MA in Counseling Students Present Findings

2010 has been a busy year for students in EMU’s MA in Counseling program.

In February a team of four students (Zachary Taylor, Erin Constable, Thomas Smith and Tara Kreider) received a first-place award in the annual national Graduate Student Ethics Competition sponsored by the American Counseling Association (ACA), Alexandria, Va.

Later in the month, five other MA in Counseling students presented findings at the Virginia Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors (VACES) conference in Williamsburg, Va.

‘Transcending Trauma’

EMU MA in Counseling students present at conference
EMU graduate counseling students Margaret Johnson, April Gunderson, Erica Yutzy and Robin Zook were among the students who presented findings at VACES in February 2010.

Margaret Johnson, April Gunderson, Erica Yutzy and Robin Zook presented "Transcendence from Trauma: The Inspirational Phenomena of Post-traumatic Growth," their focused study of trauma and the profound growth which can follow.

The moving, visually rich work was the product of months of study and preparation by the students.

‘Transforming Adolescents’

EMU MA in Counseling student presents at conference
EMU MA in Counseling student Grace Kolman (left) also presented at the conference. Here, she is pictured with faculty member Teresa Haase.

Grace Kolman also presented her work on "Transforming Adolescents with Conduct Disorder to Volunteers using Existential Therapy" at the VACES conference.

"Existential therapy offers important insights on how to treat adolescents with conduct disorder," Kolman says.

"I presented theory on this subject and an illustration on how it’s possible to lead a group of trouble teenagers to volunteerism using existential approach. The life stories presented in this conference are based on my experience working with these youths in Rondonia, Brazil."

About the MA in Counseling program

EMU has more than 35 students currently enrolled in its MA in counseling program, which is accredited by The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The program offers a 60-semester hour, CACREP-approved track that prepares students for clinical practice as a licensed professional counselor and a dual degree that enables a student to earn both a master of divinity and an MA in counseling degree in less time than if both were pursued separately.