Monthly archive: March 2013

Atlanta, Georgia – (February 8, 2013)

Dean of the School of Counseling and Licensed Professional Counselor, Dr. Keny Felix, represented Richmont Graduate University at this year’s Counseling and Pastoral Care Symposium at Mercer University.

Dr. Felix, alongside Rabbi Scott Sekulow of Temple Beth Adonai, served as a keynote speaker at the event, hosted by Charles O’Connor, M.S., LPC, Mercer Ph.D. Counseling Student, and Dr. Kenyon Knapp, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Counseling.  Dr. Felix presented on addressing spirituality and religion in counseling. Rabbi Sekulow spoke on diversity and pastoral care. Mercer graduate Jumie Duduyemi, LAPC, and Yvette Gates, LPC and doctoral student at Mercer, also presented, speaking on issues related to providing church-based professional counseling services.

 “Religion and spirituality are an integral part of our society today, so it behooves us as professional counselors to be adequately prepared to address issues related to spirituality and religion when working with clients who are so inclined.” said Dr. Felix.

Dr. Felix noted, according to research, the majority of adults in the U.S. express some sort of religious beliefs. Furthermore, many individuals turn to their communities of faith in times of distress or use spiritual styles of coping. Research has shown a relationship between spirituality and wellness.

“To not address issues related to spirituality and religion when they are an integral part of a client’s life is being insensitive as a counselor and fails to reflect competence,” said Dr. Felix. “A client’s spirituality and religious beliefs and practices must be considered when assessing, diagnosing, and selecting appropriate treatments. This was a wonderful symposium as it provided a forum to address these issues and more.”

Chattanooga, Tennessee – (February 19, 2013)

The CBI Counseling Center, a part of Richmont Graduate University, is pleased to announce the additions of three new counselors to its clinical staff.

• Ed Doreau, MA, joins the staff after moving to Chattanooga only a couple of years ago from Massachusetts. His professional work focuses on the needs of teenage males as well as helping individuals struggling with addictions. He also has training in Motivational Interviewing, a mode of therapy seen as particularly helpful with addictions.
•  Willie “Bo” Walker, LCSW, has worked in mental health in Chattanooga for about 30 years, and brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to his counseling practice at CBI.  He is competent to work with a variety of counseling issues and with a variety of populations, working primarily from a cognitive-behavioral model of counseling.
• Yohunnah Woods-Moton, M.A., is a native Chattanoogan and graduate of Richmont Graduate University. She is trained in several forms of therapy, including Motivational Enhancement Therapy. She works with children and parents, but also sees adults and focuses on issues of domestic violence, addiction, and emotional disorders.

“We are thrilled to add more outstanding people to our staff to meet the growing need for quality clinicians at CBI Counseling Center,” said CBI Director, Dr. Tim Sisemore. “These three broaden and deepen our staff to meet this need.  Bo is a seasoned clinician and well-respected member of mental health service community, Ed brings expertise and sensitivity to underserved populations in adolescents and addictions, and Yohunnah offers clients a warm, caring approach to a variety of problems, particularly regarding children where she has specialized training. I am most grateful for the superior quality of clinicians we have gathered here.”

For more than 30 years, CBI has offered a broad range of counseling and psychological services to the Chattanooga community. Pursuing the highest professional standards, CBI remains true to the Christian tradition of faith and caring. On average, licensed psychologists, marriage and family therapists, counselors, and insured student interns provide approximately 1,400 client sessions per month.

“Based on the number of monthly client sessions, it is apparent that each CBI counselor seeks to serve all persons with compassion and sensitivity to their uniqueness while assisting them in meeting life’s challenges,” said Richmont President, Bob Rodgers. “We are glad to have these three highly-qualified individuals serving on the CBI team.”

All three counselors are currently taking new clients. Scheduling information can be obtained by calling 423-756-2894 or by visiting: www.cbicounseling.com. Open five days a week, the counseling center’s physical address is: 1815 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37404.

Atlanta, Georgia – (February 22, 2013)

Associate Professor of Counseling and Licensed Psychologist, Dr. Dan Sartor, and master’s student, Beth Leonard, will represent Richmont Graduate University at this year’s Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) annual conference in Portland, Oregon.

Under Sartor’s direction, Leonard has pursued thesis work regarding the attachments people have with God and how this influences their attachments with other people. Where some world religions believe wellbeing is acquired through mindfulness and meditation, Leonard’s work is uncovering how the group practice of a meditative reading of the Scriptures, historically known as the “Lectio Divina,”  might form significantly healthier relational attachments among individuals and within the participants’ sense of attachment to God.

“There’s a growing body of research that has linked certain meditative practices to personal and relational well-being,” said Sartor. “We are examining whether or not the Christian-specific practices of the Lectio Divina and centering prayer contribute in the same manner to personal well-being and relational well-being as perceived through the lense of attachment theory.”

While research is still underway, Leonard’s work is broadly applicable to the process of psychology as she is using both church populations and clinical populations to determine the ways in which people experience God and how their personal wellbeing and interpersonal relationships are affected.

“The manualized group process we are employing is designed to help people more fully connect how they perceive God implicitly, or in their heart and emotions, with their head or Biblical knowledge of God,” said Leonard. “When that happens they can experience Him in more positive, intimate and securely-attached ways as opposed to negative, shame-based ways. A fascinating aspect of this study is examining the correlation between healing in attachments to people and to God, and investigating what role Christian meditative practices play in that process.”

Therefore, the CAPS conference is an exciting opportunity for both Sartor and Leonard to present the study’s preliminary findings.

“We are excited to contribute to the dialogue in academic and clinical circles regarding healthy spiritual practices that contribute to the well-being of individuals and society at large,” said Sartor.