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March/April 2009 E-Bulletin


Contents: 

Alumni Spotlight - What Are Your Classmates Up To?

Alumni Association News

Phillips Honor Society

CalFam News 

Art Therapy Department News

Marriage and Family Therapy Department News

School Counseling Department News 

School Psychology Department News

Organizational Consulting Department News

Clinical Psychology Program News

MHSA Loan Repayment Program


Alumni Spotlight


Geovanna Henao (OC, 2008) has been working at Orly Enterprises since it’s startup in 2005. She is COO and manager of all three of Orly’s businesses (www.razzledazzlecosmetics.com, www.purelement.com, www.fragrancestacks.com). Geo attends SCORE events and other workshops that pertain to small businesses and is also working on starting her own Small Business Coaching and Consulting Firm, Achieving Entrepreneurial Success (www.acensuccess.com), which will officially be publicized on March 15th. Geo’s personal research presently focuses on how the current economy will affect small business owners. Her solutions are geared towards how they can survive during tough economic times and best use this time to improve processes and strengthen themselves. Geo currently serves as President of the PGI Alumni Association Board and is getting married on March 7th, 2009.


Charles Macias, Psy.D. (OC, 2008), Rich Nicholson, Psy.D. (OC, 2007), and Joyce Zhang, MFT (current CPDP student) have co-authored and published their first book entitled Operation Legacy, a 314 page workbook to help the veterans transition from military to civilian life with focus, purpose and meaning. The life-planning workbook contains five steps and twenty exercises to address the question, “I Am a Military Hero Who Has Served My Country… Now What?” The authors deemed the project a “labor of love”. Combining their respective professional histories of Marine Corps service and personal development training, key work with major defense contract companies and military personnel, and therapeutic work with trauma victims, Charles, Rich and Joyce are pleased to bring 2 ½ years of collaborative effort to completion. They will collectively present in April 2009 at the annual Phillips Alumni Association Education Event focused on returning military veterans issues. To find out more about the book, visit www.operationlegacy.net. Operation Legacy will soon be available through Amazon.



Manijeh Motaghy, Psy.D. (OC, 2008) provides organization consulting to Ventura County’s small business community through EDCVC (Economic Development Collaboration Ventura County). Additionally, Manijeh and partner, Daniel Davis, combined their entrepreneurial experience and mindfulness training to co-found Mindful Valley in August 2008. As an institute of learning, Mindful Valley provides personal and professional development courses and workshops to individuals and to the business community. Manijeh infused mindfulness into her PGI doctoral portfolio’s TLC Model and created the “Cycle of Professional Excellence Model”, which she is currently teaching through Mindful Valley. Mindful Valley offers professional opportunities to unpaid interns, fee assistance through work study projects, and involvement opportunities to volunteers. Mindful Valley also provides an online network for its practitioners to share their progress and offers a weekly mindfulness group practice for community members every Tuesday in Sherman Oaks, CA. For more information, including Manijeh’s philosophy on mindfulness, visit www.mindfulvalley.org. As a consultant member of the Society for Organizational Learning (SOL), Manijeh continues to develop “The Mindful Organization Model”, an innovative business model to transform business practices. Manijeh has remained connected to Phillips through her involvement with PGI’s Diversity Committee.


 - If you would like to be featured in the Alumni Spotlight, please send your submission to Francine Roberts
froberts@pgi.edu -

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Alumni Association News

Alumni Association Upcoming Event

Save the Date! Please mark your calendar with this upcoming Alumni Association event:
June 7, 2009 – Alumni Grad Picnic: See fellow alumni and celebrate then newest grad class at this family-friendly BBQ!

Join the Phillips Alumni Association!

Now is the time to join! Simply print and mail the attached membership form or join online at (insert link here). Membership comes with all of these great benefits:

  • Free or discounted admission to Alumni Association events
  • 10% discount at the PGI bookstore
  • Alumni Newsletter and Event Invitations
  • Discounted Continuing Education classes and workshops
  • PGI library membership and full access ($100 value)
  • Coming Soon! Access to the online Alumni Directory
The PGI Alumni Association is always trying to think of better ways to serve you. Visit our website to find out more and give us your feedback!

NEW Alumni Association Improvements

Your Phillips Alumni Association will be making some exciting changes! Look for upcoming announcements about New membership levels, Discounted rates and a long-awaited Online Alumni Directory.

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PGI Honor Society Induction

The PGI Honor Society, Alpha Epsilon Lambda (AEL), had its annual induction ceremony on February 22, 2009. An introduction, containing each new member’s qualifying achievements, was read before each received a certificate, society pin and two roses from the chapter president and secretary. Sanie Andres (MFT/AT, 2004) currently serves Chapter President (replacing co-presidents Nina Savelle-Rocklin and Lisa Oxman), Ruth Subrin (MFT/AT, 2006) is the new Secretary/Treasurer (replacing Hanon Awad-Rinke) and Kathy Wexler is the AEL faculty advisor.

The name of Alpha Epsilon Lambda was developed based upon the society's mission of recognizing Academic Excellence and Leadership. AEL's purpose is to promote ethics, intellectual achievement, and leadership among graduate students. The PGI chapter of AEL, the Alpha Beta chapter, was founded in 1997.

The 2008-2009 new members of Alpha Epsilon Lambda are: Chad Brown, Michelle Davis, Andrea Fleetham, Dawn Hedwall-Leon, Lauryn Hunter, Diana Klassen, Kami Leonard, Rosario Mendoza, Shoghair Mgrditchian, Cynthia Pardo, Sara Pineda, Marnee Reiley, Cesar Rojas, Cinamon Romers, Jan Rosser, Donna Sandford, Nicole Spivey, Judith Torres, David Vendig, and Daren Willis-Lawe.


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CalFam News

Federal Grant Received: CalFam recently received a federal grant from the Volunteers of America to provide mental health consulting and counseling services in five Head Start, and one Early Head Start, locations in the San Fernando Valley. CalFam began providing these services in November 2008 including individual and family counseling, parenting education, and consulting with teachers about specific children’s needs and classroom management. The Program Director, Robin Graham, MA, is a PGI and CalFam alumna with expertise in early childhood and attachment. CalFam welcomes this opportunity to increase access to mental health services in the Valley.

CalFam Executive Director Sandy Terrenova, M.A.: was elected co-chairman of Service Area 2 Department of Mental Health (DMH) Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Committee. PEI makes recommendations to the Los Angeles County DMH regarding recipients for PEI services and MHSA funding strategies.

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Art Therapy Department News

Events

Louise Bourgeois Retrospective: Phillips’ Art Therapy department visited the Louise Bourgeois retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art on January 17, 2009. This 60-year retrospective of paintings, drawings, installations and sculptures begins after Bourgeois’ move from Paris to New York in 1938. Bourgeois, a 97 year-old artist, created this autobiographical exhibit to illustrate how familial traumas evolve over the lifetime. Attendees deemed the exhibit an “eye opening experience”. The group followed the exhibit with a dinner celebrating the Phillips Art Therapy Program’s 10th anniversary.
To read more about MOCA’s Louise Bourgeois retrospective, visit www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-bourgeois12-2008nov12,0,2145644.story

To view the trailer for Louise Bourgeois’ upcoming feature-length documentary entitled “The Spider, The Mistress and The Tangerine”, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMdWNwOWnng


Faculty News

Noah Hass-Cohen Psy.D., MA ATR-BC LMFT and Joanna Clyde Findlay received confirmation in February 2009 that their article “Pain, Attachment, and Meaning Making: Report on an Art Therapy Relational Neuroscience Assessment Protocol” was accepted by The Arts in Psychotherapy, the most prestigious AT Journal.

Sanie Andres: Congratulations to Art Therapy faculty member Sanie Andres who was appointed by the Board of Directors of the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) to serve on the Educational Program Approval Board (EPAB) for a three year term. EPAB approves art therapy programs throughout the United States. This appointment is in recognition of Sanie’s academic expertise, clinical and administrative skills and his dedication to the profession of art therapy.

The Phillips Art Therapy program is up for re-approval in December 2009. While Sanie will not be one of the EPAB members reviewing the Phillips program, he has already contributed immensely to the application process. His Board experience will also be a valuable asset in coaching the department through the re-approval process.

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Marriage & Family Therapy Department News

Events

Employment Opportunities: On Friday, February 6, 2009 Phillips and AAMFT co-hosted “More Expanding Employment Opportunities” on the PGI campus. The sold-out event provided information and updates about public and private employment opportunities for MFTs and gave participants the opportunity to network with employers. Attendees came from all over greater Los Angeles and included students, interns and licensed professionals.

Movie Premier: Phillips, in conjunction with the Museum of Tolerance, will be screening the Los Angeles premier of the movie “It’s Still Elementary” later this year. This film, about LGBT issues in families with children, is a follow up to the 1994 film “It’s Elementary.”

Faculty News

Deborah Buttitta, M.A.: is currently serving on the AAMFT-CA Educators Collaborative Steering Committee. The Committee is comprised of MFT educators throughout California and meets monthly to discuss current topics affecting the MFT field. They are presently planning training seminars across California addressing the integration of the new BBS educational requirements.

Jose Luis Flores, M.A.: presented at a professional workshop in El Monte, CA on February 13, 2009. His presentation, entitled Client-Driven Services and the Impact of MHSA on Mental Health Delivery, focused on how the Mental Health Services Act will impact the role of mental health practitioners. The workshop was sponsored and hosted by ENKI Health and Research Systems, a mental health delivery organization contracted by LA County.

Program News

60-unit Masters: The MFT department is actively planning curriculum additions for the upcoming BBS 60 unit masters requirement effective in 2012.

New Academic Concentrations: The MFT department will be adding two new academic concentrations beginning in Fall 2009. Organizational Consulting and LGBT Relational and Family Studies will both be 12-unit concentration options for students interested in earning a 60-unit masters.

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School Counseling Department News

Upcoming Events

Tenth Anniversary: The School Counseling program will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The celebration will be held this Spring (date TBA) and all program alumni are invited. Please provide Program Chair Maria Elena Tostado (mtostado@pgi.edu) with your current contact info if you wish to remain apprised of this special event.

Final Accreditation: The School Counseling program’s final accreditation visit will take place March 31-April 1 and will include obtaining the feedback of some of the program’s first year students. The final outcome of the accreditation process will be announced in Sacramento this June.

Student News

Upcoming Grads: There will be about 20 School Counseling graduates this Spring in both SC or MFT/SC programs.

Newly Hired: Three SC grads and upcoming grads have recently obtained jobs: Justin Graham (Dec.08) was hired at Revere Middle School in Pacific Palisades, Tolupeni Vaefaga (May 09) has been hired at Panorama High School and Jacqueline Ochoa (May 09) has been offered a permanent position at Panorama High School where she currently trains. Congratulations!

Faculty News

Alan Scher: will be speaking at the League of Middle Schools conference in San Diego, CA from March 12-14, 2009. His presentation, entitled So you want to be an administrator?, will enlighten anyone considering work in the school administration field.

Program News

Summer Classes: School Counseling will again be offering the 3rd semester program during Summer 2009.

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School Psychology Department News

Upcoming Events

CASP Conference: The California Association of School Counselors (CASP) annual conference will be held from March 12-14, 2009 in Riverside, CA. Among the main conference topics will be modifications to the No Child Left Behind Act. Student rate offered.

Student News

First Grad Class: The first graduating class of the School Psychology program will be the class of May 2009. All five graduates have obtained internship positions.

Faculty News

New Faculty: School Psychology has a new adjunct faculty member. Karen Carrillo is teaching the first Psychopharmacology class in the SP program. Karen is a school nurse at San Gabriel High School.

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Organizational Consulting Department News

Upcoming Events

International Grad Class: Phillips has seven CMI international Taiwanese students graduating this Spring. They will be in Los Angeles from April 30 through May 20.

Student News

Upcoming Grads: The second graduating class of the Organizational Consulting doctoral program will be the class of May 2009, containing 6 graduates.

Faculty News

Elizabeth Trebow, M.A., Ph.D.: joined the Phillips OC department in October 2008 as the new department chair. Dr. Trebow has been an independent consultant to local community-based organizations and government agencies since 2001. For more than two decades, Dr. Trebow has conducted behavioral outcome research, needs assessments, and program evaluation, in areas such as marketing, customer satisfaction, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, drug abuse prevention, public health, art education, tobacco prevention, education, nutrition, and mental health. Dr. Trebow earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Washington (Seattle), her MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and her PhD in Measurement and Evaluation from Columbia University (New York). She has been teaching research methods and statistics at the undergraduate and graduate level since 2001.

New Executive Coaching Faculty: The OC department has two new faculty members teaching the Executive Coaching course. Del Black and Corey Rubin are both professional consultants and coaches.

To Be Published: Dr. Elizabeth Trebow’s recent research has just been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Analysis (IJOA). Dr. Trebow conducted an evaluation of Pepperdine’s Service Learning Program “Civic Leadership Project” in their PDE MBA program. The study assessed the effectiveness of principal and key executives who mentored homeless-employable-unemployed in the areas of resume building and interview skills.

Program News

New MFT OC Concentration: The MFT department will be adding an Organizational Consulting academic concentration beginning in Fall 2009. Organizational Consulting will be a 12-unit concentration option for students interested in earning a 60-unit masters. Courses being considered for this curriculum are Executive & Life Coaching, Organizational Theory, Behavior in Organizations, Conflict Management & Team Building, and Human Resources & Personnel Issues.

OC Newsletters: Two new organizational consulting newsletters are now available in the Phillips library. Consultant News and Management Consulting International are complementary publications geared towards organizational consultants.

Suggestions Welcome: The OC program is striving for continual improvement and welcomes any alumni suggestions. Please contact OC department chair Dr. Elizabeth Trebow with your feedback at etrebow@pgi.edu.

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Clinical Psychology Program News

Upcoming Events

Lunch Bunch: CPDP faculty has monthly brown bag lunches with students to dialogue and improve communication within the program. All CPDP students are welcome.

Student News

Student Government: CPDP Student Government completed its annual leadership transitions. The 2008 officers and president, Mark Gmoser, completed their term, and new president, Simone Heyward, and other 2009 student government officers, assumed their new roles. The faculty looks forward to successful collaboration with the student government during 2009.

Conference Submissions: Several CPDP students are preparing to submit professional posters and papers to professional conferences this year, including the APA annual conference in Toronto in Summer 2009.

Paulette Theresa: CPDP student (and MFT core faculty member) Paulette Theresa’s proposal submission to Division 45 has been approved for the APA annual conference Poster Sessions in Toronto this summer. The presentation is entitled African American Women & Generations of Oppression: Sustaining Resilience Through Community.

Faculty News

New Faculty: CPDP welcomes four new core faculty members as of Fall 2008...

Dr. Ana Luisa Bustamante: who was core faculty in CPDP for three years, recently returned to PGI as the CPDP Department Chair.

Dr. Debra Sharon has joined the department as Coordinator of Practicum Training and core faculty. Dr. Sharon is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist as well as a Clinical Psychologist, including having been an Oral Examiner for both licenses. Dr. Sharon completed her doctorate at California Graduate Institute, Los Angeles, California with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and certificate in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. Her dissertation was “Art Therapy with anxiety-disordered children to increase ego-strength.” Click here to read her full faculty bio.

Dr. Maya Elyashkevich: is also a new full-time core faculty member. Dr. Elyashkevich earned her Doctor of Psychology degree (Psy.D) in Clinical Psychology from California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles. She received specialization in Child and Family Therapy. Click here to read her full faculty bio.

Dr. Carl Kelly: has joined the program as half-time core faculty.

New Titles: Two continuing core faculty have new titles: Dr. Leslie Rosen, Ph.D., J.D., is now Co-Chair of Special Projects and core faculty and Dr. Clive Kennedy is Director of Clinical Training and core faculty.

Dr. Chen Oren: has co-authored a book with two former students, Dr. Rod Berger and Dr. Dan Alonzo. The book, entitled, “Counseling Fathers”, focusing on working with diverse populations of fathers, was sent to the publisher for production in December and is expected to be published next summer (2009). 

Dr. Chen Oren has had two presentations accepted by Division 51 for the APA annual conference Poster Sessions in Toronto this summer. Dr. Oren worked with Dr. Dan Alonzo (CPDP 2008) on his presentation about interventions with fathers. The second presentation, focusing on male psychology doctoral students, was a collaborative effort of Dr. Oren, Dr. Denise Gallonio (CPDP 2006) and Dr. Jennifer Kohagura (CPDP 2006). All three will be traveling to Toronto this summer.

Dr. Ana Luisa Bustamante: was invited to St. John’s, Newfoundland to conduct diversity competency training for mental health professionals in November 2008. The event was hosted by the Association of Psychology in Newfoundland & Labrador and was evaluated quite positively. The psychologist who initiated the communication between Dr. Bustamante and the Association of Psychology in Newfoundland & Labrador is one of Dr. Bustamante’s former students and a graduate of PGI’s Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program.

Dr. Leslie Rosen: has published two more book reviews in PsycCRITIQUES, an APA journal. Both are reviews of books related to coping with serious medical illness.

Dr. Brinell Slocumb, Psy.D: has been contributing “Diversity Tips” to the weekly newsletter of her son’s school, targeting parents and the educational community. Dr. Slocumb enjoys extending her knowledge beyond the community of psychology and anticipates this effort evolving into something larger.

Program News

Poster Sessions: For the first time in the CPDP program, students have prepared poster presentations and sessions based on completed doctoral projects. Each student must present the poster during the Fall Intensive or Skills Building Day. This has become a program requirement, and offers students the opportunity to prepare a professional product that meets the requirements of poster sessions for professional meetings. Students also are encouraged to present their posters at various psychological conferences.

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MHSA Loan Repayment Program

A loan repayment program for mental health professionals (licensed and interns) is being offered by the State Department of Mental Health and administered by the Health Professions Education Foundation. The MHSA Loan Repayment Program is intended to increase the number of mental health providers supplying direct patient care in certain public or non-profit mental health care facilities and to underserved areas and populations. Qualified applicants may receive up to $15,000 in educational loan repayments over a two year period in exchange for providing direct mental health patient care. The Spring Postmark deadline is March 24, 2009. Visit www.healthprofessions.ca.gov or call  800-773-1669  for an application and more information.
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- To contribute news events to future eBulletin's, please contact: Francine Roberts
froberts@pgi.edu -
 
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