Northcentral University

Bettina Shapira, PhD Greetings Everyone and Happy Fall! Much has happened since the last updates. In September we celebrated our first in- person symposium and graduation since the start of the pandemic. It was wonderful to meet so many of you in person in Nashville or virtually. What touched me the most was to see graduates again walking, jumping, or dancing across the stage and their families cheering them on. Many of our graduates had waited a year or longer for this opportunity, and the energy in the room was electrifying and smiles everywhere, with some of the smiles beaming from behind masks. This year the Dissertation of the Year was awarded to a graduate from the Department of Psychology. The DOY award went to Dr. Keressa Britton. The title of her dissertation is: Dancing with Mom: The Shared Identity Between Caregiving Daughters and Their Mothers With Dementia: A Qualitative Narrative Study. Her chair was Dr. Jill Blackwell, the SME was Dr. Michelle Ackerman, and the AR Dr. Peter Bradley. Please join me in congratulating everyone for this wonderful achievement. With great excitement, I am welcoming Dr. Brandi Chamberlin as a Program Director for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program to the Department. Dr. Chamberlin has a distinguished career in the field of clinical mental health counseling, and she is leading the efforts in creating a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, which we hope will eventually be accredited by CACREP. This is not a small task. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Chamberlin to the team. As you can see, there are many exciting things happening in the Psychology Department, the School, and the University. None of it would have happened without your involvement and commitment. I want to thank you for your great work with your students and your support and engagement during the time of the merger. Please know that all your work and efforts do not go unnoticed and are greatly appreciated. THANK YOU! 13 UPDATES Department

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