Counseling Archives - 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology Wed, 19 Jul 2023 15:22:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 天美视频 Hires Dr. Paul Hoard as Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology /blog/the-seattle-school-hires-dr-paul-hoard/ Wed, 23 Jun 2021 15:00:56 +0000 /?p=15330 Dr. Paul Hoard will be joining 天美视频 as our new Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology, beginning the 1st of July. The decision to bring on a new faculty member is never taken lightly, so after a thorough interview process, our leadership is confident that Paul will make an excellent addition to our learning […]

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Dr. Paul Hoard will be joining 天美视频 as our new Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology, beginning the 1st of July. The decision to bring on a new faculty member is never taken lightly, so after a thorough interview process, our leadership is confident that Paul will make an excellent addition to our learning community.

Dr. Hoard is a licensed counselor in Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana and holds a doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision from Regent University. He is presently a psychoanalytic psychotherapy candidate in the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Institute and has received specialized training and credentialing in working with adolescents with sexual behavior problems. He was appointed by the state of Kansas鈥 Secretary of Corrections to the state鈥檚 Multi-Disciplinary Team, which is responsible for evaluating potential sexually violent predators. He has provided mental health counseling and clinical supervision in the United States, Ukraine, and Turkey. His research and scholarly work primarily focuses on the intersection of perpetration trauma, sexuality, white-body supremacy, and adolescent mental health.

鈥淧aul connected well with students and staff throughout the interview process and revealed a very creative style in engaging scholarship and integrative thinking,鈥 said Dr. J. Derek McNeil, President of 天美视频. 鈥淚 am deeply grateful for the energy and experience he will bring to our school.鈥

Dr. Hoard, as a鈥渢hird-culture鈥 kid who spent much of his childhood in Turkey, will bring a unique perspective and set of experiences to our school. His therapeutic work with sex offenders will also add a different perspective on trauma that will be unique to the faculty. He has expressed an investment in justice and healing, which has given him a growing desire to engage the complex dynamics of the society within the classroom.

鈥淎s a new faculty member, I am eager to experience and engage the unique culture of 天美视频; to find how my voice will resonate with the rhythms of the community and the many opportunities to listen and learn from students, staff, and faculty,鈥 said Dr. Hoard.

Paul, his wife Mary, and three children will be moving from Kansas City, Kansas to make the Pacific Northwest their new home.

Learn more about Dr. Paul Hoard.

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天美视频 to Offer a New Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology: British Object Relations /blog/new-concentration-psychoanalytic-psychology/ Wed, 05 May 2021 15:00:14 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=15209 天美视频 of Theology & Psychology has developed a Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology: British Object Relations as part of its MA in Counseling Psychology program. This is the second concentration added to the curriculum since spring 2019. This concentration is designed to provide a foundational understanding of the British Objects Relations theory to allow […]

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天美视频 of Theology & Psychology has developed a Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology: British Object Relations as part of its MA in Counseling Psychology program. This is the second concentration added to the curriculum since spring 2019. This concentration is designed to provide a foundational understanding of the British Objects Relations theory to allow the opportunity for students to grow and deepen their clinical experience in the psychoanalytic tradition.

The MA in Counseling Psychology with a Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology: British Object Relations, to be available in Fall 2021 to enrolled students, offers experiential learning about early childhood development as it occurs in real-time. Through infant observation, students gain a foundational understanding of British Object Relations theory, a psychoanalytic modality that places one鈥檚 earliest mental formations as central to how a person comes to relate to themselves, the world, and others.

鈥淚 am pleased to announce that 天美视频 is offering a new concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology,鈥 said , President of 天美视频. 鈥淭he British Object Relations (BOR) frame allows us to better understand early childhood patterns of attachment and how we might connect with significant others in our lives. Alongside our work with the concentration in Trauma & Abuse, we believe this concentration strengthens our ability to fulfill our mission of healing and the transforming of relationships.鈥

The Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology will be taught in partnership with the which is a training center for psychoanalytic psychotherapy with the aim 鈥渋ncrease the knowledge and application of British Object Relations theory, integrating this with current developments in psychoanalytic thinking and parent鈥搃nfant study and research.鈥

“British Object Relations is for people who are interested in reading and exploring their emotional experiences, being stimulated both emotionally and intellectually, and especially to open our experiences to each other,鈥 said , Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at 天美视频. 鈥淣ot in a hierarchical way of those who are on the inside and those who are on the outside, nor ‘let’s make nice and be sweet,’ but in an honest way, open to very complex pains and suffering. Today, for so many people, as Meltzer said, it is a life of surviving and actually never suffering the terrible pains and shames we have experienced. I feel deep gratitude for the British Object Relations tradition and particularly to the people whose shoulders I stand on.”

The Concentration in Psychoanalytic Psychology: British Object Relations is designed to be completed concurrently with the MA in Counseling Psychology. This degree, with this concentration, is 72 credits and includes 6 credits specific to the concentration. Students will begin their concentration coursework in their second year, starting with a year-long infant observation followed by foundational courses in the elements of British Object Relations.

Learn more about the curriculum, application process, and goals for this new offering here.

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What You Need to Know about Becoming a Licensed Mental Health Counselor /blog/becoming-licensed-mental-health-counselor/ Wed, 24 Jun 2020 15:00:29 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=14524 If you’re currently in or are considering a counseling psychology program, you鈥檙e probably familiar with the acronyms like LMHC, or LPC, or other credentials behind people’s names. Here, Nicole Greenwald, a licensed counselor with over 10 years of experience, talks about the most frequently asked questions about the counseling licensure process鈥攆rom different state requirements to […]

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If you’re currently in or are considering a counseling psychology program, you鈥檙e probably familiar with the acronyms like LMHC, or LPC, or other credentials behind people’s names. Here, Nicole Greenwald, a licensed counselor with over 10 years of experience, talks about the most frequently asked questions about the counseling licensure process鈥攆rom different state requirements to hours of supervision.

What is counseling licensure?

Licensure is the granting and regulating of a license for professionals. To practice as a counselor or therapist, you need to become licensed. In our country, licenses are issued by the state, which means we have 50 different processes for 50 different states, and for regulating the practice of mental health counseling and therapy in their state.

The first place to start is knowing the licensure process in the state where you live, and also to check the process in a state you might live in the future. As you’re researching the license requirements in your state or the state you might want to live in in the future, bear in mind that this is a process. You’ll notice that some of the requirements are a bit different, and that’s okay. That’s just knowledge that you want to come equipped with as you pursue your education鈥攚hich leads me to the first step of licensure requirements.

What are the education requirements to become a licensed counselor?

Each state is going to have specifics around what they expect from your education. To practice as a professional counselor therapist, you need to have a master’s degree in a behavioral science-related field. That might be a master of science and counseling, or it might be a master of arts in counseling psychology, like our program here at 天美视频. But you need to show that the degree received matches their education requirements.

The education requirement will spell out content areas that you’re expected to have some robust training and knowledge in. That ranges from things like research and assessment to treatment to working with diverse populations. Something that you鈥檒l want to pay attention to is how many credit hours of each subject area does that state care about. Some states will want you to have six credits of ethics. Another state might want four credits. So again, just be equipped with the knowledge of what your state or states that you might want to practice in are looking for in a counselor.

How important is my school鈥檚 accreditation?

After you have a sense of the content areas that your state wants you to have experience in, pay attention too to the accreditation they want your school of training to have. 天美视频 is regionally accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, which is the regional accrediting body for the Pacific Northwest. If you’re from a state that prioritizes applicants for licensure, give the Department of Health a call and find out what their appeals process is. Most states, if not all, have an appeal process in place, and often it will default into regional accreditation and perhaps showing 鈥淗ere’s how my program matches CACREP requirements.鈥

Where can I find the application to become a licensed counselor or therapist?

Applications for licensure are typically found on your . The most important thing that your state will ask you to meet is the education requirement, which looks at the program鈥檚 curriculum, such as: What did you get training in? What are the content areas that you have expertise? They track research assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and working with diverse populations. Some states will require specific courses, like drug and alcohol dependency, or vocational and occupational direction. Whatever program you choose, you’ll want to make sure that as you’re signing up for classes, you are following those guidelines.

Does 天美视频 meet counseling licensure requirements for the state of Washington?

As a school with a counseling program in the state of Washington, our counseling psychology program automatically meets all of the curriculum requirements for the state of Washington. But if you’re coming to 天美视频 from another state, or know that after coming here you might move to another state, you’ll want to have the state鈥檚 curriculum requirement list alongside you as you’re registering for classes. Our academic advisors actively work with students on as discerning classes to register for in the program.

How does my internship impact becoming a licensed therapist?

The last component of your education that you’ll want to pay attention to is the internship expectations. To complete a masters in counseling, you will need to complete a clinical internship. That means you’re out in the community working at a site and working directly with clients. Every state has different requirements, mostly related to the hours that you’ve completed. For instance, Colorado wants you to have 600 internship hours during your program of study. Washington State wants you to have 250 hours during your program of study. We have incredible partnerships with mental health agencies and other counseling services around the region. Each year we do an internship fair, and there are a number of sites that pursue our students to work at their organizations.

Practically speaking, what does the licensure application process look like?

Once you’ve completed your degree, you’ll apply for licensure in the state where you wish to practice. All states have something that’s called a . What that means is you’re in the field, you’re practicing as a therapist, but you’re doing that under supervision of a more seasoned clinician. or instance, in Washington state post-graduation, you go online to the Department of Health, apply for licensure, submit things like your transcript, offer information around how you met the expectations, and let them know that you’re working with a supervisor, and they send you something back saying 鈥淲onderful, congratulations, you’re a licensed mental health counseling associate鈥. In Washington, associate means you’re working towards full licensure.

Supervision means that you have someone who’s a seasoned person in the field who legally is responsible for you in your work and is someone who you legally can lean into. Because counseling is such a unique field, and so much of it is rooted around containment and creating a safe space that’s confidential for the people that are coming and bringing such tender parts of their stories, you’re going to be holding a lot. A supervisor is a safe, legal space where you can bring the content that you’re working with in a clinical way and get support, feedback, and development.

How long do I have to remain under counseling supervision?

In Washington State, associates are . That sounds like a lot, but depending on the pace at which you鈥檙e working, it typically takes people anywhere from 1 to 3 years to complete those hours. The 3000 hours is broken up into two ways: indirect and direct. Indirect means anything you’re doing related to your clinical work. It might be reading a book. It might be attending a training. It might be doing your case notes. It might be working with your supervisor. That’s 1800 hours of the 3000. Direct hours are any work you鈥檙e doing directly with another person. That could be individual therapy, family therapy, or group therapy. It’s any time you’re doing direct clinical work with a person.

How do I find a supervisor?

If you’re working in a community mental health agency, or in a hospital setting, typically you’re assigned a supervisor, and that person signs off on your clinical work. If you’re in private practice, or maybe you’re in an agency setting that doesn’t offer the type of support that you feel like you need to thrive in the work, you can pursue an approved supervisor. An approved supervisor is someone who is also licensed in the state where you’re practicing, and has met additional requirements beyond the counseling license to become an approved supervisor. They meet with you on a regular basis, and when you are reaching the culmination of your hours, they’ll sign off on the hours that you completed under their supervision.

What are CEU鈥檚 in relation to counseling licensure?

In addition to your clinical hours and your supervision hours, you’ll also need to show proof of . This is an ongoing part of working as a professional in the field. It’s very important and valuable to be able to continue to learn and grow, and that’s one of the expectations of your license is that you’ll be committed to. To apply for licensure you’ll need to show that you’ve completed 36 hours of continuing education.

Is there a test or exam I need to take in order to become a licensed counselor?

The final component of applying for licensure is taking a national exam. There are two options available. There is the NBCC, which is the exam. And there’s the NCE, which stands for the . Washington State will accept either exam. Some states will only accept one or the other. So again, as you’re researching the requirements for your state or the state you wish to live in, pay attention to what they require. NCE is a multiple-choice exam and is comprehensive around the field of counseling. The NBCC is a more vignette-focused exam and will present various scenarios and ask diagnostic and theory questions. I would say if you’re going to get licensed in Washington, think about the way you learn and your study approach, and pick the exam that aligns most with you.

You can complete the exam at any point in your licensure period. So you could do it the day after you graduate when theories and terms and theorists are fresh in your mind. You could put it off and do it right before you鈥檙e ready to submit everything to the state. I would recommend doing it earlier rather than later.

Now that I鈥檝e completed all the requirements to become a licensed counselor, what are my next steps?

Once you’ve completed what鈥檚 called your licensure period, you submit everything to the state. They review it and send you back a certificate showing that you are a licensed mental health counselor or licensed professional counselor. At this point, you’re fully licensed!

Once you’ve become fully licensed, the work then is to maintain your license. The way you maintain your license is to renew it every year, which means you pay a fee and also complete the continuing education requirements. In Washington, your license is due on your birthday every year and your CEUs are due every two years.

It’s such a privilege to be in a therapeutic role with another person, with a family, with a community, and whether you end up resonating with the title of therapist or counselor or psychotherapist or analyst, whichever path you go down in your practice, just hold that end goal with you as you move through your education and as you move through your licensure period.

Due to changes from COVID-19, we recommend checking for any updates to the licensure process in your state.

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Internship Spotlight: Cheryl at Cornerstone Counseling Foundation /blog/internship-spotlight-cornerstone-counseling/ Mon, 18 May 2020 04:40:10 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=14411 Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in this case, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation. Here, Cheryl writes about her journey to intern at Cornerstone Counseling Foundation in Thailand, and the impact […]

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Each year, students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in this case, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation.

Here, Cheryl writes about her journey to intern at Cornerstone Counseling Foundation in Thailand, and the impact of Covid-19 on her future as a mental health provider.

What initially drew you to attend 天美视频?

I had been living and doing community development work in India when I decided to look at grad schools鈥攁nd 天美视频 was introduced to me as a place where you are encouraged to go into your own stories. I felt the surplus of stories (mine and others) weighing, and wanted to spend time honoring and reflecting on them and learning how to do that well. My admissions counselor was also really great about checking in and working with my across-the-world-application and time zone issues and inviting me in, even as I deferred for a year before enrolling. I think I was well 鈥榳oo-ed鈥 despite also being reminded by friends who know 天美视频 and other graduates just how intense it can be!

How has the focus on theology as well as psychology impacted your studies?

This feels like a pretty big question to try and answer succinctly! I was raised in a family where faith and living out the tenets of that faith were emphasized. The idea of Spirit at work in the world, particularly among those who had been marginalized, and seeking to find it and intersect my life with the Divine at work in the world and be challenged and changed by what I encounter there, remains something I think I鈥檓 still sorting out. Classes at 天美视频 with Dr. Stearns, Dr. Parker and Dr. Loughery underscored this and invited me to continue to ask the questions and not be complacent, and to allow myself to rest in knowing the ways that goodness is at work in the world, even when I can鈥檛 always see it myself.

In what ways has your story shaped or inspired your work?

I was born and raised overseas (in Nepal, Laos, and Thailand) as a Third Culture Kid*鈥攖he depth and variety of experiences coming from that have deeply impacted the way that I鈥檝e learned to seek connection, who I seek connection with, and how I鈥檝e learned to metabolize (or compartmentalize) harm. Having also worked cross-culturally as an adult, I became more and more aware of the impact that life among different cultures has on a person (and particularly children). As I realized that I wanted to go back to school to study counseling, the cross-cultural working (be it military, diplomat or business) family has really been a demographic that I feel pulled towards. While I think themes among families don鈥檛 change much across the world, I do think the unique nature of families who straddle multiple different worlds means that they often don鈥檛 have support structures who understand that aspect of their experience. So, I came to 天美视频 hoping to do an international internship or focus on families and individuals who have found themselves between cultures and expectations of those different worlds.

*A 鈥楾CK鈥 is defined as a 鈥減erson who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parent鈥檚 culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any.鈥 Pollack, David Pollack, Ruth E Van Reken, and Michael V. Pollack, Third Culture Kids (3rd Ed): The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds. (Massachusetts: Hachette Book Group, 2009).

What breaks your heart, and how are you informed by that kind of shattering?

My heart has been broken repeatedly by the marginalization of the poor and specific people groups, particularly women and children in developing nations. This is what catalyzed my parents, friends, and my own work, as well as my now-clients work. Being galvanized to respond to the heartbreak takes a toll, however. We all tend to minimize and ignore our suffering, particularly in the face of the overt, physical suffering of others, and I think I鈥檝e seen that particularly in communities who work in cross-cultural settings. On the one hand there is an immense amount of privilege there that can be taken for granted, but there can also be a deep awareness of the ways that lives are shattered by systemic violence and poverty. And so, the 鈥榝ate of pain鈥 that people encounter (as Dr. O鈥橠onnell Day quoting Jeff Eaton) is to be stuffed down or avoided in some way, though it usually finds a way to come out sideways. For a Third Culture Kid the losses of moving between countries are profound鈥攐ften compounded by a sense of rootlessness. A deep grief is there鈥攁 grief I know only too well from my own story, but also one that I think deeply informs how important it feels to find ways to provide and allow the time to pause, reflect, and grieve what needs to be honored well and to witnesses that unfolding. I see my role as a therapist more and more as a steward and witness to what the clients are un-earthing and tending to.

Can you describe your current internship, including your title and daily activities?

I moved to Thailand in January 2020. I started my internship at Cornerstone Counseling Foundation. It serves people in a number of countries鈥攑rimarily ex-pat workers and their families. The staff is varied and from a number of countries and different treatment modalities. There are psychiatrists on staff, and those who specialize in topics ranging from work with children to couples and family work to EMDR and trauma work, not to mention individual therapy. I鈥檝e been able to observe a number of the staff, who have been amazing, and I鈥檝e often felt like I really lucked out with this location of getting to observe and see different clinicians, not to mention the range of clients who largely traveled to Thailand for seasons of care from their locations in other countries around Asia! Until the middle of March, I was seeing clients in person at the office and now am doing all online-telehealth sessions. I鈥檓 still in Thailand鈥擳hailand is home in a number of ways, and my folks are here in the country (though in a different province), and I wanted to keep working for my internship, so I have elected to base myself here as COVID-19 continues to unfold across the world. Before switching everything to online, regular rhythms included shadowing clinicians, seeing my own clients, staff meetings, and case-consultations with the whole clinical staff. There was also a staff retreat in February with everyone, including all the support and office staff as well as the Thai-focused branch of staff. It was a fun few days of snacking, talking and playing games together.

Why did you choose to intern at Cornerstone Counseling Foundation?

I remember my first year at 天美视频 where I was thinking about a lot of different groups and people and processing what I was learning about and felt pretty jumbled but kept thinking about the dearth of resources of counselling support for the TCK community and cross-cultural workers and realized I wanted to be intentional, as I studied, to keep focused on that demographic and dream about working with them. I knew about Cornerstone Counseling Foundation from having lived in Thailand before and through the cross-cultural worker grapevine. 天美视频 had a student do their internship here previously, and Cornerstone was also one of the few international internship sites that I contacted that worked with the demographic I wanted and would allow a Master鈥檚 level intern (most required you to be graduated or be doctoral level). So, I began communicating with them, and Corinne (the Assistant internship director: Global and domestic for 天美视频) and applied in fall 2018.

How has your time at 天美视频 prepared you for this internship?

Put the most succinctly I can, going into my own story and peeling back some of the layers has grown my capacity to realize how slow and painful the process can be. There are depths to continue exploring within myself (which is definitely something that I heard in most classes ) and I hope that means that I can have a more open-handed approach to work with clients. The waves of pain or delight we uncover as we tell our story (and it is witnessed by another), can pull us in like a rip-tide or as a support to propel us forward, even for just a minute. Classes like Psychopathology, Marriage and Family, Child and Adolescent, as well as Interpersonal Neurobiology all have helped me learn how to frame how I hold my clients鈥攌nowing that in each of those classes as we were inundated with theory and other concepts, there was a deep sense of 鈥渁nd what will I do with this when a person sits in the chair (or in the case of telehealth, on the screen) across from me.鈥 There seems to be a continual invitation to encounter and be with in the midst of it all.

What are your hopes, dreams, and desires as they relate to your future vocation?

So much feels uncertain with COVID-19, particularly as it pertains to this dream of working with cross-cultural workers. But the desire remains to continue to learn and work with this community of people who balance their sense of home and relationships with what they feel called to or need to do for work and to support their families and communities. I鈥檒l remain as an intern at Cornerstone through the summer and am in the process of beginning to have conversations about future options moving forward. A big part of my own TCK heart really would love to keep working overseas and with this team. I鈥檝e really come to love the team I鈥檓 a part of at Cornerstone and the community it serves. The resiliency of our clients, of humans, is astounding鈥擨 think we are seeing evidence of that on the heartbreaking news daily. In the time of this pandemic, I feel more aware than ever of how quickly things change and feel a need to accept whatever may come and the deep pain and ongoing grief that will come with all that has already changed and will need to change again, and also feel a deep sense of wanting to be able to continue to offer a base of processing and support to others.

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Internship Spotlight: Alicia Shepherd at FareStart /blog/internship-spotlight-farestart/ Wed, 22 Apr 2020 15:30:20 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=14353 Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation. We met with Alicia Shepherd to talk about her internship at FareStart (through Sound Mental Health), a […]

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Each year, our students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation.

We met with Alicia Shepherd to talk about her internship at (through Sound Mental Health), a local nonprofit that helps people transform their lives through job training in the foodservice industry, and her number one recommendation for prospective MACP students.

What initially drew you to 天美视频?

I was looking for something different, and 天美视频 was definitely different. I had known about work, through his books and hearing him speak, and got interested. And, I’ve always been drawn to the West Coast. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do. I’m a massage therapist, so I went to massage school when I was 19 and that opened the door to holistic health and well-being鈥攁nd I was looking for the thing that I wanted to do. It was actually when I started going to therapy myself when I was in college that it all sort of clicked for me. So, since I became interested, I began looking for good therapy programs and found 天美视频.

In what ways has your story impacted, shaped, or inspired your studies?

The thing that I love about this school is they really ask us to put skin in the game. It’s really hard to go through this program and not have it touch your story in a lot of different ways. So, constantly things in my story that maybe I haven’t looked at in a long time or looked at in a particular way have come up, and it’s been really incredible to have so many people hold different parts of my story with such care and love. That’s been healing personally, and it allowed me to grow that capacity in my work with my patients going forward.

What breaks your heart and how are your studies informed by that kind of shattering?

I think loneliness is the number one thing. I can’t remember the quote, but Mother Teresa said something like, 鈥淭he worst illness out there is loneliness.鈥 I really think that’s true. Being in a space where people are here and can see you and can hold parts of your story that you haven’t been able to look at has been really healing. I take that with me into my work with my patients all the time. So much of what I see, no matter what the diagnosis is or what the presentation of symptoms is, a lot of times comes back to loneliness, whether it’s a broken relationship with others or a broken relationship with themselves. Learning how to, it sounds really cheesy, but be friends with yourself. Love yourself. And then be able to love other people, too.

Can you describe your current internship, including your title and daily activities?

My internship is with Sound Mental Health, which is a large community mental health organization. There are a lot of different departments in Sound Mental Health. My internship is really cool because I’m in this one small sliver of it doing a partnership with FareStart, which is an adult culinary job training program for adults who are coming out of incarceration or homelessness. So, technically I work for Sound, but I’m kind of like a rogue agent being at FareStart. I get to do one-on-one therapy, so part of it feels like more traditional, private practice. But I get to encounter a lot of people from all across the board. Things from being involved with the legal system, a lot of substance use-related stuff, and trauma. All age ranges, all different walks of life.

Do you have any impactful stories from your experience at FareStart?

I’ve had this happen a few times, where I’ll think about the first time I met with a client and how they came in, and then in just 5 to 10 sessions later, being able to see a huge change. I hear them say things like, 鈥淲hen I first came here I didn鈥檛 talk to anyone, and now I am making friends.鈥 One of my clients said, 鈥淚 never thought I would be able to do anything besides make $8 an hour for the rest of my life. Now I see myself doing really big things and being in a leadership position. Now I know that I can do these things.鈥 It was in there all along, I just had to go for a ride with them. To see that shift in them in such a relatively short period of time is incredible. I feel very lucky and astonished that I get to do this work.

How has your time at 天美视频 prepared you for this internship?

I’ve borrowed all of these things from different professors in different classes, and even interactions with classmates in practicum. That all shapes who I am when I sit with my clients in session. If I hadn’t done the hard work myself and struggled through it, and sat with my own heartache, there is no way I’d be able to do this with my clients. Sometimes I hear things that are shocking and are heartbreaking and very difficult to sit with. And if I didn’t learn how to do that at school first, I wouldn’t be able to do it at all. I have this wealth of theory, and all of that is very, very important in giving me something to work on, but it’s that plus the experiential learning bit, the two of them together, that gives me a leg to stand on when I’m sitting with clients.

What are your hopes, dreams, and desires as they relate to your future vocation?

Because of my massage therapy background, I really love bodywork. I would love to find some cool ways to combine mind and body, especially as it relates to trauma. My dream or my goal is that I’d love to do a group practice with other practitioners, other therapists, and have some bodywork as well, to be able to provide a space that integrates mind and body a lot more. I also love teaching and leadership, too, so I’d love to do workshops or classes.

Can you talk about the impact of the community during your time at 天美视频?

I met some of the most creative and amazing people during my time here. Not just my classmates, but my professors, too. I highly respect and value my professors. To have them to learn from, but then also my colleagues, my classmates. To talk about ideas with, outside of class. Or, now that we’re all in our internships, it’s so nice to have a community of people that are going through it, too, that I can say 鈥淚 had a really tough day today. Have you ever dealt with this?鈥 and they get it. Absolutely crucial. This community, for me personally and now as I’m shifting into the professional world, they mean a lot to me.

What advice would you give someone who’s interested in attending graduate school?

Go to therapy, go to therapy, go to therapy. Do your own therapy first. That’s my number one recommendation for people that want to do this work. I didn’t really know what I was getting into until I got here, honestly. And that’s what a lot of people say. Also, talk to people that are doing what you think you might want to do. Sit down with them and ask them how they got there, what it’s like, and could you really see yourself doing it? Ask about the nitty-gritty, day-to-day stuff. If you don’t like doing paperwork, then maybe mental health is not the right place for you. Things like that you don’t think about. Ask somebody who’s been doing it a while about their experience.

When I first got here my first year, I was really struggling to adjust. I had moved across the country from Florida. Something I wish I would have known was to reach out. Ask for help. It鈥檚 been so helpful to form relationships with people that I can go to now and say, 鈥淗oly crap, I don’t know what I’m doing.” Or, 鈥淚’m really freaking out about this,鈥 and have someone to listen. Going to graduate school feels like 鈥淚’m in grad school. I have to have everything together. I have to know what I’m doing,鈥 and that’s really not the case. This is very messy sometimes. So expect the disruption and the messiness, but also know that it’s okay to ask for help.

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Internship Spotlight: Tolu Mejolagbe at Hope Place /blog/internship-spotlight-hope-place/ Wed, 15 Apr 2020 15:00:41 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=14339 Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation.聽 Tolu Mejolagbe, a third-year counseling student, sat down to talk with us about her experience as both […]

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Each year, students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation.聽 Tolu Mejolagbe, a third-year counseling student, sat down to talk with us about her experience as both a student at 天美视频 and as an intern with Hope Place, a women and children鈥檚 shelter in South Seattle.

What initially drew you to attend 天美视频?

I remember I was in undergrad and stumbled upon a copy of Relevant magazine where there was an ad for 天美视频. It was “天美视频 of Theology and Psychology” and I thought 鈥渉uh that鈥檚 a really interesting combination.鈥 So, I looked into it, went on the website, and was really into what they were talking about. I did psychology in my undergrad, so the idea of the marriage of theology and psychology seemed fascinating. In my heart and my soul, I knew I was going to that school鈥擨 didn鈥檛 really look at other schools. The marriage of the two, how theology and psychology inform one another, has been fascinating and informative of who I am as a person and who God has created me to be and called me to be.

Why did you choose to go through the counseling psychology program?

I鈥檝e always felt called to be the person for myself I didn鈥檛 have growing up, so counseling filled that hole. I was laser-focused on that. Whatever program it was, I knew I wanted to do the counseling track. It made sense for my own personal development as well to be able to hold other people’s stories and to sit with them well.

In what ways has your story shaped or inspired your work?

The first year I was writing stories about my family of origin鈥攔eally, telling stories of my family of origin鈥攁nd I didn鈥檛 realize how important that was to do that work here for my professional development. I learned if you haven鈥檛 sat with yourself and your stories of grief, sadness, joy, and deep trauma, it鈥檚 going to be hard to sit with other people. Being able to build a capacity to bear my own past pain, trauma, and to be able to sit with that in myself and have compassion for myself, at the end of the day that gives me even more compassion to sit with somebody else. If you want to do it well you have to sit with yourself and grieve. If you don鈥檛 grieve it you aren鈥檛 really doing the work, in my opinion.

What breaks your heart, and how are you informed by that kind of shattering?

I’m realizing much of my work is informed by systemic oppression, of all kinds of people鈥攚hen people鈥檚 needs aren鈥檛 being met because systemic oppression is keeping them from it, or because of power structures that are very exclusionary. As a result, clients are in my office because of the bigger issues of systemic oppression. Women have been taught to shrink, be small, submit, that you need a man to feel important or to be anything. You need to be in a relationship, even if it’s toxic. What is the collective, societal responsibility for failing these women? Society鈥檚 getting better and women are progressing, too. But overall, women are more susceptible to domestic violence and abuse. So what breaks my heart is that that鈥檚 the reality that we live in.

Can you tell us about your current internship at Hope Place?

My site is a very community-based鈥攊t鈥檚 for women who鈥檝e come out of domestic violence, drug addiction, homelessness, sometimes sex trafficking as well. Every morning we have a community devotion together and then I see clients during the day, or I’m helping lead or teach a class. A class I鈥檝e been teaching at the moment is called 鈥渟afe boundaries and people.鈥 It helps these women learn what safe people look like and what safe relationships look like because their whole lives, they have not had that modeled very well, and therefore they are attracted to people who are toxic and not good for them. That鈥檚 been a really cool part of the internship, getting to teach the class and see these women鈥檚 light bulbs go off like 鈥渙h, that鈥檚 what I was going through the past ten years.鈥 It鈥檚 kind of group therapy in a sense because it can be therapeutic for the women to be like 鈥渕e too, me too, me too.鈥

Sometimes, we all sit around the table and read a book together, and after every page or so I stop and ask, 鈥淒o y鈥檃ll relate to that? Have you ever experienced this?鈥 And they鈥檙e laughing like 鈥淭his book was written for me. 鈥 So much is coming up with these women. I hear comments like, 鈥淲ow, that’s me in the book.鈥 And it’s cool to see these women finally realize, 鈥淥h, that’s what I was going through. That’s what I was experiencing. That’s why he or she was treating me like that.鈥 I’ve never been through what these women have been through. I’m thankful that I haven鈥檛 had to live a life like that. But at the same time, it’s such a privilege and honor to be able to be there and witness these women’s lives turning around, putting in the work to be healthy, to be whole, and advocating for themselves. It’s really cool that I get to be a part of that healing journey for them.

Can you talk about the importance of transforming relationships at your internship?

I鈥檓 learning to realize that when I sit with a client, I’m not just sitting with that client. There’s so much more to them than who they are in front of me. When people come to their therapist, there is already an assumed power structure. The therapist is the one that has the knowledge and is given authority. We can鈥檛 ignore it. It’s in the room, it’s there, but at the same time, you want to make it as collaborative as possible. We’re going to stay on this path together. I鈥檝e learned that from being at school and making friendships, being in classes with my peers, and sitting and listening to what they have to say and hearing what they’re saying.

As you prepare to step into the role of counselor after graduation, how does your own story work help you connect with others?

I think it helps having the ability to attune to these women because more often than not a lot of these women have a lot of childhood trauma that has informed who they are now and the decisions they鈥檝e made. I鈥檓 able to sit with them and their stories and to have compassion on behalf of them, because a lot of them lack compassion for themselves鈥 being able to attune to that part of themselves they haven鈥檛 been taught to attune to, or haven鈥檛 experienced secure attachment. Being able to work through my own story and work towards having more secure attachments makes me more able to sit with these other women, too, because I鈥檝e done my own work.

What are your hopes, dreams, and desires as they relate to your future vocation?

My desire is to continue therapy, but to marry it with other things. I have a really strong desire to 鈥渘urture the matriarchy.鈥 I want to water something so it grows and brings more attention to it versus focusing on tearing down. It needs to be destroyed a little bit, but at the same time, I want to focus on watering. That might mean helping women with childbirth, such as being a doula.
We don鈥檛 talk about the femininity of God enough. I think God is very hyper-masculine in our culture, at least in Western Christian culture. There鈥檚 not enough space for the femininity of God in our theology. There’s a lot of references in scripture to the feminine qualities, but we don’t talk about that enough. So, I think that’s where the matriarchy comes from, wanting to nurture the matriarchy, because I want to nurture the feminine qualities of God, too. Because men and women are made in the image of God, but for some reason, it feels like the maleness of God is more prized than the femininity of God. It鈥檚 not very balanced. We need people to be nurturers and providers and bring a secure attachment. I feel like the femininity of God does that really well.

What would you say to a student who’s thinking about studying counseling psychology at 天美视频?

You can’t do this program without using your body. You need to be all in. You need to be present with yourself, present in the process, because the process really takes all of you. Coming into this program, you need to know what self-care looks like for you. Be prepared to give of yourself, of your time, of your energy, and of your mental headspace. It鈥檚 worth it because they don鈥檛 force you to grow, but you can’t help but grow and be changed by this place, even if it’s a painful growth and a painful change. It helps you find your voice. I feel like being here has helped me find my voice, it鈥檚 helped me to advocate for myself, and to know what I have to say is important, especially as a woman of color to lean into that more. That鈥檚 so important in today’s world. We need more voices, people who are confident in their calling and what God has for their lives and are committed to wanting to bring justice to our society because it comes from a place of love.

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Internship Spotlight: Minjoo Bayers at Kentucky Refugee Ministries /blog/internship-kentucky-refugee-ministries/ Wed, 08 Apr 2020 15:00:46 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=14315 Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation. We recently sat down with students who are interning this quarter to learn not only what it […]

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Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation. We recently sat down with students who are interning this quarter to learn not only what it looks like to be an intern from a more practical standpoint, but also how their stories and experiences in the classroom prepared them to step into the role of counselor.

Here, Minjoo Bayers, a fourth-year counseling student, shares about her experience as a Mental Health Intern at Kentucky Refugee Ministries and the driving force behind her journey to the field of mental health.

What initially drew you to attend 天美视频?

I had attended workshops and conferences from . These were life-changing for me and I wanted more.

How has the focus on theology as well as psychology impacted your studies?

I have always wanted to study theology, so I really enjoyed those classes. New Testament with Dr. Parker, Old Testament with Dr. Kang, and God & Persons (and others) with Dr. Stearns were deeply formative for me, not just as a practitioner, but as a human being on this Earth. The undoing of the bad theology I grew up with was important for my own personal freedom and is also important for my work with other Image Bearers. Having the combination of theology and psychology courses helped solidify my foundation as a future therapist who desires to sit with clients holding Love (attunement or unconditional positive regard or jeong or any other name) and Hope for them. Seeking out therapy is an endeavor full of hope because it is based on believing our future can be better. I think this is one of the things that makes me an “Allenderist” – that my foundation as a therapist is based on love and hope.

In what ways has your story shaped or inspired your work?

I learned from the intersection of my stories and my studies. I often found my story, my heart, my soul dissected open in the personal papers we wrote and in our Practicum I class (now appropriately called “listening labs”). It feels like something akin to a med student being asked to practice surgery on their own organs. Certainly, not everyone’s journey here has to be that painful, but I think it would be a lost opportunity if you walked away from 天美视频 without being deeply changed. I believe the personal story work aspect of my studies will make me a more impactful and understanding therapist.

What breaks your heart, and how are you informed by that kind of shattering?

Children and families separated and detained at the borders of our country breaks my heart. North Korean refugees who risk everything to escape their homes breaks my heart. Just a few miles north of my home country of South Korea, there are prison camps where people who should be my neighbors are treated inhumanely by their own government (although women in North Korean prison camps have been reported to get maternity leave unlike this country). I desire to keep working with refugees because it brings relief to my shattered soul.

Can you describe your current internship, including your title and daily activities?

I am a Mental Health Intern at (KRM). KRM is a local resettlement agency providing many services for refugees whose new homes are in Louisville, Kentucky. In my position I mainly provide individual sessions for those who have been identified as having a need for therapy. With KRM I also have the opportunity to teach English to the preliterate elderly. I really enjoy my internship and I like that I am able to do therapy and teach language skills as well as collaborate and learn from my supervisor and other caseworkers at KRM.

Why did you choose to intern at Kentucky Refugee Ministries?

My mother-in-law had told me she heard about there being some North Korean refugees in Louisville. I googled around and found KRM. I was able to apply for their internship program online and they offered me a position.

a photo of a group of refugees at Kentucky Refugee MinistriesA group from Kentucky Refugee Ministries.

How has your time at 天美视频 prepared you for this internship?

The things that I unlearned and learned at 天美视频 about who I am, who God might be, freed me (at least in part) from the bondage of patriarchy, misogyny, white supremacy, and other bad theology. I have always been an empath, but it was a bit unbounded and chaotic. My time at 天美视频 taught me about boundaries and that it is okay to care for myself. Not only is it okay, but it is necessary to care for yourself in order to be able to care for others. I also use the giant portfolio from Psychopathology and what we learned in Ethics class to keep myself tethered and grounded.

What are your hopes, dreams, and desires as they relate to your future vocation?

I have this feeling that I have no idea how awesome my future is going to be. I want to keep volunteering at KRM after my internship is over. I hope that throughout my career I will be working with marginalized communities. I haven’t gotten to work with North Korean refugees yet (or with South Korean people), but I hope to. I have this dream of starting group therapy with an organization in California called (LiNK), who rescues North Korean refugees.

Taught by Dr. Dwight Friesen, this elective online course invites participants to develop a practical spirituality for following Christ by loving God through loving their neighbors amidst COVID19.

“I believe that our field is one that puts out Love into the world.

I want to be a part of that鈥攂eing a Love-monger.”

-Minjoo Bayers

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Internship Spotlight: Brittany Cassavant at Greenlake Wellness Group /blog/internship-spotlight-greenlake-wellness/ Thu, 02 Apr 2020 23:29:43 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=14290 Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation. Brittany Cassavant, a fourth-year MACP student, shared with us how her story has impacted her studies here […]

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Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation.

Brittany Cassavant, a fourth-year MACP student, shared with us how her story has impacted her studies here and the empowering nature of her clinical internship with .

Q: What initially led you to apply to and attend 天美视频?

I was initially drawn to the school thanks to someone who was in my fellow undergrad program. We were looking at the website one day and it seemed like a completely different institution than I had heard of. I was in that spot of being clueless about what I wanted to do and felt this pressure to go to graduate school after minoring in religion. Ultimately, I think it was the holistic approach. From being in academia and in school for so long, I didn’t feel like I had found an approach that fit me. I was good at regurgitating information and memorizing, but I’m a kinesthetic learner, so the embodiment of the school was really what spoke to me.

Q: Can you talk about the ways your story has impacted, shaped or inspired your studies?

That’s another part of where I couldn’t have predicted how much growth this school would bring. My story feels so tied to the very reason why I came here, and why I learn the way I do. The way that I’m able to connect with people in a certain way, or see people in a certain way. I didn’t know how I am or why I am the way I am, and this school really carved out the space to dig into those questions and to do that through therapy. A lot of therapy was how I came to connect more to my story and learning how that shows up for me in the classroom. Some of my story had limited me to where I could flourish and where I could thrive. This school allowed me to see my own uniqueness, my own offerings.

Q: What breaks your heart, and how are your studies informed by that kind of shattering?

It sounds really simple, but I’ve been connected to naming it from the beginning of my studies here: When people aren’t seen and heard. I’m thinking about trauma and how that goes hand in hand. When people have their voices and power taken away from them, and that contributes to them not being seen and being able to step into who they actually are. I think that my studies have been correlating with that from the start.聽For a significant amount of my time here, I was trying to take everyone’s voice in and absorb it, to make something that was my own. Slowing down really allowed me to see that we all have our own way of engaging where we see our need, the brokenness, and the heartbreak of what that is.

Q: Describe your current internship, including your title and day-to-day experiences.

I’m at Greenlake Wellness Group where I’m a clinical intern. It is a group practice that was started by an alumna about two years ago. It has a lot of the very things that I hope to create in my own center one day, such as a massage therapist, chiropractor, and I believe there used to be an acupuncturist along with 12 clinical therapists. Initially, I didn’t think that I would end up at more of a group, private practice setting, but I found from the moment I started to connect with Greenlake Wellness that it had the very support that I was looking for, and that I found to be the most important thing starting out.

My day-to-day is largely my own creation, except for two days where we have a consultation group with seven therapists that are more seasoned. I’ve appreciated the balance of having the support there weekly to hear about where seasoned therapists are also questioning as they’ve been in the work for quite some time, while they also want to hear how I鈥檓 doing and where I need support. It鈥檚 been really empowering from the beginning that the practitioners have wanted us to be ourselves in the work and to not approach it from any specific way other than how we want to. Coming from this school, I didn’t know that I needed that. But after having taken in so many different voices about how they approach therapy, it’s been incredible to have an internship program where I get to find my own way in this work and figure out what it looks like for me to bring myself in a healing manner with someone.

Q: What are your hopes, dreams, and desires as they relate to your future vocation?

My short-term vision is being around people in this field that can support me and help me as I start out as a therapist. I do want to be a therapist. I don’t know in what capacity, or how that looks sustainable for me, but I definitely have found that the work is so meaningful and I feel my own purpose connected to it. Long-term, I would love to have my own practice center where I can connect my passion for embodiment and somatic therapy, being connected to the body, with a holistic approach to therapy. I would love to have artistic expression be part of this center where there’s therapy, there’s healing for the body, and there’s space to be creative.

Q: How has your time at 天美视频 prepared you for this internship?

It was definitely quite a buildup to learn so much beforehand, and, in my case, doing the program a little bit longer, having had three years of learning so much theory and the practicum experiences of engaging in what it’s like to sit with someone and hear their story. It鈥檚 a whole other thing to enter an internship and be with a person in a room and not have to follow some sort of script.

All this preparation helped me realize that the way that I’m going to be most helpful for someone is to really listen to what’s happening in me, and be present to that, and not just repress it, shove it down, or ignore it. I am a powerful tool in this work and that cannot be ignored. What I gained here is knowing that I have all of this in my mind full of theory, and all these different tools I can incorporate that may be helpful for a wide variety of people, because therapy isn鈥檛 one-size-fits-all. But at the end of the day, I know that what I have to have with each person is myself.

In my concluding time here, I鈥檓 realizing that I certainly don’t have things figured out, but I feel a lot closer to who I am. And at the same time, that will constantly be evolving. I feel a lot closer to my complexity, my heart, my kindness, my sensitivity. I think that in large part, coming to this place was a way that I really came to know myself.

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Internship Spotlight: Danielle Castillejo at REST /blog/internship-spotlight-rest/ Fri, 27 Mar 2020 15:00:44 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=14273 Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation. We recently sat down with Danielle Castillejo, a current intern with REST: Real Escape from the Sex […]

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Each year, our counseling psychology students spread out across the Greater Seattle Area鈥攁nd in some cases, the world鈥攖o intern at a variety of organizations. It鈥檚 one of the first opportunities for students to step into their future vocation.

We recently sat down with Danielle Castillejo, a current intern with in South Seattle. She talked with us about her journey to becoming a therapist, how she balances graduate school and raising a family, and the deeply impactful work she encounters during her internship at REST.

What initially drew you to attend 天美视频?

I had actually gone through a really hard time in my life and was experiencing some PTSD symptoms, so I began therapy. Over the course of two years I met with my therapist regularly, and one day she handed me a book called A Shining Affliction. I took it home and read it in one day. the story of Annie Rogers and her process of dealing with her own heartache, pain, and trauma as she’s becoming a psychologist. I walked back into my therapist鈥檚 office the next week, and I said, 鈥淚 want to do this. You’ve done great work with me, I want to offer this to someone else.鈥 My therapist was connected to The Seattle school, and the way she worked with me was with such kindness and honor, and really challenged me to look at hard spaces in my life. t I thought, 鈥淲ell, that’s what I want to do鈥 So, I applied to The Seattle school.

In what ways has your story impacted, shaped, or inspired your studies?

I’ve learned that it’s so important to know who I am and where I’ve come from. Not just the trauma stories of my life, but the ethnic identity I have and how that impacts me. I am half German and I鈥檓 half Mexican. How do those things come together? I have found that they do come together and influence the way I think, and the way I raise my family. Being at the school has helped me unpack those things, and I’m able to bring it home. Not just to clients or into a work setting, but I’m bringing it home to my family by asking new questions with my husband, and my friends, and my community.

How have you been able to balance attending graduate school, having an internship, and your family?

A lot of people ask me, 鈥淒anielle, how do you do it?鈥 And usually, I don’t want to answer. I think of it as a continuum. There are periods and seasons in life where we have something that we’re able to do more than we’re able to do other things. So, I am not able to do this without the support of my husband and friends and a couple of women that have mentored me through the process. It looks like asking for help a lot. It looks like I can’t make a meal every night, so maybe we need to add in the budget an aspect where we’re able to eat out. Or it looks like calling on friends to say, 鈥淐an you pick up my kids from school today?鈥 It looks like taking time out of my schedule to coach my son’s basketball team, but since I can’t be there every night, I have to ask someone to help me out. At this time in my life, in different semesters even, the continuum shifts. Sometimes I’m able to be more present at home and activities, and other times I have to be less present.

What breaks your heart and how are your studies informed by that kind of shattering?

The things that break my heart are spaces where truth isn’t welcome. Spaces where kindness isn’t welcome. Spaces where certain bodies aren’t welcome. Different colors of people aren’t welcome. Different ethnicities aren’t welcome. Spaces where the gospel is only seen through one lens, and it’s not a lens that includes people of color. I think that I highlight that, particularly because my family is a multicultural, multiethnic family. My husband is a Mexican immigrant, a U.S. Citizen and we have four children. It’s important to me to find spaces where there’s belonging. I think a lot of my clients are looking for spaces to belong to as well. And that breaks my heart.

Can you describe your current internship, including your title and daily activities?

The title at my internship at REST is Survivor Engagement Specialist and intern. On Mondays, I lead a support group for survivors of the sex trade. It鈥 s an open group, members shift every week, but once the doors are shut, that’s our group. Prior to the group space, I’m engaging with clients, meeting with them one on one. We sit down and have a cup of coffee or a cup of tea and talk. There’s a wide variety of ways to engage clients鈥攊t’s not your typical office setting. So, I do that for a few hours, lead the group for about an hour, hour and a half, and then afterward debrief with coworkers, supervisor, and start the cleanup.

On Wednesdays, we have something called the Integrative Health Clinic and I intern in that space. There are two trauma therapists: myself and a medical advocate. A client can make an appointment for a half-hour and come, sit at the table with us, and share mental health concerns and physical concerns. Sometimes we have a faith friend there. 鈥淵ou want to explore faith issues? You can go do that.鈥 It鈥檚 a way to brainstorm practical support for needs.

At 天美视频, counseling psychology interns can choose their internship site. Why did you choose REST?

I believe in what REST is doing. One of the things they say on their website is 鈥淓verybody deserves to be loved.鈥 And I believe that. I’m passionate about seeing people that have experienced the sex trade, and human trafficking, if that’s what they want is to leave, and joining them on the path towards freedom and healing. I have wonderful coworkers, people who love the clients, and it鈥檚 an opportunity to work in a place that isn’t setting up walls and barriers for care鈥攚e鈥檙e actually brainstorming ways to take down barriers to access care. at.

I’ve had a couple of clients be able to move forward and get an ID card and pursue housing and make small steps towards changing their situation. I’ve been inspired by a client who doesn’t have a telephone, but showed up just to let me know 鈥淚 can’t actually meet with you today.鈥

Can you talk about the importance of transforming relationships at your internship with REST?

The clients are always watching. They’re observing. They want to know if you’re genuine, if you’re real. They want to know if you’re going to deliver on what you say you’re going to deliver. A relationship is key. If there’s no relationship, there’s going to be no movement. There needs to be a sense of, I can wait with this client through traumatic response, through my own heartache, through the goodness we experienced before, I see this as practice鈥攖he art of building attachment and relationship is practice. I don’t see the missed appointments, as I’m disappointed. I’m sad, but they鈥檙e not the end. I see it as 鈥淥kay, you missed our appointment? That’s one miss out of the way. That means we’re that much closer to you showing up the next time.鈥

How has your time at 天美视频 prepared you for this internship?

I had a lot of anxiety growing up, and I think without the experience of diving into my story and doing personal work, working on attachment all of these things, the process of becoming aware, the process of knowing more about who I am, has prepared me to step into environments where there aren’t necessarily barriers and containment. Without that, I’m not sure I could have stepped in and stayed grounded. The process of knowing my story, the process of putting in hard work on my own at the same time, has moved me into places where I am better prepared to handle the stories of clients.

What are your hopes, dreams, and desires as they relate to your future vocation?

When I think of life after 天美视频 and graduation, I feel a great sense of grief. What am I going to be missing? Who will I not see? And, I have this awesome sense of excitement, like I’m starting off on another voyage. Some of my hopes are to continue working in the community, and in community mental health, and also open up a private practice. I really want to have a sense of the Integrative Health Clinic that I work with at REST and bring something like that to my area. I love my clients at REST. I’m not ready to leave them yet. So after I graduate I hope to stay connected and. I hope to stay involved. I hope to work in some capacity with survivors that have experienced the sex trade. I really love that aspect and the diversity of the work. like to work with clients from a variety of backgrounds. I speak Spanish, so I’m hoping to use some of these skills in a multicultural dimension.

Looking back, what advice would you offer to prospective or first-year MACP students?

Do your work. Show up to Listening Lab, and participate. Get into therapy, connect with a therapist, and show up for those appointments. And don’t look too far ahead. Be present right in the moment. Then, when you start moving forward, allow yourself to dream. Allow yourself to think, 鈥淲here would I want to intern? What population am I dreaming about working with?鈥 Grab your resume, take it with you to the internship fair, and pass it out to people you think 鈥淚’m not even interested in that,鈥 because you don’t know who you might connect with. Sometimes we have, in our mind, a certain idea or a certain place we think we need to be. If we eliminate another option, we’ve eliminated our imagination for that.

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天美视频 Launches Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy Certificate /blog/relationally-focused-certificate/ Thu, 30 May 2019 17:00:51 +0000 http://theseattleschool.edu/?p=13400 天美视频 has announced the launch of the Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy Post-Graduate Certificate, beginning in fall 2019.

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天美视频 of Theology & Psychology has announced the launch of the Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy (RFPT) Post-Graduate Certificate, beginning in fall 2019. RFPT is an evidence-based treatment approach with strong roots in depth psychology (particularly contemporary relational psychoanalysis), embodied theology, dialogical philosophy, and neuroscience, and this new certificate is a two-year training program designed to help clinicians deepen their understanding and application of relational psychotherapy.

Dr. Roy Barsness, Professor of Counseling Psychology at 天美视频, developed Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy from his qualitative research conducted in the realm of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The result of that research culminated in his collaborative book, .

鈥淧sychology is once again turning its attention to the understanding that actual change occurs by focusing on the unfolding narrative between therapist and patient,鈥 says Dr. Barsness. 鈥淭he implication of this shift is the need for training in theoretical and practical constructs that attend to motivation, emotions, early attachment/developmental issues, the role of the unconscious, and attention to the research in the neurosciences that notes shifts in affective regulation through genuine encounters with others.鈥

鈥淧sychology is once again turning its attention to the understanding that actual change occurs by focusing on the unfolding narrative between therapist and patient.鈥

Decades of research indicate that the provision of therapy is an interpersonal process in which the nature of the therapeutic relationship is a central component for change and healing. For 21 years, 天美视频 has distinguished itself as a program rooted in the belief that we are created, known, wounded, and healed in the context of relationship. Our incarnational theology informs our theory of change, and our psychodynamic methodology develops thoughtful, committed practitioners. The RFPT certificate is designed for practitioners to continue their learning by equipping them with new insights and skills, helping clarify their methodology and theory of change, and offering a network of clinicians for ongoing support, community, and consultation.

This post-graduate certificate represents 天美视频鈥檚 intentional movement toward hybrid learning opportunities that are more accessible than ever, so that participants can continue to learn and grow even as they pursue their day-to-day work. In the RFPT certificate, clinicians will participate in a practice-focused, experiential training program delivered through bi-weekly online clinical consultations and twice-yearly in-person weekend intensive retreats. In the contexts of community and their own practice, participants will pursue an in-depth exploration of how they position themselves in the therapeutic dyad, how they reflect on the conscious and unconscious dynamics that unfold, and how they engage those dynamics with courage, discipline, and insight.

鈥淟earning doesn鈥檛 stop once you enter the field,鈥 says Dr. J. Derek McNeil, Acting President and Provost. 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased to be offering clinicians this opportunity to deepen their own learning and refine their practice in the context of community.鈥

You can visit the program page to learn more about the Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy Post-Graduate Certificate, including schedule, tuition, program outline, and the application process.

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