The mission of the Center for Ecological Counseling is based on:
“A STRENGTHS-BASED, ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO HUMAN PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING IN URBAN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY AIMED AT THE CITY OF CINCINNATI .”
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Within the Center's overall direction, the Planning Committee identified the following initiatives to pursue:
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: the dominant theme of both counseling psychology and the counseling professions is on strength and asset building. For example, recent entire issues of The Counseling Psychologist have focused on these areas (2006, Volume 34, Number 1: “Strength-Based Counseling for Youth,” and 2006, Volume 34, Number 2: “Positive Aspects of Human Functioning: A Cornerstone of Counseling Psychology;” in addition, see M. Seligman's “Positive Psychotherapy” in the American Psychologist, 2006, 61 , No. 8, pp. 774-788).
Set within our mission above, we seek to implement the following positive psychology approaches:
Local Applications :
• Prevention and Health Promotion in Oyler School: To build on our work in the federally-funded “Healthy Schools and Families” grant that concluded earlier this year to bring to one of our successful grant schools, Oyler, two projects: (1) a Teacher Enhancement Academy to provide training and consultation in classroom management, group instructional strategies, resource exchange, and community outreach skills, and (b) a bullying prevention program aimed at reducing obvious and subtle forms of interpersonal violence by students and at increasing effective and peaceful problem solving competencies. Successful efforts at Oyler can be generalized to other schools in the CPS system.
• Training and Consultation for City Government: The Center has as its members affiliated staff from differing disciplines. We are able to make resources of varying kinds available on a request basis to levels of city government to assist with: (1) assessment, evaluation, and research related to community issues of concern, (2) training and consultation to staff and to community members in the following areas: community strength-building strategies, communication skills, group dynamics, program development and evaluation, and organization development, and (3) collaboration to requesting community-based groups desiring assistance in community enhancement projects, especially in (but not limited to) Over-The-Rhine.
• Supporting Group-Based Pedagogy at the University of Cincinnati: Over the years, Center staff and students have provided consultation and training to the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning related to faculty implementation of Problem-Based Learning. This asset-based pedagogical approach is one the Center continues to be interested in supporting.
• Grant Seeking: We can work collaboratively with others at the University and in the community to identify and seek grant funding to support asset building activities at the individual, group, organizational, and community levels.
• Conferences: On May 12, 2006 the Center organized an interdisciplinary conference on “Working with the Poor” that attracted a capacity audience of university and community participants. This theme will be continued through future conferences.
International Applications:
• Continuation of Group Work-Based Consultation and Training: Staff of the Center have provided a number of asset building consultations internationally over the last few years, including assessing sectarian violence in Northern Ireland (with George Mason University staff), group work training and research schema in China at Tsinghua University, Beijing Normal University, Capital University, Beijing University, the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and in a number of schools in Liuzhou, China (the Sister City of Cincinnati). In January, 2007 this work will be continued at BeiHang University in Beijing as well as the 10 th State Academic Conference in Harbin , China , with a focus on college and university counseling strategies and on group work methods.
• Exploring Possible Collaborations: The Center occasionally is contacted by others both within and outside the U.S. about possible collaboration. Because international collaboration is so important (e..g, Cole, M. (2006 Volume 61, Number 8, pp. 904-917)) “Internationalism in Psychology: We Need It Now More than Ever,” American Psychologist, ) we plan on following up our international contacts to pursue inquiries in areas consistent with our mission.
• Cross-Cultural Research On Career Development And Emotional Reactions: Drs. Mei Tang, Mark Newmeyer and Wei Pan have been conducting research on adolescent career development in collaboration with the Psychology Institute of Chinese Academy of Science for the last four years. Dr. Mei Tang has also collaborated with faculty of Department of Psychology in Peking University to study the cross-cultural differences on shame and emotional reactions towards shame in relation to self construal.
Committee Members:
Dr. Robert Conyne, Director, Center for Ecological Counseling
Dr. Mark Newmeyer, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Visiting Scholar
Dr. Mei Tang, Director, Counseling Program
| |
|---|
College of Education, Counseling Program |
|---|
| Contact the Webmaster |