“Our country was birthed in a polarized cradle,” David Brubaker writes in the introduction to (Fortress Press, 2019). First, patriots and loyalists faced off leading up to the Revolutionary War. The American Civil War followed within the century. Then came the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement of the late 1960s.

“I believe the turmoil of the 1960s and early 1970s set the stage for our current era of polarization. Those of us in the baby-boom generation were shaped in the turmoil of the 1960s,” Brubaker writes. “And it is members of the baby-boom generation who now occupy the majority of leadership roles in business, education, health care, and government.”

When the Center Does Not Hold is like a guidebook grounded in sociology, offering mentorship for leaders who find themselves in polarized environments, such as the entire United States in the current era. Brubaker, dean of social sciences and professions at ��ݮ���� (EMU), co-authored the book with contributors Everett Brubaker ‘15, his son; Teresa Haase, former director of EMU’s MA in counseling program and current director of the Center for Grief and Healing at Hospice of the Piedmont; and Carolyn Yoder, the founding director of EMU’s (STAR) and author of Little Book of Trauma Healing (SkyHorse Publishing, 2020)

Their target audience is faith-based leaders in congregations, educational settings, communities, and other organizations. But David Brubaker noted that secular, for-profit, and governmental leaders will also find the concepts applicable. 

It was also important to him that the book be accessible for a wide audience – so each chapter opens with a story illustrating its concepts: like that about a Pennsylvania coal miner who supports Trump, proponents for and against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and even EMU’s own listening process about hiring faculty in same-sex relationships.

When the Center Does Not Hold goes beyond mere analysis of polarization. It calls for a special kind of leadership in response: leaders who are clear about where they stand, but also interested in the “experiences and beliefs of others in the systems they lead,” David Brubaker writes. “This is because the antidote to polarization is not conflict avoidance but conflict engagement.”

Each of the four authors brought insight from their own careers. David Brubaker said his interest in polarized systems began in 1991, when he encountered a high intensity conflict case in a congregation. An allegation of sexual misconduct came out against the lead minister, whose response further fractured the congregation.

“None of our traditional tools of structuring dialogue were effective, and we soon realized that we were in new territory,” he recalled.

Everett Brubaker, now the resident services and communications coordinator for the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority, has a background in working on environmental issues including climate change. He completed a master’s degree in environmental communication and advocacy from James Madison University in 2019. His chapter focuses on effective communication. 

As he watched debates over the veracity of climate change, “I recognized we would need additional skills to address what were ultimately challenges in communication, not necessarily a lack of knowledge or science,” he said. 

Haase brings counseling expertise to the table, with a specialty in grief and loss. Her chapter opens with a story about her grandmother, whose “courage and fierce compassion have always inspired me to lead from a heart-centered place with determination and perseverance,” said Haase. “In my experience as a leader, I have found resilience and vulnerability to be key factors for weathering adversity and polarization.”

Yoder’s background is also in counseling, specializing in individual and group trauma. In her chapter, “Trauma, Polarization, and Connection,” she draws on two key concepts to understand polarization. 

“What traumas have we experienced and what traumas have they experienced that bring us both to this way of seeing? This helps foster compassion and humanize each other,” says Yoder. And “understanding the neuroscience – the physical effects – on our brain and bodies of feeling safe or feeling threatened in a situation or in talking about a situation. This helps us understand the individual and group actions, reactions, beliefs and behaviors associated with each.”

The book’s final chapter opens with an analysis of Jesus’s own tactics in both assembling a diverse group of disciples in a polarized world, and instructing them to love their enemies while resisting their “dehumanizing behavior and the oppressive systems that supported such behavior.” 

“When we are able to name and resist the systems that violate human dignity while affirming the dignity of those trapped in such systems, we are helping ‘to protest and neutralize’ the onerous practices of our day,” David Brubaker writes. “And when we form loving communities that reflect the broad diversity of our society, we are demonstrating that relationships can flourish even in an age of polarization.” 

Johnson is one of four regional directors for (VVFS), operated by the Virginia Department of Veteran Services. Based in Manassas, he provides administrative support and staff oversight to the northern region. The agency connects veterans and their families to behavioral health, peer support and justice services, and provides community outreach and education.

Johnson began working for VVFS soon after graduating from EMU. He assumed his current role in 2016 after serving as a program manager for three years and previously as a peer specialist. He was also a Virginia-certified mediator for general district and juvenile and domestic relations courts.

His VVFS leadership has resulted in the establishment of two peer support groups for veterans – the agency’s only two such groups in the state – and he was a member of the steering committee that planned the state’s first court docket in Fairfax County for veterans involved in the criminal justice system.

His additional responsibilities include administrative and staff oversight, management of the regional fiscal plan, development of behavioral healthcare and resource networks, training community mental health providers, strategic planning, and quality assurance of data performance metrics. One particular role he enjoys is providing crisis intervention training to Northern Virginia law enforcement; this involves de-escalation approaches for interacting with veterans in intensifying circumstances.

Shaped by EMU’s MAC program

It was immediately after earning a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies that Johnson chose to attend EMU’s MAC program.

“I’m really glad I did,” he said. That was in part because unlike other programs, which focus on select theoretical frameworks, EMU’s counseling program encourages students to choose frameworks with which they most identify. While there is no one correct framework, he said, practitioners must have a lens through which to perceive their clients’ experiences or they’ll “get lost in” the situation rather than provide help.

“How I saw the world influenced how I was able to see the clinical relationship,” he said. “EMU is very good at fostering that growth.”

The EMU program – he continues to contribute to it as a contact for students interested in working with veterans and by participating in Alumni Day – also led Johnson to confront his own issues and experiences, which have further sharpened his practitioner lens.

“Everyone who goes into human services does so because of their own story, something they had happen to them,” he said. “You really need to deal with all that and understand it to be able to be in the same shoes as your clients.”

“Caleb was an insightful and reflective student,” remembers Professor Teresa Haase. “He was recognized for his willingness to engage courageous conversation and for his curiosity and deep insight.”

The self-awareness Johnson gained at in the MAC program and his military and work experiences have shaped his leadership style. He has observed and learned a lot about leadership, both good and bad, from his supervisors, and along the way he has developed a balance of effective guidance and personal concern for the staff he supervises.

“Whatever staff have personally going on in their lives that’s brought up to me,” he said, “it is absolutely my responsibility to help them with as much as I can. In human services, your performance is affected by both stressors on the job as well as stressors outside of it.”

Acknowledging that reality has “huge dividends,” he said, and “creates a different level of respect” in his staff.

Finding purpose

Johnson, who now lives with his wife and children near Front Royal, Virginia, grew up in York, Pennsylvania. His military experience stretched over six formative years, beginning the summer before his senior year of high school when he joined the Reserves at age 17. After finishing high school in 2006, he attended EMU as an undergrad – but for just three unsuccessful semesters.

His deployment to Iraq as a military police officer was “rough,” not because of combat but due to personal struggles. When he returned, he said, “I went through my own funk like every veteran does. It was hard to relate to civilians, no matter how much I wanted to forget everything.”

Seeking a fresh start, Johnson enrolled in Pennsylvania State University to finish his bachelor’s degree and eventually found his way back to EMU for graduate school.

When Johnson was first employed at VVFS it was as a peer specialist, a temporary position filling in for another service member who was being deployed for a year. He didn’t take it seriously, he said – until he found that he really enjoyed the work.

Within months he became a program manager, a position that at times “consumed my life in overwhelming stress that brought down barriers I had built around unresolved experiences,” he recalled. During one particularly difficult period he checked himself into an intensive alternative therapy program that he found “life-changing,” called the (Progressive and Alternative Training for Healing Heroes).

Now, more than five years later and still at VVFS serving many who have faced similar obstacles, Johnson has found purpose in providing help as a veteran to veterans – and in leading his staff, who aren’t all like him.

“It’s awesome to have connection with someone who thinks completely differently than you do, whether that is religion, politics or philosophies,” he said. “Those ideas are all peripheral when you have a shared or common experience with someone, whether in the military, in life outside the military or in Iraq. I love my work and would retire in this position that I’m at right now.”

The four-year Expansion of Counseling in Underserved and Rural Areas (ECURA) program builds upon the counseling program’s current network of field placement sites, most of which are in federally designated rural and medically underserved communities, said counseling program director Teresa Haase.

The new program is projected to increase the number of licensed professional counselors who will then continue to serve in those areas and populations, Haase said.

The ECURA curriculum emphasizes interdisciplinary and interprofessional practice-based training. Special priority is given to the integration with fields of nursing and social work, field placement in rural, vulnerable and medically underserved communities, and exposure to clinical settings where behavioral health services and primary care are integrated, she added.

The program will serve residents through site placements in and around Rockingham, Augusta, Frederick and Fairfax counties, with potential expansion beyond these areas as the program continues.

Currently residents in these areas have access to a handful of nonprofit behavioral health clinics and private practices, even though needs are increasing, said MAC instructor , who co-wrote the grant with Haase.

Nearly 1.5 million Virginians have , according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Approximately 300,000 have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, and adults with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders number close to a quarter of a million. Yet more than half of adults with any mental illness are not receiving treatment or counseling, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found in a 2009-2013 .

Sixty percent of grant funds will pay yearly stipends of $10,000 to MAC interns and travel funds to support continued professional development, said Horst.

Additionally, the $1,280,870 of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training funding will enable the ECURA program to develop more internship sites, hire an additional graduate assistant, and cover various administrative and other costs.

A portion will also be used to create and provide interdisciplinary and interprofessional training seminars for students, faculty and clinical supervisors, in collaboration with EMU’s and social work departments. Trainings will focus on the skills and knowledge related to improving health outcomes; reducing medical barriers to care; an understanding of the behavioral component of chronic disease management; the roles and practice cultures of physicians, nurse, and other allied health workers such as community health workers; and the dynamics of effective collaborative teamwork, among other topics.

Students will also participate in a (STAR) training, a program of EMU’s , which provides tools to understand the physical, emotional and psychosocial effects of trauma on individuals and communities.

Founded in 1993 and with 250+ graduates to date, the counseling program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. In 2016, it was recognized with an Outstanding Master’s Program Award from the American Counseling Association.

That support is needed, said , vice president for student life. “Nationwide, 28 percent of students report higher than normal levels of stress, 19 percent report sleep difficulties, and 19 percent high levels of anxiety. We want the center to be a place that supports students in a variety of proactive ways so they can be successful here at EMU.”

A 2011 mental health survey at EMU, he said, indicated that 17 percent of the student body reported some level of depression or anxiety disorder, 14 percent reported some form of non-suicidal self-injury in the past year, and 43 percent reported body shape and weight among the most important things they think about.

The increased services mean that students in need or looking to receive some sort of support will receive prompt, skilled care. “If students need any support, whether it be for crisis or knowledge of resources, we want to make sure they have those immediately,” said Anderson. “If students need support for two or three sessions, the sooner they can get those sessions, the better. If students have ongoing struggles, it makes all the more sense that they get into counseling as soon as possible.”

The benefits are academic, as well. “Students who access counseling services return to school in subsequent terms — and graduate — at higher rates compared to the general student body,” said Smucker.

The increased services are the result of a new collaboration between the center and the (MAC) program, a vision of previous center director Pam Comer, who retired in June. Anderson, a graduate of the MAC program who has worked in multiple university counseling settings, will now help to carry out the plan.

The partnership expands services to the student body — and provides MAC practicum and internship students with a placement that offers “the opportunity for consistent skill development as a training site in a university context,” said MAC director Teresa Haase. “We are excited to partner with Tempest and see this all come to fruition.”

Four second-year master’s in counseling students who have completed 30 hours of graduate counseling coursework and a 100-hour clinical practicum, and who have been approved for internship by MAC faculty, are each offering 240 direct service hours — and 360 hours of indirect clinical work — this academic year.

“This is high quality, supervised care,” said MAC instructor . Each week, each intern receives one hour of individual face-to-face clinical supervision and two hours of group supervision, and attends counseling center meetings. Their supervisors are Haase, Dr. Nate Koser and Dr. Annmarie Early.

In addition to one-on-one sessions, the counseling center offers:

• Group counseling
• Depression and anxiety screenings
• Classroom presentations about topics such as suicide prevention or sexual assault awareness.
• 30-minute one-on-one mentoring sessions for any student through the , which is geared toward helping undergraduate students adjust to life away from home.

A Richmond native who graduated from Mary Baldwin University’s social work program in 2010 and from EMU’s graduate in 2016, Anderson has ample experience in the higher education environment: She has interned or worked at Shenandoah University, Bridgewater College, James Madison University and EMU.

At a time when among college students, Vice President of Student Life says the director of counseling provides “services that are crucial to the health and well-being of our students.”

“We did an extensive search, and the committee was unanimous in our selection of Tempest,” Smucker said. “She has shown herself to be invested and proactive in working with students in the higher education environment, and we think her leadership in providing existing services and establishing new services will make a great contribution to the campus community.”

In her role, Anderson is responsible for administrative coordination of all counseling services provided to students, faculty and staff. In addition to providing direct clinical services, she will facilitate a that includes partnering with the master’s in counseling program to place interns and practicum students in center-based clinical training.

Among other initiatives, Anderson envisions “porch programming” — literally, on the Suter House porch — for students to get to know the center staff.

Drawn back by ‘family feel’

While working in child protective services at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Department of Social Services from 2010 through 2013, Anderson was often asked by colleagues about pursuing a counseling degree.

Eventually she did start looking into graduate programs, and, with encouragement from a co-worker, decided to visit EMU. She attended an addictions class that she remembers was “enlightening,” and that same day spoke with Teresa Haase, director of the master’s in counseling program.

“It was a conversation that was very life-changing,” Anderson said. “She really spoke to my vision for life, and my hope and joy that I have in empowering and encouraging people. She encouraged me to apply, and I was like, ‘Can I do it today?’ It just felt very much like a family.”

That feeling of “family” is one that drew her back to EMU, and has shaped her work with young adults. Belonging in a community is the basis for thriving, Anderson said. “It is in community where you learn how to establish healthy relationships, explore mentorship, and learn to grow to your fullest potential. We are not meant to live this life alone. We are meant to live together, love one another, support one another, and affirm each other in our purposes.”

‘A greater future’

��Anderson sees working with people in hard times as a mission of hope. “Hope does not mean ignoring your present circumstances. On the contrary, it dares you to embrace them with faith that there is a greater future in store,” she said. Her previous work experiences at different universities, she believes, gives her a “fresh perspective” about running a college counseling center and responding to students’ needs and desires.

“College is such a time of exploration, discovery, and transformation,” she said. “It’s a time of vulnerability but also amazing opportunity. My hope as a director is to provide a safe space for students to take advantage of this great opportunity and learn healthy ways of establishing their identities.”

Anderson and her husband Marcus both provide leadership at n Harrisonburg. Marcus is also the chaplain for JMU football and men’s basketball programs.

The Kente is a colorful cloth stole native to Ghana, said Celeste R. Thomas, co-director of and the event’s host. Kente was developed in the 17th century by the Ashanti people with roots in a long tradition of African weaving dating back to about 3000 B.C. Often reserved for special occasions or royalty, the stole is a visual representation of history, philosophy, ethics, oral literature, religious beliefs, social values and political thoughts.

Last year was the first year of . Students will wear the Kente during commencement ceremonies this weekend.

Keynote speaker , professional director of James Madison University’s MBA Program, spoke about transitioning from being a student to starting a career. She encouraged the graduates to practice mindfulness as they prepare to enter the workforce. Ntiamoah, whose research interests include transition theory, gave several tips: take time to understand the work culture; have humility, be slow to form alliances and quick to network; get involved in the community and give back to their institution.

“It doesn’t matter what your context has been up to this moment, what hardships you may have had,” she said. “What matters is the choices you make to go forward and how you choose to make that transition in your life.”

For the donning of the Kente, each student was joined on stage by an individual who had made an impact while at EMU. These friends, faculty or family members were invited to speak about the student and drape the stole across their shoulders.

The Kente recipients have already began giving back to EMU. Thomas read aloud their advice for underclass students.

Theatre major Ezrionna Prioleau encouraged students to “try something new and have fun while in school.”

“Don’t give up!” said Azariah Cox, who will graduate with a degree in photography and digital media. “Things will try to knock you down, but don’t let it shape who you are. Achieve, achieve, achieve.”

Recipients of the Kente with their chosen speaker

Azariah Cox – Brian Simpson, head track coach

Lance Crawford – Professor Teresa Haas, director of the MA in Counseling program

Carlos Garcia – Will Stanley

Jonae Guest – Professor Deanna Durham, applied social sciences.

Oksana Kittrell – DeVantae Dews, co-president of Black Student Union

Chinazo A. Nwankwo – Chidera Nwankwo

Chidera T Nwankwo – Chinazo A. Nwankwo

Ezriona Prioleau – Professor Justin Poole, theater department

Eduardo Robles – Maria Esther Showalter, Latino Student Alliance advisor

Fernando Sarmineto – Maria Esther Showalter

Mario Valladores – Maria Esther Showalter

Also recieving the kente but not present for the ceremony were Diego Barahona, Natasha Buskey, Alexander Short and Julian Turner.

The award will be formally presented on Friday, Oct. 7, during the SACES annual conference in New Orleans. The southern region includes 14 states from Maryland to Texas.

Teresa Haase, program director and associate professor, and Cheree Hammond,��assistant professor, will present at the conference along with student Katie Long. The trio will accept the award.

Haase says she thinks several aspects of the program helped EMU to stand out.

“We made a strong case regarding faculty involvement in mentoring, community service, our own clinical practice, training and presenting, and in furthering our students’ interest in the profession above and beyond the standards,” Haase says. “We also demonstrated that we have exceptional students who are making a difference in the community and receiving recognition for their clinical work and scholarship.”

In addition, she pointed to innovative, ongoing professional development that “demonstrates an intentional commitment to meaningful and cutting-edge training” as a factor.

The SACES Awards Committee says that the award “recognizes programs that demonstrate outstanding pre-service and in-service training in areas such as: professional identity, ethics, assessment, group work, counseling relationships and process, career development, counseling supervision, practicum and internship, evaluation and training methods, human growth and development and counseling socially and culturally diverse populations.”

MA in Counseling student Ryan Nolley says he believes the award is well deserved.

“Our program makes a concerted effort to teach from many different perspectives, interweaving humor and delight, while also furthering students’ ways of knowing and experiencing,” Nolley says. “I think of this award as an affirmation of walking the road less traveled. It’s an affirmation of a place where humility and excellence can co-exist.”

EMU Provost also lauded the recognition. “This is yet another indicator of the strength of our counseling program and the excellence of our faculty,” Kniss said. “It’s great to get this external validation for something we already believed about the quality of our program.”

It is the second major award for the program in a year’s time. Last November, program co-founder and professor David Glanzer received the from the Virginia Counselors Association. Glanzer retired at the end of the 2015-2016 academic year.

Other team members who were part of the SACES honor include professor Annmarie Early, assistant professor Nate Koser and administrative assistant Amanda Williams, as well as Kristy Koser, who served as the department’s professional development coordinator until June.

“The eligibility requirements are rigorous, so numbers moving into the MA program will be small,” says , professor of psychology. “However, for those highly motivated, mature students who know they want to be counselors, this path can expedite their education.”

In the accelerated track, undergraduate coursework is compacted into the first three years, and students then begin the in their fourth year.

“This program is an important way to bridge psychology and counseling,” says Professor Teresa Haase, who directs the MA in Counseling program. “In the past, students from the undergraduate psychology program have been exceptional and well prepared for graduate study. We deeply appreciate the collaboration.”

Rigorous admission requirements

The impetus behind the new program came in part from recent psychology graduate Rachel Bowman, Mullet says. Like many students, Bowman came to EMU with some college credit already in hand and had fulfilled academic requirements to complete her undergraduate degree by her junior year. Mullet worked with�� psychology faculty, Haase and Professor —who leads EMU’s other —on program requirements.

Students must have a minimum high school GPA of 3.6 (on a 4.0 scale), maintain a 3.6 GPA in the first semester of classes at EMU, receive the recommendation of a psychology advisor by the end of their first year and successfully achieve acceptance into the psychology major by the end of their second year. Students formally apply to the MA in Counseling program during their third year.

“Admission isn’t guaranteed for accelerated students, who have to go through the same process as any applicant,” Haase says. “The interview process is rigorous, and the application process competitive, so we are not in a position to hold spots. Academic performance is important, but of equal importance is emotional maturity, readiness and fit for the profession.”

The need is apparent: A survey of psychology program alumni who had graduated in the past five years found that 56 percent of respondents had entered a graduate counseling program. Accelerated programs are also a growing trend in higher education, as more students pursue a master’s degree.

Two students enrolled already

For psychology students Bethany Chupp and Mackenzie Lapp, entering their fourth year at EMU, the timing worked out perfectly.

“One of my good friends, Rachel Bowman, was consulting on how to make this work,” Chupp says. “She was too far in to fit it in, but once it got passed, she said, ‘You should look into this.’ It’s really convenient that I was in the year that was able to maneuver to fit and do it right away.”

Chupp, a from Canby, Oregon, and winner of the 2016 , was drawn to EMU by its . She entered EMU as a first-year student with the equivalent of two semesters of college credit. Chupp completed her as a sophomore, which allowed her to tailor her third-year classes to meet the accelerated schedule.

“I don’t think I would have done a master’s directly after my undergraduate without this program, especially coming so far from home,” Chupp says. “Being able to keep the same friendships and mentors and have that support system seems like a huge benefit.”

Chupp presented her senior project, “Adoption as Trauma: Viewing Adoption Through a Restorative Lens,” at the Virginia Association for Psychological Science this past April. She says she hopes to focus her career on children who experience developmental trauma.

As a groundbreaker in the accelerated MA program, she’s well on her way.

“It’s exciting to think about going to my five-year high school reunion with a master’s degree,” Chupp says. “That feels like an accomplishment!”

The event — which includes speakers and interactive arts-based opportunities for reflection, learning and healing — is Saturday, March 19, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in EMU’s Suter Science Center. It is free and open to the public as well as the campus community.

“Sexual violence doesn’t just impact individuals,” Stauffer says. “It is a breach of relationship. How can we rebuild community in the face of violence? If we can build toward a healthier definition of community, I think we’ll all feel safer and provide an environment for profound healing.”

Stauffer’s project, titled “,” began in 2012 with research among domestic abuse survivors from within communities of homeless women, undocumented Latinas and Mennonite women from Old Order or conservative church communities. Stauffer employed a strengths-based approach, with particular focus on the resilient ways in which women survive in spite of gaps in societal support networks. Her project employed strategies that empowered study participants, integrating storytelling interviews with circle processes and healing arts workshops.

Last spring, MA in biomedicine students were integrated into the project with a about adverse childhood experience. Most of the students are future health care providers, and the experience asked them to reflect on the symptomatic and diagnostic implications of personal narratives as they participated in storytelling, communication activities and playback theater events with co-facilitators, some of whom were domestic abuse survivors.

Stauffer and the planning committee have included some of these same components in the symposium, she says. “This is an interdisciplinary event with planning, support and participation coming from various groups and departments across campus,” she added, the representation of which is important to the idea of both community response and support.

Plenary presenters include , assistant professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding at EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, and University of Notre Dame doctoral researcher Sheila McCarthy. Turner will speak on “Healing in Community” and McCarthy on “Sexual Violence through the Lens of Moral Injury.” , an EMU graduate whose published writing has explored her identity as a survivor of sexual abuse, will share her poetry. Inside Out, a campus theater group which has also participated in other parts of Stauffer’s multidisciplinary project, will host a session on the innovative and healing art of playback theater.

“To me, this type of witness moves our peace stance from the rubric of a privatized individual journey to a much more collective awareness of the church’s role in embodying the challenge to ‘speak truth’ to abuses of power,” Stauffer says. “It invites us as a community of faith to higher levels of transparency, truth and grace for all parties involved.”

Afternoon breakout sessions in two 90-minute blocks options provide attendees with a variety of options, including:

• “How to Appropriately Respond to Disclosures,” by Mike and Lavonne Yoder of in Milton, Pa.;
• “Body Work and Response Mechanisms of Memory Storage and Release,” by , director of EMU’s (STAR) program;
• “Arts Approaches to Trauma Recovery,” with Janine Aberg;
• “International Perspectives on Sexual Violence,” by Diana Tovar Rojas and Myriam Aziz of EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding;
• ”Unpacking Consent, Unhealthy Relationships and Sexual Assault,” by Chris Ehrhardt and Laurel Winsor of James Madison University’s (CARE) program;
• “Safe Church Protocols of Prevention,” by Ross Erb and Jackie Hieber of , which provides sexual assault crisis services and other programs in Harrisonburg;
• “Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA),” by Sarah King and Daniel Foxvog;
• “Restorative Justice Dialogues in Crimes of Severe Violence,” by , restorative justice coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee;
• “LGBTQ Perspectives on Sexual Violence,” by , assistant professor of education at EMU;
• “I Am Your Broken Place: The Grief of Sexual Violence,” by , director of at EMU.

Stauffer says the project has involved “many hands coming together.” Members of the faculty and staff planning committee include Mansfield, the STAR director; Comer, director of counseling services; Roger Foster, co-founder of playback theater troupe; , history professor and department chair; Teresa Haase, director of the graduate program in counseling; and , professor of social work. The student-led has also helped to advise and support the symposium, and students are being encouraged to attend.

“Having students as an integral part of what we’re doing is key,” Stauffer says. “The investment and energy that students bring adds huge value to the whole process.”

A final educative component, designed for EMU faculty and staff and focusing on institutional dynamics, is being planned for this coming fall.

The “Silent Violence” project has been funded by a JustPax Fund grant since 2014. focuses on individuals and organizations working for effective change through innovative approaches to societal challenges relating to gender, environmental and/or economic justice. The fund is administered by through the Everence affiliate, Mennonite Foundation. Due to that support, the event is free and open to the public. No pre-registration is required.

For Steward-Jones, a blind student in , life has presented a series of obstacles much bigger than a parked truck. Yet, she has found herself equal to all of them with a little help and a lot of tenacity.

The great challenge of Steward-Jones’ life began when she was diagnosed at age 27 with the inherited degenerative disease Retinitis pigmentosa, which often results in blindness. Upon hearing the news, Steward-Jones says that she was seized with anger and a desire to deny what the doctors told her. Reality soon set in, however, as Steward-Jones first lost her night vision, then her peripheral vision, and finally saw her world dissolve into the light of total blindness, an experience which Steward-Jones describes as having a flashlight trained on her eyes.

Following her loss of sight, Steward-Jones said she was nicknamed “the gypsy” for living all over the country and in Japan, bouncing from one of her four children’s homes to another, until her son finally told her, “Mom you can’t just sit here and be blind, you have to do something.” Steward-Jones was soon attending the in Littleton, Colorado.

At the center, Steward-Jones relearned how to live her life. Learning to cook, clean, and do everyday tasks was a major part of the school’s curriculum, as was navigating the town. For her final test, Steward-Jones was dropped off at an unknown location in Littleton and needed to navigate her way back to the school. Upon arriving back at the school, Steward-Jones was greeted with congratulations from her fellow students and ringing bells to celebrate her accomplishment.

Since that time, Steward-Jones has navigated around many obstacles that have nothing to do with sight. One of her most important accomplishments was a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University in Northern Virginia, which allowed her to enter the master’s in counseling program at EMU.

Now in her 60s, Steward-Jones is facing new challenges on EMU’s campus. One of these challenges is the difficulty of the coursework, which Steward-Jones finds to be, “like medical school in terms of different terminology and applications.” Steward-Jones faces additional challenges in navigating the campus and completing assignments due to her blindness, which is why she is on a three-year, rather than two-year, track to complete her degree. But “we [blind people] can do most jobs with a little bit of assistance and a little bit of technology,” she says.

The help that Steward-Jones receives from technology usually comes in the form of a voice. From wristwatches to computers, everything in Steward-Jones’ apartment seems capable of talking. Often the voice belongs to JAWS, a computer program which can read everything from file names to websites in its mechanical voice. Steward-Jones uses this program to write papers, browse the Internet, and read emails.

On the human side, Steward-Jones has received help from the EMU faculty and staff. Steward-Jones said that she chose EMU because she felt that a Christian university would be more inclined to go the extra mile to help somebody with a disability. So far, Steward-Jones believes that she has experienced this Christian concern in the form of the people whom she calls angels. Those who have worked to make Steward-Jones’ time at EMU possible include: , director of the MA in counseling program who is Steward-Jones’ advisor; , administrative assistant in the program; , coordinator of student disability support; , director of auxiliary support; Bruce Emerson, food services director; and her tutor and reader, Anna Maria Johnson. Stewart-Jones gives special thanks to Lee Jankowski, a fellow counseling student for most of the 2013-14 year, who not only walked her between classes and her residence every day, but would jovially ask questions like, “Do we have trash to take out today?” And then he would collect her trash and deposit it in the outside bin.

For Steward-Jones, these relationships are unique in their closeness and warmth, but she stays open to meeting new people. “I know that at some point I’m going to get lost,” she says with her characteristic hearty laugh, “but somebody will help me and I’ll meet somebody new.” Her advice to people who hesitate to approach her: “It’s better not to grab my arm. If you ask if I’d like help, I’ll almost always accept. Just extend your right elbow to me, and I’ll grab it.”

With this type of help and her usual tenacity, Steward-Jones hopes to be working as a counselor after graduating. “Do I expect to actually practice this profession when I finish this degree? With God’s grace, yes.”

Produced by: Innerloupe Productions

Within ��ݮ����’s (EMU) professional counseling program, we strive to achieve the highest standards of excellence in providing psychologically and spiritually grounded training for counselors. We seek to create a community atmosphere within the program, a community bold with creative ideas and open with honesty, partnering in the inner work counselor training requires.

Find out more at: www.emu.edu/graduate-counseling/

Produced by: Innerloupe Productions
Audio: “Mending Wall” – Slow Dance

To be a candidate for the scholarship, Koser had to complete a 25-page essay on the relationship between his work and its connection to Rollo May, an existential psychologist and co-founder of Saybrook Graduate School.

“I drew from a number of different cases,” said Koser. “The essay wove together direct clinical work with qualifying essays and what happens in a relationship between a therapist and client.”

As a practicing psychoanalyst, Koser said, “Psychoanalysis has been historically categorized by most people as belonging only to the white, upper-class community. I want to subvert this presumption by bringing psychoanalysis to the underrepresented and reach people that it hasn’t in the past – not just in academics but also in clinical work. Psychoanalysis is a radical approach that applies to each unique subject.”

Koser, who earned his undergraduate in and graduate degree in from EMU, said his work as a student and faculty member “greatly influenced his doctoral work.”

“I did not grow up Mennonite, but what resonated with me is the focus on relationships and community that is found in the Mennonite faith.”

, director of the MA in counseling program at EMU, said the award “positions Nate to be a respected contributor to the field of Existential/Humanistic psychology and it also reflects the intention we have as a counselor training program to embrace the Existential/Humanistic way of working and being in the world.”

A student of Jacques Lacan and Sigmund Freud, Koser said winning the award is a significant professional accomplishment, but its meaning has changed over time.

“Initially, I felt that receiving this award would provide me with some sort of authorization, as if winning it would provide a kind of credential,” said Koser, who also works for . “However, because I am unable to refuse analyzing such things, the award has provided me with yet another opportunity to learn something about myself, my motivations, and my desire. This seems much more important to me than any kind of credential.”