UGA Counselor Academy                                                                                                     July and August 2000
    Focus on application of technology in regards to professional school counseling and networking

GSCA Fall Conference                                                                                                                      November 2000
    Attended workshops in:
        How to Facilitate a Discussion Group with Teen Girls
        Essential Group Leadership Skills
        Use of Bibliotherapy in School Counseling
        What Kids Really Need
        Enhancing Your Personal and Professional Life and That of Your Students

Peer Mediation Training                                                                                                                        January 2001
    Led by Deborah Staniszewski, Ph.D. and Heather Jarboe, Clarke County Professional School Counselors

The 17th Annual Institute on Marriage and Family Therapy                                                        January 2001
    Pathways to Change:  Solution-Oriented Brief Family Therapy with Adolescent Substance Abusers

Breaking Latino Cultural Myths:  Domestic Violence Interventions                                        February 2001

Slow Learners:  Life and Education on the Wrong Side of the Bell Curve                            February 2001

Children in Crisis - Rethinking Parenting                                                                                             March 2001

    The Pre-Professional Graduate Certificate Program in Marriage and Family Therapy is designed to provide an interdisciplinary program for graduate students interested in the applied field of marriage and family therapy.  Completion of the requirements for the certificate program will provide a strong basis preparing the student to undertake further supervised clinical training in marriage and family therapy.  The Certificate Program attempts to meet the course requirements , but not the practicum requirements for licensure in Georgia.  For a practicum to count towards licensure, the student must see marriage and family clients under the supervision of a licensed professional for 500 hours over 12 consecutive months.  For students in Professional School Counseling, 50% of the internship experience must comprise of work with families.  This certificate is offered in conjunction with the Department of Child and Family Development, the Department of Counseling and Human Development, the School of Social Work, the Department of Psychology, and the Department of Educational Psychology.

Marriage and Family Studies (6 hours)
    CHFD 6620    Women, Family, and Society
    CHFD 6044    Theories and Practice with Families and Groups

Marriage and Family Therapy (6 hours)
    ECHD 8110    Adlerian Family Counseling:  Presentations, demonstrations and critical analyses of the basic principles and practices of Adlerian family Counseling.  A review of the fundamental tenets of Alfred Adler's approach to family education, intervention, and enrichment.
    SOWK 6117    Social Work with Violent Families:  Multi-systemic, community-wide approaches to protecting family members from domestic violence.

Practicum in Marriage and Family Therapy (6 hours)
    ECHD 7850    Internship in School Counseling (Fall 2001)
    ECHD 7850    Internship in School Counseling (Spring 2002)

    American Counseling Association is an educational, scientific and professional organization whose members are dedicated to the enhancement of human development throughout the life span.  Association members recognize diversity in our society and embrace a cross-cultural approach in support of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of each individual.

    American School Counseling Association, with a membership of approximately 12,000 school counseling professionals, focuses on providing professional development, enhancing school counseling programs, and researching effective school counseling practices.

Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling
    ASERVIC highlights the significant issues and relationships between spirituality, religion, psychology, philosophy, social values and ethics as related to the counseling process and CACREP Standards.

    Georgia School Counselors Association is a human service professional organization devoted to the well-being and development of school-aged youth in Georgia.

    Chi Sigma Iota is an international honor society for counselors-in-training, counselor educators and professional counselors.  Its mission is to promote scholarship, research, professionalism, leadership and excellence in counseling, and to recognize high attainment in the pursuit of academic and clinical excellence in the field of counseling.  Criteria for membership is as follows:  completed one semester of full-time graduate coursework, earned a grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 grading scale, and be recommended for membership in Chi Sigma Iota by the chapter.  Additionally, all membership applicants require signature of faculty advisor to verify membership criteria have been met.

    Kappa Delta Pi is an International Honor Society organized to recognize excellence in education.  Members are invited who exhibit the ideals of scholarship, high personal standards and promise in teaching and allied professions. Selection is based on high academic achievement, a commitment to education as a career and a professional attitude that assures steady growth in the profession.

    Pi Lambda Theta is an international honor society and professional association in education that honors excellence and fosters leadership skills and intellectual values.  Membership is by invitation to students and professional who have met specific academic requirements or who have achieved certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Cohort Experience

The cohort nature of this program continues to be a time of growth, a situation of support, and a positive group experience.  The 12 of us, as first-year school counseling students have become accountable to each other in matters of academia and of the heart.  We express our emotions and bonds in 12 very different manners but all of us are sure the cohort will continue beyond the two years we spend together striving to become professional counselors as well as better human beings.