“Every one of the men I see has a unique story, and being a part of that story is very rewarding.”
We work to establish mentoring “relationships between faculty and students so advisers can nurture student development
throughout their program. They work closely, they get to know one another very well, and the adviser is able to guide, support and advocate for the student as he or she progresses through the program. Dr. Sarah Knox, professor and director of training for the counseling psychology doctoral program
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“So many men come to us with this sense of shame, this sense that they’re less because they are not able to provide for themselves,” says Kristen Vareka, clinic administrator for the Guest House Counseling Clinic, where she works with homeless men who struggle with unemployment, mental illness and addiction. She now smiles when she talks about this work, but getting to that point was a process. “I came to Marquette’s counseling program thinking I could change the world, change people’s lives. But part of the process was realizing that you have to meet people where they are,” Vareka says. “You really have to redefine the idea of success from the client’s perspective. And then you have to teach them to advocate for themselves.” Vareka speaks fondly of a client who taught her that advocacy is about creating hope. “He was tough. He’d been involved with using and selling drugs for decades. He kind of looked at me as if to say, ‘You, with your Marquette degree — you think you know so much. But you don’t know anything.’ In a sense, he was right. I didn’t understand his life … I had to acknowledge that to build trust.” She also had to relinquish some control. “He didn’t want me to make the rules. He wasn’t sure he wanted another way of life or that he was capable of it,” she says. “He needed me to help him visualize and verbalize goals and then teach him to advocate for himself. It took a year. But today he has a job, an apartment, a car. He’s rebuilding relationships, and he’s reached a year of sobriety.
KEYONA JARRETT WALKER Grad ’11 Staff psychologist Clement J. Zablocki VA Hospital
“Every one of the men I see has a unique story, and being a part of that story is very rewarding.” n
Dr. Keyona Walker wasn’t sure she would finish her doctoral degree in counseling psychology. “As a first-generation college student, pursuing a doctoral degree was a huge endeavor,” she says. So, when her schedule became overwhelming during her second year in the five-year program, she reached out to faculty members for advice.
KRISTEN VAREKA Grad ’08 Clinic administrator Guest House
seek “ Wetointentionally train leaders. We start that from the first day of classes, and they see it in action during their internship experiences in the West Allis–West Milwaukee schools.
One of those faculty members was Dr. Timothy Melchert. In the midst of her dilemma, Walker found Melchert’s office door open. Without an appointment, she proceeded to talk to him for 45 minutes about her problem. Dr. Lisa Edwards also lent a listening ear that Walker says made a big difference. “I always felt supported by faculty and felt like they wanted to see me succeed … I found them to be open, honest and supportive of whatever decision that I thought was best for me.” Ultimately, Walker decided to stick with the program. She finished her degree and eventually landed her current position at the VA Hospital, where she provides services to veterans who are homeless or at risk for homelessness. As for what drove her to work there, she says it was vocation. “Counselors who are trained at Marquette tend to have a passion for social justice and seek out opportunities to use their skills to help people who are underserved,” she says. She also credits Marquette for giving her the opportunity. “The name itself opens doors,” she says. “But it also provided me with a well-rounded foundation in the areas of counseling skills, theory-based conceptualization, psychological assessment and research.” n
Dr. Alan Burkard, chair, professor and coordinator of school counseling program
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EARLY PATHWAYS In 2014, the community mental health counseling program launched Early Pathways, an online training program based on the proven treatment strategies of the Behavior Clinic, a partnership between Marquette and the Penfield Children’s Center. Since its founding in 2003, it has been at the forefront of efforts to help families address and overcome serious behavioral problems in young children. marquette.edu/early-pathways
2007
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There’s a lot of emphasis in the field about advocacy, but it’s not always clear how to best train students in it. So, in the past few years,
we’ve implemented a requirement in the multicultural counseling class in which students develop and implement advocacy projects. Dr. Lisa Edwards, associate professor, director of counselor education and coordinator of clinical mental health counseling program
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Since 2007, the doctoral program in counseling psychology has maintained an attrition rate of 0%. 8 College of Education 2015
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