwell-Davis, Manager of Accessibility and Vocational Programs, he/they (dtidwell@theseattleschool.edu)

Daniel works one-to-one with students around licensure, vocational discernment, accessibility, and academic accommodations. If you have an academic accommodation related to a learning or physical disability and have not yet talked to Daniel, make sure to with him soon!

Kelsey Wallace, Registrar, she/her (kwallace@theseattleschool.edu)

Many of you have likely been in touch with Kelsey as you have enrolled and begun registering for classes. Email Kelsey if you have questions related to forms, academic policies, course planning, or school/life balance. .

Altogether, the Student & Academic Services team (affectionately known as SAS) works to ensure that students are holistically and equitably supported as they engage in their learning at 天美视频. Students who have a question or concerns can reach out to any SAS team member and we will be glad to help you find what you are looking for.

We are so glad you are here! And we look forward to seeing you soon!

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The role of Instructional Assistant at 天美视频 is somewhat different from what you may have encountered as Teaching Assistants in other academic contexts. All of our IAs hold Master鈥檚 degrees from 天美视频 or similar programs, and are practitioners at various stages within their chosen fields. Instructional Assistants work with faculty to ensure that you get the most out of your learning experience. They provide feedback on papers, are available to meet for office hours, and periodically teach and facilitate classroom interaction. Moreover, we ask IAs to bring their experience as former students and as practitioners in their current vocational contexts into all they do here at 天美视频. Instructional Assistants are dedicated to your growth and development as students and are eager to walk alongside you in this journey. Get used to seeking them out! They are here for you.

Today we’d love to spotlight two of the IAs who are working specifically in First-Year courses this fall (see below). And while we move quickly towards the start of the academic year, on behalf of all of the instructional staff here at 天美视频, we can鈥檛 wait to engage with you in the classroom soon.

Chris Curia (he/they)

Welcome, new students! I look forward to getting to know you more personally once the academic year begins. But first, I wanted to introduce myself here, extend my congratulations, and offer my best wishes for embarking on this next chapter in your professional journey. Having completed the MACP program in 2023 and the MATC-Community Development track in 2024, I am a recent 天美视频 graduate and know what it is like to begin such an undertaking. I commend you for leaping!

As an alumnus, I credit many aspects of my formation at this small, beautiful, complicated graduate school for how my life looks today. Apart from my role on the Instructional Staff team, I am a psychotherapist based in downtown Seattle and a commissioner on an advisory board with the City of Seattle. I am proud of my academic and personal work and the questions about belonging, equity, justice, identity, and liberation I wrestled with throughout my graduate years that have followed me into my career. As such, I returned to 天美视频 as an Instructional Assistant because of my belief that your graduate student years can be just as formative if you let them. So, it is my joy to come alongside you in whatever that journey will hold. I wish you all the best and plenty of rest in the weeks ahead, and I look forward to our work together this academic year!

Jessalyn Jackson (She/Her)

Welcome! My name is Jessalyn. I am looking forward to another academic year filled with the highs and lows of learning and self-discovery and supporting you along the way. I graduated with a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Northwest University across the pond in Kirkland in 2019. Since then, I鈥檝e worked in a community mental health setting for about three years before transitioning to private practice. The emphasis on reflection and depth work at 天美视频 has had a profound impact on my personal and professional life. Because personal growth is a journey that never ends, I encourage you to engage in the work authentically and with curiosity and see where it takes you. Practice embodied self-compassion as you are seemingly inundated with knowledge and information. You will find that once your time here is done, you鈥檝e retained more than you think. Finally, enjoy connecting with your colleagues! You each have a wealth of knowledge, perspectives, and unique understanding to contribute that is invaluable. When I鈥檓 not a therapist, I’m a wife and mom to an 8th month old boy (Graham). I enjoy design, sports, and used to like going to the movies. I look forward to meeting you!

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Ron鈥檚 education is an eclectic blend of social work, counseling, and theological studies. Ron holds a Doctorate of Ministry in Complex Urban Settings from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston. His dissertation title, Welcoming Kids to the Table of Community: New Horizons Ministries as a Model of Service to Homeless Runaway Adolescents, addresses the psychosocial and spiritual issues surrounding homeless adolescents and describes a relationally based and theologically-supported delivery strategy to serve these marginalized young people.

Ron is a senior fellow with the Center for Transforming Mission, providing training and support for grassroots urban leaders serving youth and families in hard places around the world. Closer to home, Ron is on a regular preaching schedule at several local churches. He lives in the Rainier Valley, a multicultural neighborhood in the south end of Seattle with his wife, Linda, with whom he has served for nearly 30 years. Their two adult sons, Ben and Clayton, live close by.

Ron teaches courses focused on Biblical ethics, social justice and community development, such as 鈥淏eing the Word on the Street,鈥� 鈥淓ngaging Global Partnerships,鈥� and 鈥淐are of the Soul and the Call to Sacred Activism.鈥�

What are you currently reading?

Over the past six months with the political climate in the US conflates nationalism, and whiteness with Christianity, I have been drawn in two directions. First to understand this shift, both theologically and psycho-socially.聽 I have read The Flag and The Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy by Philip S Gorski and Samuel Perry American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens The Church聽by Andrew Whitehead and The Psychology of Christian 聽Nationalism: Why People Are Drawn In and How to Talk Across the Great Divide by Pamela Cooper-White. The second direction is a strategy and corrective action taken to counteract the theological misappropriation and social narcissism that has led to the myth of exceptionalism and its misguided mandate regarding the election, doctrines of discovery, and manifest destiny.聽 For this I have been reading Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin, Jr. as well as other community organizing books. The best of which is Ben McBride’s Troubling the Water: The Urgent Call of Radical Belonging聽

What have you been listening to lately?

Sturgill Simpson, Yola Carter, Amythyst Kiah, Tyler Childers, Brandi Carlisle, and Marcus King are always on my playlist. I also just finished the Podcast The Walk Home, a public radio journalism project that tells the story of murdered Tacoma resident Emmanuel Ellis. For live music, you鈥檒l find me at the Tractor listening to alt-country and Americana music, or following my son’s band, Miss Prince. I love watching Clayton鈥檚 band play loud all over the city.

What research do you find yourself drawn to at the moment?

I鈥檝e been reflecting quite a bit on whiteness and identity. Dr Hoard and I are at the beginning stages of a project regarding the embodiment of Antiracist practice in contrast to ideological platitudes.

Any exciting summer plans?

I am always trying to be a more proficient motorcycle rider! Gardening with Linda. This July we hope to be on the Oregon Coast.

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would they be?

No question: Johnny Cash.

If you weren鈥檛 in your current profession, you鈥檇 be鈥�?

I would love to own a tavern/BBQ joint that played blues and Americana music. I would also love to be a prison chaplain.

Who is your literary or living hero?

Arnold Spirit in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Also, my sons: My oldest is an elementary school teacher. His way of teaching and connecting with kids, being attentive to social/emotional learning, and actively working to address the opportunity gap is inspiring. My youngest is an artist and musician. His art is filled with complexity, and his music is loud and truth-filled.

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An absolutely amazing fact about living in Seattle is that you can drive three hours in any direction and be in completely different environments with so many possible activities. If you鈥檙e living in the Seattle area during your years of graduate school, we encourage you to take time to play and rest outside. And if you鈥檙e studying in one of the low-residency degree programs, consider finding a few hours or a few days聽 to enjoy some of the wonders around the Seattle area when you鈥檙e in town for residency. Even if you don鈥檛 have multiple days to explore and seek out solitude, you can still head 30-45 minutes out of town and be on a trail or by the water. Below are a few of our favorite places for adventures and activities in the greater Seattle area, including the approximate drive time and direction from Seattle.

National Parks

Incredibly, there are three national parks within three hours of downtown Seattle. (2.25 hours NE) offers a craggy, mountainous region with a multitude of hidden high mountain lakes and stunning valleys.

(3 hours W, NW)听is host to some of the most eco-diverse land in the state, so you’ve got multiple options for what kind of environment you’d like to spend time in. Over half of the coastline of Washington State is inside the park boundary, offering tide pools, beach exploration, and great surfing. To the southwest is the Hoh rainforest, with old-growth forests covered in mosses in nearly every shade of green, and which sees over 140 inches of rain per year. It’s also home to , so if you need a place to escape the noise of the city, look no farther! The north end of the park gives you access to Hurricane Ridge, a popular place in the winter to cross-country ski, snowshoe, or go sledding.

And then there is the jewel, (2 hours S). On days when the clouds have dispersed, Seattle has an absolutely imposing and awe-inspiring view of the mountain that can almost make it seem like she is watching over the city. In the summer, you can day hike or overnight hike on the Wonderland trail that circumnavigates the mountain and spans 93 miles. In the winter, you can visit the popular sledding and snowshoeing area of Paradise. In 2024, was introduced for entrances at Sunrise and Paradise.聽

Winter Sports

If snow sports are your thing, there are three ski resorts within one or two hours. If you’re from somewhere like Colorado, know we use the term “resort” loosely鈥攎ore accurately they might be called 鈥渟ki areas.鈥� Snow in the PNW is notoriously wet and heavy, but we ski it anyway!聽 is the closest resort to Seattle, but this also means it is the most crowded. is the next nearest resort. You can also ride the gondola year-round and get a fantastic view of Mt. Rainier. and are a couple more local favorites, though they do require a little bit more of a drive.

If cross-country skiing or snowshoeing piques your interest, each of these resorts offer ski and shoe rentals, or you can rent in the city and drive out to any of the national parks or .

Water Sports

Seattle is surrounded by the Salish Sea, also known as the Puget Sound. It’s a great place for flat-water 听辞谤听, but it is not ideal for surfing. The most accessible surf breaks in Washington State are three hours away in the small communities of West Port and Ocean Shores. You can rent equipment (5mm wetsuit, gloves, booties, and board) at one of the surf shops in town and then drive five minutes down the road to the beach. In the summer months, the beach can be a great place to relax with a good book. The water temperature rarely rises above 60 degrees, but some brave souls can still be seen swimming in the Sound each summer!

Seattle Parks

We also thought we’d highlight , which is by far one of the greatest attributes of the city. No matter what neighborhood you live in, you will be in walking distance to a great park space! Each park has different amenities to offer, so take the time to figure which park will be your go-to for different activities. Below we’ve listed some of our favorite spots by category. We know you will find your own favorites, and hope you can savor all the time you get to spend in them.

Best Views

Best for Picnics and Lawn Games

Best for Sunny Days on the Water

Parks with options for swimming, paddle boarding/canoeing, getting sun, etc.

Best for Exercise

Parks with hiking trails, running/walking paths, bike lanes, etc.

Your Turn

For those of you who are not local to Seattle, let us and your fellow incoming students know of some of your favorite spots in your town on the 2024 Populi cohort page!

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Dr. Gadson is a licensed professional counselor, consulting therapist, educator, and podcast host. She received her B.S. in Business Management from The University of Alabama, her M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Troy State University, her M.S. in Spirituality and Counseling from Richmont Graduate University, and her Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Amridge University. Dr. Gadson hosts the podcast, 鈥淎nd The Church Said,鈥� that discusses church and culture from a Christian counseling perspective, focusing on mental and emotional health and the church. She provides counseling and consulting services through her practice, FourCee Counseling and Consulting Services, LLC., concerning issues such as grief, trauma, anxiety, depression, marriage and family care, relationship challenges, questions of faith, and spiritual abuse. Her areas of professional and ministerial interest include premarital and pre-engagement education/counseling, individual development, effects of trauma on development, family-of-origin influences, relationships, marriage and family therapy and education, the intersection of theology and psychology, and the Church and mental health ministry.

Dr. Gadson served on the staff of a church for 16 years as the clinical mental health counselor. She also has served as an expert contributor to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs for a video-based training series for chaplain services, and as a consulting therapist for several churches and organizations. She has taught several courses in psychology, counseling, leadership development, legal and ethical professional development in marriage and family therapy, systematic evaluation and case management, and human development. Presentations at professional conferences include the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, and the American Association of Christian Counselors. Passionate about individual development and relationship education, considering these as means of discipleship, she believes the cornerstone for a healthy society is the love for one鈥檚 self and others fueled by a love of God.

Her latest book, , co-authored with Clarence Shuler, was released in 2022.

Dr. Gadson is married and has two daughters. Her hobbies include Alabama football, writing spoken word pieces, reading, listening to great music, exercising, journaling, photography, scrapbooking, gardening, and hanging out with her family and friends. She loves long walks, preferably on the beach, sunsets and sunrises, and time outside enjoying nature.

What are you currently reading?

I鈥檝e been reading Edwin Friedman鈥檚 work. I started reading him when I was in grad school, and I鈥檝e picked up a lot more of his books lately. I鈥檝e also been reading about leadership, Latasha Morrison鈥檚 Be the Bridge also Christina Edmondson鈥檚 Faithful Antiracism.

What have you been listening to lately?

I listen to a lot of different podcasts. My favorite happens to be good friends who have their own podcast: Truth鈥檚 Table. And also The Best of You with Alison Cook. I have moved away from listening to music and mostly listen to podcasts now.

What research do you find yourself drawn to at the moment?

I continue to study and research the intersection of faith and mental health, trying to help churches. I鈥檝e been able to consult with churches over time when they鈥檙e trying to consider implementing counseling ministries or even just how to make their environment more emotionally and mentally healthy. What can they implement? What sermons should they be preaching? Where should they be sensitive? So I do a lot of reading, researching, and writing between faith and mental health.

And also I study societal emotional process, the emotional processes that are happening out in society. When we recognize what is happening鈥搒uch as polarization, cancel culture鈥揳ll these things we have going on, we study that through the lens of societal and emotional processes first and foremost. According to the research on regression, when people group around the least mature leader, that鈥檚 a sign that you鈥檙e in a state of regression because people are drawn to quick-fix solutions as opposed to long-term sustainability. I think of societal emotional process through a systemic lens, and my reading and research are around systemic issues and thinking systemically as well as generationally. In my research and writing, I take that lens and apply it to institutions, for example, thinking about what was going on with this institution before we were here, and what processes, emotional processes, have been passed down, either knowingly or unknowingly. And what is passed through families, how those systems are built, how do they develop, what is transmitted from generation to generation, and how that contributes to society.

What is something you are looking forward to?

I鈥檓 looking forward to finishing some writing. I鈥檝e been encouraged to write a couple of chapters for a book proposal, so I鈥檓 in the middle of those. I鈥檓 really looking forward to tying those up and seeing what will unfold with that project.

At 天美视频, I鈥檓 looking forward to teaching students this term. Teaching grad school has been really fun because people are doing what they want to do. In undergrad they may be there because they have to take the class and just want to move on to the next thing. With the students here at 天美视频, I just love the opportunity to teach people who know what they want to do. And since I鈥檝e done it for so many years, it鈥檚 really fun to pour that wisdom, that experience, that knowledge back to the students.

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would they be?

Michelle Obama seems so down to earth and I can imagine she has so much wisdom for how she’s had to navigate being First Lady of the United States as a Black woman.聽

If you weren鈥檛 in your current profession, you鈥檇 be鈥�?

I would be a sports psychologist working with college football teams. I would love to be able to observe how the team behaving like a “family” could potentially have adverse effects on the overall team productivity.聽

Who is your literary or living hero?

I鈥檓 grateful to have had the opportunity to be with Mrs. Autherine Lucy Foster. She was the first Black student who attempted to enroll at the University of Alabama. The future Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, became one of her lawyers who fought for her to be fully admitted. However, although she was granted admittance, she faced extreme persecution and as the result of mob riots, she was forced to leave the University. I knew her personally before her death. She, my father, and her husband were really good friends, and one of her daughters and I were one year apart in school. And we鈥檙e still really good friends to this day. Our daughters roomed in college, so it was a generational thing. Our families have just known each other for years. You knew her to be a historical figure, but you really didn鈥檛. It was during those times when she would be honored and especially on her death, you remembered how huge her life really was. So I was grateful for the opportunities that I had to be with her, sit with her, listen to her, and for her guidance and direction. I look at her as a hero, and as a matter of fact, at her memorial service, hearing her voice, I think in part, paved the way for me to be here.

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Walking into the red brick building that housed 天美视频 during my first residency was like stepping into a sea breeze that awakened my senses, drew me in, and welcomed me into a new place of belonging. In a playful and expansive way, like the sandy beach extending to the ocean, I felt invited to open my arms out wide, take up space, and fully be me. I have often felt divided within myself in different spaces: where I live, work, worship, and play, but during my first residency at 天美视频, a sense of settledness came over me. It was like my body was finally able to let down, exhale, and breathe deeply. I felt welcomed into a learning space where I could bring all the different parts of me.

A theme of belonging has been woven throughout all the different residencies I’ve attended, and each one has consistently invited me to learn with it rather than from it. I felt invited to learn with my professors, faculty, and facilitators as I engaged with the readings, lectures, panels, and discussions. I felt invited to learn with my cohort as I allowed myself to be shaped and impacted by differences, discourse, and alignment. I felt invited to learn with myself and what was coming up for me, as I engaged with course material and what was happening in the room. And lastly, I felt invited to be with the moment when something shifted inside of me and opened me up to聽more.

I found my people at 天美视频, and those relationships wouldn’t have fully formed without the hospitality and embodied learning that came through residency. In Henri Nouwen鈥檚 book Reaching Out (1996), he states, “Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them a space where change can take place.”聽聽Residency offered space for those longer conversations to take place over lunch or late into the night. Residency offered space for strangers to become friends. Residency offered space for a knowing to be passed through shared laughter, tears, stories, and collaborative learning. All of this knowing happened in a physical place that felt like a sacred container with the capacity to hold all the complexities that come with this work.

So why does residency matter? It matters because, for low-residency students, residency provides a place, location, and physical learning space to house belonging and change. When each student, faculty member, guest lecturer, Student & Academic Services team member, and every person who makes residency possible shows up as themselves, I believe something is uniquely created in that space, for that particular time, for one another. Human connection in the learning journey of graduate school cannot be undervalued or underestimated in its significance. Human connection may feel difficult to measure and pin down into words, but its genuine value will show up in our future work, in how we sit with others, and in the unfolding of who we are.

photo credit: Becca Shirley

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聽Doug previously worked as adjunct faculty at 天美视频, having taught Practicum I and II, Interpersonal Foundations, and History and Therapeutic Perspectives before becoming core faculty in the Counseling Psychology program in 2016. Doug now serves as Listening Lab and Pre-internship director. Content courses he is currently teaching include History & Systems (CSL 502), Family Systems (CSL 517), Group Therapy (CSL 518) and Professional Ethics & Law (CSL 503).聽

After earning a Master鈥檚 degree in Counseling Psychology from Temple University in Philadelphia, Doug moved west to attend Mars Hill Graduate School (now 天美视频), where he met his wife, Laura Wade Shirley. Laura Wade earned her MA in Counseling Psychology from Western Seminary (through Mars Hill Graduate School) in 2002. Doug earned a Master of Divinity from Mars Hill Graduate School in 2006. Doug and Laura Wade are both therapists in private practice, and together they are working to be raised by their three boys: Noah, Luke, and Eli.聽 They live in Woodinville, WA, surrounded by bidden and unbidden messengers from the more than human world.

What are you currently reading?

I am a member of Division 51 of the American Psychological Association: the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinities.聽 I have been actively researching and practicing clinically in the arena(s) of the lived experience(s) of men for over two decades. But I haven鈥檛 been taken by a text bell hook鈥檚 The Will to Change (audiobook, 2020) in quite some time.聽 hooks talks very pointedly about how patriarchy has plagued all genders, including those that identify as male or masculine.聽 Much has been said about what patriarchy has done to those who identify as female.聽 More needs to follow there.聽 And, there is also an anti-male bias in the field of counseling, which can be difficult to navigate at times. I鈥檓 deeply appreciative of hook鈥檚 window into how this bias could be addressed by movements towards the 鈥渕utuality of interbeings.鈥澛� To create a society of loving men, hooks argues we must love men.聽 This includes the men that show up to counseling, on both sides of the proverbial couch.聽 May it be so!

I am also currently reading Johann Hari鈥檚 Stolen Focus (2023), which is helping to put words to my lived experiences as an educator (and a learner) in relation to how and why academic/educational/learning spaces are so difficult to navigate these days.聽 We鈥檙e all being taught (by the business that drives the internet and social media platforms) to distract ourselves and to disengage from what鈥檚 (and who鈥檚) in front of and before us.聽 Our attention is drawn to somewhere we are not, and we鈥檙e being primed to not register (or even to mistrust) our own lived experience.聽 My mind is quite active with imagination for how my reading here might shape my teaching in the coming academic year(s).聽聽聽聽聽

What have you been listening to lately?

鈥淒ear Evan Hansen鈥� is a soundtrack from a Broadway musical I often turn to when I鈥檓 driving or working out.聽 So, too, are Celtic ballads or instrumentals, or some form of drum circle movement.聽 Much of the time what I鈥檓 listening to are audiobooks.聽 Recent favorites there include Come Together (Nagoski, 2024), Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents (Gibson, 2016), What My Bones Know (Foo, 2022), Gathering Moss (Kimmerer, 2018), and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Safran Foer, 2005).

What research do you find yourself drawn to at the moment?

My research team has an open study paying attention to the impacts of the structural changes associated with the counseling field鈥檚 movement(s) towards telehealth on counselor鈥檚 own sense of wellness.聽 Our study is picking up traction.聽 As a team we have presented at the American Mental Health Counseling Association鈥檚 (AMHCA) annual conference (2023), and at a workshop for the Washington Mental Health Counseling Association in Spring 0f 2024. We were then asked to write a follow-up article for The Advocate (AMHCA鈥檚 trade publication) which should come out in Summer 2024.聽 We鈥檙e currently coding our data, and we look forward to continuing the conversation in the days ahead.

Any exciting summer plans?

I am typing up this blog post on the day my family and I will head east to spend time with family.聽 Both my wife and I are East Coast transplants, so we鈥檙e going back east to spend time with loved ones and also to find time together on a warm, sandy beach with waves that we can bodysurf.聽 After that, most of our travel will be soccer tournament related.聽 Two of our three sons play competitive soccer, and summer is a time when we travel for such tournaments.聽聽

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would they be?

I鈥檓 partial to dinner at home with my family.聽 I like to cook, and to hear complaints from my kids about the 鈥渇ancy stuff鈥� I put on their plates.聽 I recently turned 50, and my family鈥檚 gift to me was a Traegar smoker. It鈥檚 been oh-so-fun to engage the steep learning curve I face there by way of flavor profiles, wood types, and such.

If you weren’t in your current profession, you’d be…

Our counseling office in Woodinville is right next door to a 7-11 convenience store.聽 Sometimes during or after difficult days of counseling, I fantasize about walking next door and asking for a job serving Slurpees.

Who is your literary or living hero?

Per the above, bell hooks is speaking to and healing some deep places in me these days.

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