Introduction

I joined the faculty at UND as a Visiting Professor in fall of 2007. I came to North Dakota after living in Utah since 1994 where I was a faculty member of the Counseling/Counseling Psychology program of the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. I also worked at the Utah State Office of Education as a Counseling and Guidance Specialist. I received my PhD at the University of California, Santa Barbara and completed a pre-doctoral internship at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. I was raised in California and lived and worked in many areas of the state: the high desert (Lancaster), the central valley (Bakersfield) and the central coast (Santa Barbara and Santa Maria). I fell in love with the deserts of southern Utah when I moved to Salt Lake and have spent many happy days on the rivers (see picture below) and in the canyons and rocks of the Colorado Plateau.

Teaching

Over the years I’ve taught many courses in MA and PhD Counseling Psychology programs. These include:

School Counseling Courses

Professional Issues in School Counseling
Organization & Administration of Counseling and Guidance Services
Collaborative Educational Problem Solving
Practicum in School Counseling
Internship in School Counseling
Career Development Theory

Masters Courses

Counseling Skills and Procedures
Life Span Development
Tests and Measurement
Introduction to Educational Statistics
Professional Issues in Mental Health Counseling
Developmental Counseling for Children and Adolescents
Practicum in Mental Health Counseling

Doctoral Courses

Supervision Theory and Practice
Practicum in Supervision
Basic Issues in Sex Therapy
Ethics and Standards

My first and enduring teaching assignment was as the instructor of 10 sections of “Introduction to Educational Psychology.” I taught over 500 people, undergraduates and graduates, from a variety of backgrounds and majors over the course of 5 years. We covered theories of learning, cognitive and social development, student motivation, and effective teaching practice. Instruction of this topic was the source of much personal examination, frustration, growth, and satisfaction. I came to realize that the best way for students to learn these topics was to model them in my own instruction. What a humbling realization. It has become a matter of lifelong learning.

I believe adult learners need to be engaged with content in order to learn it. Consequently, I strive to structure a variety of learning approaches in my classes. I believe that I should assume responsibility for framing instructional material with respect to diverse life experiences and learning styles.

Research

My professional background includes work in K-12 schools, a state education department, mental health settings, and university graduate schools. My primary areas of interest revolve around the integration of psychology in schools. The result of this broadly defined interest has been the opportunity to engage in a number of very different research projects. Example investigations include: 1) the systemic effects of fully implemented school counseling programs in elementary schools; 2) factors relating to the implementation of interdisciplinary collaboration in a Professional Development School; 3) effects of the provision of school crisis services on the degree and type of counselor burn out; and 4) types and efficacy of data collected by school counselors for school and program improvement.

A secondary variable of interest has been in the area of supervision for the development of professional skills. Again, I have been involved in a range of explorations of this topic: supervisor skill development, the shared construction of meaning in supervision and a qualitative investigation of highly qualified supervisors’ use of reflection skills.

Professional Service

My community service includes facilitating support groups at the University of Utah Women’s Resource Center, volunteering as a counselor in the Salt Lake County Jail, and serving as a board member and chair of the Utah Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network.

Professional Organizations

American School Counselors Association (ASCA)
Utah School Counseling Association (USCA)
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
Utah Association of School Psychologists (UASP)
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES)
American Psychological Association (APA)
Division 16 - School Psychology
Division 17 - Counseling Psychology
American Counseling Association (ACA)