Greetings my fellow csi members

This is a message from your new CSI Beta Chapter President Sergio Perez! In this message, I will briefly introduce my leadership philosophy, direction for action within the Honor Society, and touch on a desired outcome that would result from my service as President.   

As President I will be following Robert Greenleaf’s concept of Servant Leadership. I want all members to feel comfortable approaching me with any concerns that they may have. I will try my best to lead with the service of CSI and its members in mind. 

To accurately pinpoint areas for improvement within CSI, my first priority will be to gain an understanding of the current state of our chapter. Areas such as membership activity, officer/committee involvement, professional development, advocacy work, community service, and social events will be assessed. I also want to encourage all members to attend the CSI general meetings where these topics, as well as any other concerns brought up by members, will be discussed. After clarifying the position that CSI is in, targeted action designed to strengthen the points of weakness within the society will be implemented.

As President I will be working hard to motivate our officers, committee members, and general members toward being active and involved in our chapter of CSI. Ideally, my own active involvement in the leadership of CSI will serve as a positive example for all members to emulate.

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this message, and I hope that you are as excited as I am about the changes and improvements coming to our Chi Sigma Iota Beta chapter!

CSI Beta News

SPRING 2016

Table of Contents

Letter of President……………1

CSI Initiation Ceremony…….2

Self-Care in Yogalates…..…...3

Counselor Advocacy Day…...5

Inspired by UCF……………...6

Harvard Conference………….7

Therapy Animals……………..8

CSI Beta Chapter Newsletter

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Rushing through traffic to get there. Stereo blasting, car horns honking, the sound of wind whistling with my windows rolled down. I hardly hear any of this because I am thinking, “My emails need to be returned. Oh, and that one email that I don’t know how to respond to. Some of my students emailed me about the exam. I’ve got to remember to grab scantrons from the office downstairs. And client folders. Clients. That one family with aggression issues, we need to bring awareness to those patterns. Maybe we’ll try an activity? The eight year old will be totally checked out if not. Aw kids. I’m going to be an aunt soon. When will the baby get here?” Before I know it, I pull into the parking lot, grab my mat and water bottle out of the car and rush in.

So much of life is spent in the first scenario—the rush. Particularly in the United States, we are focused on getting to our destination. Whatever happens in between can be ignored; it’s all about completion. I believe we miss out on so much life by automatically going through the journey, and it’s true for me too.

Sarah Kate Wilder teaches Yoga and Pilates at Alter Ego Fitness Downtown. She also teaches an outdoor fusion class of Yoga and Pilates entitled Yogalates In the Park. Follow her on facebook and instagram: facebook.com/yogalatesinthepark and @yogalatesinthepark
By automatic processing life, valuable information is missed but even more importantly we miss the actual journey. The feelings, thoughts, actions, awareness, and appreciation for the moment or sadness for what it brings—these are all lost without intention. Doing without noticing, instead of purposefully being, is a common part of existence. Yoga instructs how to purposefully be. It teaches how to notice the present moment without judgment of whether it’s bad or even if it’s good, but just to notice. It heightens experience because as one is breathing, the person actually feels the breath flowing in and out. Then as the moving practice begins, also called the asana, the yogi can enjoy the challenge and the relaxation because they are aware of the sensations in their body, being completely in the moment.

There are many benefits to this practice. There are the physical benefits—blood flow, oxygen circulation, increased flexibility to prevent injury, increased strength so one can move more or do more—and there are emotional benefits—creating calmness, identifying emotions, regulating emotions, lessening anxiety, promoting self love and acceptance, etc. But what I believe is most powerful about this practice is that it gives people a choice. People can move throughout the rest of their week and they can work and play automatically or they can work and play mindfully. There are still times where I operate automatically. I am certainly not mindful all of the time, but I love having this skill that I can pull out in any given moment. This skill will make the happy times happier because I really feel it. Or it will make the sad times incredibly purposeful so I offer space to experience the sadness, so I can move through it. Or it’ll calm me when I react unintentionally in anger. Or if I’m being swept away in fear I can come back to the present moment. As a counselor, I appreciate this because it helps turn down the static and busy-ness in my mind, and allows me to enjoy the rest of the night with my family instead of mentally being at work. So I encourage you, recommend yoga to your clients but also try it yourself! And enjoy the mindfulness it brings.

Counselor Day at the Capitol

By Carla Herrera

On February 17, 2016, a team of students from our Counseling Education program traveled to the capitol building in Tallassee, Florida to advocate for our counseling profession. Led by Dr. Shon Smith and joined by Dr. Jacqueline Swank and other partners, the students woke up in the wee hours of the morning to travel to the capitol city, where they devoted their day to meeting with the Florida House and Senate in Tallassee to engage representatives to vote “Yea” or “Nay” on certain state bills that affected counselors.
Considering the multiple responsibilities to promote recognition of our counseling profession, and the slew of anti-LGBT laws being proposed or passed currently, advocacy is proving to be an incredibly important asset and necessity for counselors, our clients, and the mental health community.
A BIG thank you to everyone who participated in this day of advocacy and giving a voice to counselors! This includes Dr. Shon Smith, Dr. Jacqueline Swank, our CSI Advocacy Committee, our fellow UF Counselor Education students, and many more!






INSPIRED BY UCF

By Alena Prikhidko & Carla Herrera, PR Committee


In the Fall 2015 semester, several doctoral and master’s degree students from the University of Florida were proud to present their research at the University of Central Florida’s Counselor Education Conference. Not only did we gain new knowledge and great opportunities for networking—and had fun—but we also thought, why don’t we have our own UF Counselor Education Conference? Here is what Taneshia Greenidge says:
“This fall I had the honor of presenting with my peers at the University of Central Florida's Counselor Education Conference. It was great to be back at my old school to reconnect with old friends and professors. The conference was very informative and eye opening, and really empowered me to want to do something similar at the University of Florida. I spoke with the coordinator of this conference and she was thrilled to help and share how she was able to put on an amazing conference. She also expressed her excitement on wanting to come to UF and present her work.
I think putting on the first University of Florida Counselor Education Conference would be so much fun. After talking to my peers, everyone seemed to be excited and willing to help. I think using the Terrace Room to hold poster sessions and the clinic for round table discussions would be extremely beneficial. I also think using our classrooms for 50-minute presentations could be ideal. One challenge I could see is finding a venue for use to host the keynote. I think we could really get a dedicated team together we could make the first annual counselor education conference at UF a success!”
The CSI Beta News Team and Public Relations Committee completely agree and are willing to support the initiative with organizing Counselor Education Conference at the UF next year! We will start making a team soon so if you are willing to participate please do not hesitate and e-mail your interest to Taneshia Greenidge at taneshia.greenidge@yahoo.com! Looking forward to make Norman Hall a great host for the bright, new Counselor Ed Conference!


Spring 2016


CSI BETA NEWS

I attended the 21st annual Student Research Conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on March 25, 2016. This was the first conference that I attended which was not directly related to counseling. I really wanted to get insight from other conferences and improve my understanding about how to become a great scholar. Since the Harvard Student Research Conference was directly related to research, it really helped me to have a clearer perspective about my specialization, which is research. The conference was also helpful for me because I am currently deciding my dissertation topic and trying to make appropriate steps in that direction.
The theme of the conference for this year was “Innovating for Equity: Creating Opportunity Through Research.” I feel the theme of the conference provided a perfect message that every child is precious enough to have access to a high quality of education. Dr. Anant Agarwal, the CEO of edX, shared his insight during his key note speech about massive online courses and their effort to make high quality of education available to anyone. I was so excited, encouraged and hopeful to see all these efforts.
During the conference I explored many different research projects, posters, panels and round tables. In addition, I knew that so many important people graduated from Harvard Graduate School of Education, such as Geoffrey Canada and Michelle Hlubinka. In fact, during the conference I met with one of the Dr. Howard Gardner`s advisees. It was amazing because we read Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory when I was in college. This was honestly beyond my wildest dream to feel the atmosphere where Dr. Gardner works. I think that is one of the beauties of studying in the U.S.—you can meet with important and famous people who dedicated their life to education and making a meaningful change. This totally gives me the encouragement to work harder and contribute to a greater good.


Harvard Conference in Education

By Huzeyfe Cakmakci

CSI BETA NEWS


Spring 2016

I recently watched a trending video (many of you may have seen it) about a 6-year-old girl severely on the autism spectrum, and her strong bond with her cat, Thula. She went from barely engaging in communication with others to steadily becoming an active, communicative, and artistic girl once she befriended Thula. There are many stories like this. Therapy animals have been proven to decrease anxiety and stress, and can provide powerful therapeutic companionship. They can even be used in a counseling session to help a client feel more comfortable talking about difficult topics.
Although most therapy animals are dogs, the love clearly isn’t limited to our canine friends. All sorts of animals have been successfully certified as therapy animals, including cats, horses, pigs, goats, guinea pigs, rats, and even llamas. In fact, Gainesville hosts the Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses organization, which brings miniature horses to hospital visits, hospice care, and schools. They also provide a program called “Reading is Magic” where the horses visit children and get them excited about reading.

If you’re interested in having your own dog, cat, or other accepted pet certified as a therapy animal, you can register them through PetPartners.org, which registers nine different species of animals. There are also many others resources available to certify dogs as therapy animals, and many avenues to volunteer in your community to bring joy and comfort to those who may really need it. It can also be a great and creative opportunity to use within your own counseling practice.

Need some self-care for yourself? You can get your own dose of puppy love during Yappy Hour at the Counseling & Wellness Center, where you can meet the CWC’s very own certified therapy dogs, Gabe and Siggi! Yappy Hour is hosted every Thursday from 3:30pm-4:30pm in the CWC waiting room on the 2^nd floor.

The Healing Power of Therapy Animals

By Carla Herrera


I want to thank my co-author Huseyin Uysal for his committed work for our poster and my advisor Dr. Sondra Smith for her support. I would like to thank my lovely wife, Nermin Cakmakci, for her continuous effort for my education. Also, I would like to thank University of Florida Counselor Education and Supervision Department and the University of Florida Graduate School for providing their generous funding to make this trip available for me. It was such a special day to remember.

Spring 2016


CSI BETA NEWS