Megan Wilson, M.A. Psychology, 2010

I came to Iceland in December and have been volunteering at Stigamot until February. Stigamot is an educational counseling center for survivors of sexual abuse and violence. I have been doing volunteer work in their off campus women’s shelter that includes, cleaning, spending time with the women there, organizing, and answering phone calls.

In addition, I have started doing some art therapy with the residents as well as attending outings. There are only 3 women staying in the shelter right now. I have also attended a staff meeting at Stigamot where I presented the work I do with the Seattle Police Department’s Victim Support Team. On January 20th I attended a conference here in Reykjavik titled, International Conference for Sexual Treatment. Persons from various European countries spoke about the treatment of child sex abuse/and sexual violence and the criminal justice system.

This has been a great experience and I am sad to see it end. Not speaking Icelandic is a bit of a challenge but almost everyone speaks English here. I will be returning home to Seattle in February and am keeping my fingers crossed to find a position in Seattle counseling survivors of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and trauma.

Wendy Dahl, M.A. Psychology, 2007

“Here’s a story about one of the service-dog training projects I’m working with:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/30/1927397/a-girl-and-her-dog.html

It’s amazing where an Antioch degree can take you.”

Psychology Alum Named 2011 AUS Distinguished Alumnus of the Year

Hal (Arval) Morris, M.A. Psychology ’06, is the recipient of the 2011 Antioch University Seattle Distinguished Alumnus Award and was honored both at Commencement ceremonies and a private reception held on Friday, June 26, at the Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle.

Antioch’s first president, Horace Mann, exhorted alumni to distinguish themselves by winning “victories for humanity.” Arval (Hal) Morris, M.A. Psychology ’06, responded to Mann’s call to action both dynamically and literally by building bridges between countries, between languages and between individuals.

His passion for travel has led him abroad extensively: to Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. While living in Guatemala prior to entering graduate school, he began to feel the pull that would eventually lead him to Brazil and to founding the Brazilian Children’s Charity (BCC), an organization that provides counseling and other services to low-income and homeless children.

The communities Morris found in Brazil resonated with his beliefs and the need he encountered there called him to action. “I saw so many problems and mental health issues not being addressed. It just wasn’t fair to the children,” he says. “But also, I found a culture that is unique in that Brazilians are the only people I’ve found that are in the Western system but also collectivists like those I met in Asia.”

Morris actually started the BCC before receiving his Psychology degree with a dual concentration in Mental Health Counseling and Couple and Family Therapy. He opened the first office in Rio de Janeiro, a vibrant but dangerous, city with dramatic socio-economic divisions, gang-violence and social upheaval.

In preparation for the 2014 World Cup, the Brazilian government has begun a program of “pacification” but while progress has been made in bringing the slums under control, often it is the children who are caught in the middle of the conflict. More than 80 percent of homeless people are addicted to crack. Murder is the number one cause of death for males 15-44 years of age and children in Rio are eight times more likely to die of violent causes than in the West Bank.

The homeless are left with few resources. Social and financial assistance is rare, so the work of the BCC is critical to helping children cope with poverty, violence, drug addiction, STDs and psychological ailments.

Both for reasons of privacy and for safety, Morris and his students usually provide their services outside the office. Frequently they travel to their patients and work in churches, schools, private homes or even outside at the beach.

To grow the organization, Morris has planned the BCC “capacity building” model as one which will expand to include three non-profit funding organizations (in Brazil, the United States (US) and Germany), a guest lecture series, a restaurant to provide-job skills training and an education program to train new staff.

An important part of the work is training new therapists. The BCC offers Brazilian University psychology students paid, year-long internships and Morris hopes to grow the program from training its current capacity of two students a year to ten. He is also looking toward opening branch offices in other Brazilian cities such as Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, Natal, Belo Horizonte, Sao Paulo and Vitoria.

Whether he’s taking therapy to the streets of Brazil or building bridges between nations, Morris’s efforts are working. The world needs Hal Morris and he’s answering the call.

Lisa Dungate, M.A. Psychology, 1999

 AUS alumna Lisa Dungate, M.A. ’99, Psy.D., parenting coach, and Jennifer Armstrong, children’s book author, have launched Lion’s Whiskers, a blog about nurturing courage in our kids as they face the challenges in today’s world and as they make their way toward the future.

Both Lisa and Jennifer believe that through loving parenting and sharing the wisdom from classic fairy tales, legends, myths, and true stories of courage, we can all empower and encourage our children to be brave and brilliant.

Every few days, you can read inspiring stories, parenting and storytelling tips, cutting-edge psychology research, and snippets from the ‘wisdom of the ages’ to help you raise a courageous child. You can also share your own stories, comments, and approaches to raising courageous kids and being a courageous parent.

Lisa and Jennifer welcome your involvement with this project and thank you for forwarding this invitation to everyone you know! To visit Lion’s Whiskers go to: http://www.lionswhiskers.com/

Kate Stewart, M.A. Psychology, 2008

Kate Stewart, M.A. Psychology ‘08, is teaching a class at the University of Washington Experimental College titled Flirting 101. As it turns out, flirting is a hot topic around Valentines Day! She has been featured on several Seattle television stations and online in the Seattle PI. newspaper.

Anecia O’Carroll, M.A. Psychology, 1994

The information below was posted by Jay Burns on Monday, February 7, 2011, in the Bates College Magazine. Bates is located in Lewiston, Maine.

Fifty years later, To Kill a Mockingbird still a call to action

As Cairo’s protesters march across world stage, it’s easy to equate activism with fiery direct action. But let’s not forget other avenues for “good people to become activists,” says Anecia O’Carroll.

Like joining a community production of To Kill a Mockingbird, for example.

Last Friday, O’Carroll, who oversees multicultural programs for the Bates College’s Office of Alumni and Parent Programs, moderated a post-performance discussion of the Lewiston-Auburn Community Little Theatre’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s enduring novel, which turned 50 in 2010.

Julia St. Laurent as Scout and Stan Spilecki as Atticus Finch rehearse a scene from the Lewiston-Auburn Community Little Theatre production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The opening-night session was sponsored by the Office of Intercultural Education. The play runs through Feb. 13.

Late into the evening, audience members discussed the play and its themes of racism, elitism, sexism and social justice. “The audience stayed because they cared,” O’Carroll said. “The actors told a story that created the incentive for the audience to continue the discussion. And that’s the magic of art.”

The questions, said the production’s assistant director Ellen Peters ‘87, who directs the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment at Bates, homed in on the bigger issues. “There was less about the mechanics of the production and more about the social-justice issues.”

“But it is better for people to hear this story.”

The cast was asked what it was like to immerse themselves into the 1930s South while trying to tell a story to a 21st-century audience.

Boyd Scott, a local chef who plays the accused rapist Tom Robinson, said the fierceness of the play’s language during auditions nearly drove him away. He stayed with it “because it is better for people to hear this story.”

Someone else asked how the cast handled their characters for the three months of rehearsals. Danielle Sicotte, who works with an Auburn marketing firm and plays Mayella Ewell, Tom Robinson’s accuser, says that she and Scott developed a ritual of hugging each other after their difficult scenes.

Other questions compared Robinson’s unjust conviction to the larger and still-elusive quest for greater social justice and human rights. “There are people of all backgrounds who are railroaded every day,” said an audience member.

As moderator, O’Carroll says she tried to create a discussion that balanced “thoughts and feelings, hearts and minds,” while giving the cast its due as actors-turned-activists.

Anecia O’Carroll moderates a discussion after the Community Little Theatre’s production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It’s a role O’Carroll has trained to play. A graduate of Evergreen State College, she earned a master’s in psychology at Antioch University Seattle. She is a member of the Alutiiq tribe of Alaska and has forged a network of relationships with tribal nations of the Pacific Northwest.

Her prior professional work comprises career counseling, psychotherapy and initiatives around interpersonal and multicultural communication. She has lived and worked among populations both economically privileged and disadvantaged, from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska to New England and Ireland. She joined Bates in the fall.

Conventionally defined, an “activist” takes immediate action after witnessing injustice, O’Carroll says. “Maybe not by fist, but by word or other action.” But, she says, some people aren’t equipped to be that kind of activist.

“For them, it’s more suitable to write a book or a poem, or direct a play or act in a play,” she says. “And that is also good, responsive work.”

Three actors made it a family affair. Michelle Vazquez Jacobus, who teaches at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College, plays Miss Maudie, the story’s narrator, and two of her children play Dill and Walter Cunningham Jr.

“We’ve done a lot of talking as a family,” she said during the post-play discussion. “When we get home, it takes a while for us to process it all before we can settle down to go to sleep.”

Furthermore, says O’Carroll, those of us who consider ourselves to be “nice” and “good” need to look at the more nuanced decisions we make. “The signposts of racism and other -isms of To Kill a Mockingbird were clear and apparent,” she says. “Today, they’re more obscured.”

Take the N-word, which last year prompted a Florida high school to cancel its production of the play.

“Some may think that because we don’t use the N-word, or because we’re trained not to think of ourselves as elitist, we’re good,” says O’Carroll. “But people still think in these ways and make decisions based on values that are elitist, racist, or privileged.

“As adults, we need opportunities to dig deeper into how we think. And attending and discussing a play like To Kill a Mockingbird, a piece of art with so many pockets to explore — even if it’s just for two and a half hours — is far better than silence.”

Walker Karraa, M.A. Psychology, 2000

Walker Karraa, M.F.A., M.A., CD(DONA), is a certified birth doula (DONA) and maternal mental health advocate. She holds a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology (Marriage and Family Therapy) from Antioch University Seattle, and a B.A. and M.F.A. degree in dance from UCLA. A survivor of postpartum depression and PTSD secondary to childbirth, Walker passionately advocates for the advancement of perinatal mental health in the birth community. She is a warm-line volunteer and member of Postpartum Support International (PSI). She is a member of the LA County Perinatal Mental Health Task Force, and presents trainings to doula organizations on perinatal mental health and doula intervention. She lives in Sherman Oaks, CA with her husband and two children, and is a humble practitioner of Mahayana Buddhism. Learn more about walker at www.allbelly.com or on Twitter @allbelly or e-mail walkerkarraa@yahoo.com.

Lisa Bedrossian, M.A. Psychology, 2007

The 35th anniversary party on May 3rd at AUS sounds wonderful, look forward to attending.  I graduated in the spring of ‘07 and since then, I have volunteered my time at Pathways for Women YWCA and am now licensed.  I also am a facilitator for For Kids Sake Seminars thru Lutheran Services.  They are court mandated seminars for those going thru separation or divorce and have children involved.
 
I am also heading and developing cooking classes for both kids and parents (adults) teaching healthy whole food cooking. I have begun and several school sites in Snohomish County and also at Pathways for Women in Lynnwood. I am looking to expand and make these series of classes a standard on-going project.  Of course funding is a underlying issue, but responses in the community for donations have been encouraging. The need for a healthier lifestyle has proven itself.  People do want to learn how to cook, minimize fast food, give more time and energy to family meals. 

I focus on shopping, meal time planning, budget and cooking with whole foods; rarely do I use process food as an ingredient. I look for local ingredients, especially in the summer time with local fruit stands. If anyone is interested in this ‘food revolution,” I would like to encourage them to “get on board.”  Our society really needs to step back, simplify and maybe get back to the basics, old world grass roots cooking.  Simple, wholesome recipes nourish the soul and spirit;  giving today’s parents a new legacy, a new language to feed their family.
 

Three Recently Deceased AUS Psychology Alumnae To Be Honored

Antioch University Seattle alumni, students, faculty and staff are gathering on Friday, January 14, from 12:15-12:45 in Room 212 to remember three recent M.A. Psychology alumni who died in the last several months. They will be honored through the sharing of poetry, art, and memories.

Jennifer (Jenny) Vonckx, MHC Grad, started the MHC Program in Jan. 2003, and graduated in Sept. 2005. Jenny died on Dec. 24, 2010.

Heather Nelson, MHC Grad, started the MHC Program in Nov. 2007, and graduated in June, 2010. Heather died during Thanksgiving Weekend.

Jennifer Johnstone, MHC Grad, started the MHC Program in Oct. 1997, and graduated in Dec. 1999. Jennifer died on October 16, 2010.

Please spread the word to others who will be interested in meeting together.

Warmly,

Eric

Eric Warn
Director of Alumni Relations
Antioch University Seattle
2326 6th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121-1814
T - 206-268-4125
F - 206-268-4102
E - ewarn@antioch.edu

Andre O’Donnell, M.A. Psychology, 2010

Since August 2010, I have been working as a Mental Health Therapist for Sunrise Community Mental Health in Everett. I feel very fortunate to have found work as a therapist right after graduating from Antioch, considering the current economy. The work is very challenging yet rewarding. I am definitely using everything I have learned at Antioch, and I am very grateful for the learning experience I have had.

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