Alvernia University ADVANCING ADDICTIONS & Mental Health Counseling

Among Alvernia University’s many well-known and respected majors, its groundbreaking Addictions and Mental Health Treatment (AMHT) program remains a standout.

Initiated more than 45 years ago as the first of its kind in the nation, when addiction was narrowly understood and treatment hard to come by, the program has turned out thousands of counselors and addiction specialists who work in treatment centers and other facilities across the country.

Addiction is not a stagnant field but one that must constantly change to address increasingly complex challenges facing patients, their families and providers. Alvernia’s program staff work hard to keep the curriculum current with industry standards.

“We’ve evolved as problems regarding addiction have evolved,” says program director David Reyher, M.S., CAADC.

Another factor in the program’s success is that it was developed by people actively working in the field, and it continues to utilize professors and staff members with hands-on experience in treatment centers and other facilities.

Thirdly, Reyher says, the program is based on Alvernia’s Franciscan core values, which have supported the work of its directors, faculty and staff.

“That commitment has remained paramount for over 40 years,” he says.

The AMHT program was founded in 1976 at the urging of the late Sister M. Pacelli Staskiel, OSF.

“It was one of our earlier programs, and it remains consistent and aligned with our mission of supporting the community,” notes Dr. Elizabeth Matteo, dean of the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.

George Vogel, the addiction program’s longtime director who preceded Reyher, recognized the need for a master’s-level program that would enable students to build on their undergraduate work and further advance in the field of mental health.

Alvernia’s Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling (MACC) degree was launched in 2002, supporting the highest standards in professional mental health and addictions treatment.

“The MACC program has quite a few current students and grads who have come through the AMHT program,” notes Nicole Hall, MACC program director. “The curriculums line up nicely, with one really building on the other.”

Stephanie Berlin, who received a bachelor’s degree in addictions and mental health treatment in 2018 and a master’s degree in clinical counseling in 2021, says the internships she completed with Caron Treatment Centers as part of her undergraduate work helped her narrow her career goals and prepare her for the MACC program.