Contact Information

PRECONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

February 23, 2011
Some of the Full Day Preconference Workshops

Janice L. DeLucia-Waack, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Program Director, School Counseling Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology, Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo, SUNY Buffalo, New York

“Leading Groups with Children and Adolescents”

This full-day workshop will provide specific suggestions about how to lead psycho educational and counseling groups with children and adolescents.  The format of this program will be to use brief didactic presentations, followed by experiential component to illustrate the concepts. Topics to be covered include effective group leadership skills, use of activities, processing of activities for this population.  Participants will be able to:  describe a structure and organizational plan for groups for children and adolescents, select group activities appropriate for children and adolescents at different stages of group, identify processing questions to help group members consolidate learning, identify group leadership skills to facilitate effective group interactions and group member learning.

Janice L. DeLucia-Waack is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. She is a Past-President of Association for Specialists in Group Work, former editor of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work, and  a fellow in the Association for Specialists in Group Work and American Psychological Association Division 49: Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy. She is author of three books: Leading Psychoeducational Groups for Children and Adolescents, Multicultural Counseling and Training:  Implications and Challenges for Practice and Using Music in Children of Divorce Groups:  A Session-By-Session Manual for Counselors; and co-author of another four books: Group Work Experts Share Their Favorite Activities: A Guide to Choosing, Planning, Conducting, and Processing (with Karen Bridbord, Jennifer Kleiner, and Amy Nitza), The Practice of Multicultural Group Work: Visions and Perspectives from the Field (with Jeremiah Donigian), Handbook of Group Counseling and Psychotherapy (with Debbie Gerrity, Cynthia Kalodner, and Maria Riva), School Counselors Share Their Favorite Activities: A Guide to Choosing, Planning, Conducting, and Processing (with Louisa Foss, Judy Green, and Kelly Wolfe-Stiltner).

She received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Eisenhower College, a master’s degree in Family Studies from the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Pennsylvania State University.  Her counseling and research interests include: the process and therapeutic factors related to psychoeducational and counseling groups, school counseling and support services in the schools, eating disorders and body image, children of divorce, supervision, and multicultural issues.

Janice teaches two of the three group courses in her department as well as being the Program Director of the masters and CAS graduate programs in School Counseling and on the faculty of the Counseling/School Psychology Ph.D. program.  In addition, she often serves as a consultant to school districts regarding the effectiveness of their pupil services programs.

Ed Jacobs, Ph.D.
Coordinator – Counseling, Counseling Psychology, and Rehabilitation Department, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia

“The Brain Likes Novelty: Becoming More Creative with Your Counseling”

This workshop will be filled with creative ideas that counselors can use in individual and group sessions.  One objective is to get counselors to realize that by being more multisensory and creative, they will be more helpful and productive with their clients and group members.  Another objective is to give participants permission to think outside the box.  A third objective is to free participants to be more creative and to enjoy their counseling more.  The content will focus on different creative techniques and how these can be used with some of the major counseling theories (REBT, Adlerian, Choice Theory and others).  Discussion on brain research and how the brain likes novelty will be presented.

This workshop is an active presentation of using counseling theories in sessions in creative ways.  The primary theories that will be discussed and demonstrated are Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), Transactional Analysis (TA), Gestalt, Adlerian, and Reality Therapy.  Much of the workshop will be in the form of demonstrations using theories rather than presentations about theories.  Numerous creative techniques will be demonstrated to show how theories can be very useful and educational for the client.  Props, use of chairs, writing, drawing, and movement will all be shown within a theoretical context.  Many of the creative techniques are based upon Dr. Jacobs’s two books Creative Counseling Techniques and Impact Therapy.  This workshop is valuable for mental health counselors, school counselors, private practitioners and anyone currently conducting counseling because of the emphasis on using theories in a multi-sensory way.

The participants will be instructed on how to have more impact with their clients in each session by using theories to drive the sessions.   Participants will be taught how to take their clients to a deeper working level quickly.  Emphasis will be placed on how counseling is more than listening and focusing on feelings and that sessions should be theory driven.  Those attending will be challenged to think more creatively about counseling.

The workshop will consist of mini lecture, demonstrations and group discussions.  Also, many role plays and live examples will be presented.  Time will be allotted for questions and case consultation.  Participants will be given an extensive handout on putting theory into practice.
Ed Jacobs is the coordinator of the masters program in the Counseling, Counseling Psychology, and Rehabilitation Department at West Virginia University.  He received his MA in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and his Ph.D. in counselor education from Florida State University.  Professional publications include 25 articles in books and journals as well as four books on counseling techniques: Impact Therapy, Creative Counseling Techniques: An Illustrated Guide, Group Counseling in Correctional Settings, and Group Counseling: Strategies and Skills, which is now in the 6th edition.

Ed is the founder and director of Impact Therapy Associates.  He is a licensed professional counselor in West Virginia and has been in private practice for over 25 years.  Each year, Ed presents throughout the United States and Canada over 20 workshops on Impact Therapy and group counseling for agencies, school districts, and organizations.  Ed is known for his practical, down-to-earth style in both his presentations and his books.  Each summer, Ed conducts training institutes on Impact Therapy.

Ed has been recognized for his outstanding teaching and contribution to the field.  In 2006, he was given the Outstanding Teacher Award in his college.  Also in 2006 he was given by the Association for Creativity in Counseling the Innovator of the Year Award. In the past he was recognized for his contributions in group work by being given the Professional Advancement Award and selected as a Fellow in the Association for Specialists in Group Work.  Ed is on the advisory board for the National Association for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists.

Cheri Lovre, M.S.
Founder and Director, Crisis Management Institute, Salem, Oregon

“Trauma Training”

Trauma is primarily a biochemical and psychological response to the threat to life or limb.  Traumatic events are those that were “not on the radar screen of life” and overwhelm one’s ability to cope.  These events often leave victims collectively overwhelmed.  This full-day workshop covers the biochemistry and physiology of the “fight or flight” (or freeze) response, cognition, emotional, social, physical, and behavioral reactions, and long-term outcomes of trauma left untreated.  Understanding the brain-based changes is essential to understanding how to approach intervention that will be appropriate for students.   We will also be discussing intervention techniques that are appropriate for victims and survivors, and also is designed specifically to be used for those who were not emergency responders or law enforcement.  It is also specifically designed to be used in schools in the immediate aftermath of overwhelming tragedies.

Cheri Lovre, MS, Director of CMI, has over 30 years of experience in the field of prevention, crisis response, grief, trauma and many related topics. Because of her range of experience, she has developed a philosophy and a specific approach toward the unique requirements of survivors of trauma. The focus of much of that time has been working with schools in the aftermath of student and staff deaths, suicides, homicides, natural disasters, traumatic events, shootings, arrests of staff for internet child pornography, teacher-student sexual misconduct and a wide range of other tragedies that overwhelm a district’s usual abilities to cope.

During the '80's, while employed by Marion Education Services District in Salem, Oregon, she worked extensively on creating training and materials for crisis response teams, which has become one of her specialties. She was asked to respond to Springfield Public Schools following the shooting at Thurston High School in May of 1998, where she spent over a week working with staff, parents and students. Ms. Lovre received initial contact from the superintendent's office of Jefferson County Public Schools as the tragedy at Columbine was unfolding and went on to spend a week in Littleton.

Ms. Lovre has provided training and technical assistance to the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the U. S. Department of Education, the American School Counselors Association, and other national and state educational agencies.  As school crises have grown and changed, her materials and training continue to reflect the cutting edge in her field. Another outgrowth of her work has been to help states create state-wide teams to help respond to schools in the aftermath of major catastrophic events, such as shootings, natural and human-caused disasters, multiple death accidents and other events. Ms. Lovre continues to integrate into her work the cutting-edge concepts of Professional Learning Communities, Systems Thinking and resiliency to enhance the efficacy of her plans and publications. Her goal is to remain at the cutting edge, taking the whole field of crisis response to the level needed when responding to events as overwhelming and complex as terrorism and overwhelming natural disasters.