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this issue

Culture Currents P.1

Q & A with Dr. Herkelrath P.1

Student Reflections: Joseph Rahm P.2

Upcoming Events P.2

A Word From Our Sponsor P.2

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Student Newsletter

CSBS Chatter

Q & A with Dr. Bill Herkelrath What life experiences have contributed the most to your choosing of Psychology as a career? When I was 20 years old, I travelled to England to study abroad for one year, with the purpose of discovering what I wanted to do with my life. I lived in a castle south of London, deep within Ashdown Forest (see photo above). During my time abroad, I travelled all over Europe and the Mediterranean exploring. This was my first cross-cultural experience, and it was life changing. I discovered a passion for getting to know and understand people, their values and their stories; and I developed friendships that would last a lifetime. This experience in Europe planted a seed in my heart and led me to pursue a greater understanding of people and the world around me. Upon my return to the United States, I decided to study Culture and Psychology. I found Psychology to be a great fit for me, and have been studying, practicing, and teaching it ever since. What important lessons have you learned from your experience as a therapist? I have learned the power of the unconscious mind. One time a mother brought her 12 year old daughter into my private practice for therapy, convinced that her daughter needed psychological help. As I interviewed the girl and her mother, I learned that the mother had lost her father when she was the same age as her daughter was now—12 years old. The mother was very close with her father, felt

abandoned when he died, and was left with her mother, whom she did not get along with. She had never dealt with the devastating pain of that loss. It was powerful to see the work of the unconscious mind as this mother projected her pain onto her daughter, unknowingly. What was one of your most comical inci-dents with a client? One time, I was reading a book in my office when a client unexpectedly came in and began talking. When I read, I wear earplugs in order to remain focused, so it took me a moment to notice that the client had entered. When I did notice, I put the book down but was too embarrassed to remove the earplugs, as she had already been talking for a while. Eventually, I turned my head and one of the earplugs flew out of my ear, bounced of the chair, and rolled across the floor! My client just kept on talking. Thankfully, she didn’t even notice. What advice would you give to counselors just beginning in the field? Always be flexible, always be caring. If you are going to err, err on the side of grace. Let your patient be your teacher, and they will teach you what they need in their therapy. Listen exquisitely.

09 Spring

CULTURE CURRENTS “GONAÏVES, Haiti — Even now, well before hurricane season, Jean Hubert tries to tamp down the panic that wells up in his chest whenever dark clouds mass overhead. His unease multi-plies if even stray raindrops splatter through his corrugated roof…Outside his four-room, cinder block shanty, the havoc visited across this city in central Haiti by a string of hurricanes six months ago remains readily apparent… “…Mr. Hubert’s home now sits four or five feet below the narrow street. The mud that choked every house, excavated by hand and carted into the road, has hardened into an uneven chain of mounds, solid like concrete…. “…The fear of the next big storm infects the whole town. Everyone knows that the rains should start in April, and that by June hurricanes can begin to form out in the Atlantic — the deadly season lasting until November. “…No other city in Haiti absorbed so much punishment [as Gonaïves]. More than 30 inches of rain fell overnight. The deforested hills, less than 2 percent of them covered by trees, sent the spill-off crashing down into La Quinte River, the wall of water and mud eventually cresting at 15 feet above its banks. “By the time it receded from the city streets, the flood had killed 466 inhabitants; another 235 just disappeared and are presumed dead. Nationally, damages came to a total of $900 million, or nearly 15 percent of the gross domestic product.

“All it takes is one cloud”…groused the deputy mayor, Jean-François Adolphe, when asked about the mood here. The City Council tried to develop an [evacuation] plan, he said, but readily admit-ted it was basically fruitless. The city does not have a place to shelter anyone, not to mention the means to ferry its inhabitants to higher ground.”

Associated Press, 2009

(Photo above: downtown market destroyed by flood By: Alice Smeets of the New York Times)

Student Reflections: Joseph Rahm A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR:

Philippians 2: 5-13

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

(New American Standard Bible)

Where did you go?

I went to Kolkata (or Calcutta if you're from the US), India

What population were you working with? I was partnering/volunteering with Calcutta Mercy Ministries (CMM), who exists to serve the poorest of the poor throughout Kolkata and in the rural villages. The majority of the people they serve are women and children. What did you do?

I traveled to five or six of their rural clinics to research and investigate the opportunity to implement micro-finance programs to help the families dig them-selves out of the cycle of pov-erty. Each clinic I visited has something unique that makes it a good candidate for a micro-finance program. I also had the opportunity to visit CMM's feeding program, nursing school, blind school (top right photo), and Mother Teresa's convent.

What did you learn?

I learned how blessed we are in the US in terms of resources and finances. It was convicting to think I've often thought to myself if only I made $X more per year when there are entire families living on a few dollars a day. The $40 meal my wife and I ate at Olive Garden two days before we left could have fed 20 children at the blind school for an entire day!! I learned that there is opportunity everywhere in the world to make a change in someone's life. All we have to do is keep our eyes open and allow Christ to use us for His glory. I learned that sacrifice is not sacrifice unless you have to pay a price. I learned that wisdom and guidance from God allows us to share the Gospel with people we never thought possible. CMM is sharing the Gospel with literally hundreds of Hindus and Muslims every

day through their clinics, schools, and churches.

Is there a particularly impactful experience that you’d like to share? CMM feeds 25,000 people every single day of the year. One

morning, we had the privilege of participating in the early morning food drive (bottom left photo). Several men from CMM load a large truck up with numerous large barrels of food and sets out to four or five drop-off locations. We got to participate in the serving of the food. Most of the people who came were collecting for the entire family, and some of them were children as young as four or five years of age. To see the responsibility some children took to wake up at 5 AM every single morning to collect food for their entire family was quite humbling. -Joseph Rahm, ICCD Cohort 1

Upcoming Events:

March 30th: Psi Chi Induction Ceremony, 7pm (NU main campus)

April 3rd: Last day to register for Summer Semester!!

April 19-27th: Spring Break

April 28th: First day of Summer Semester

May 9th: Graduation (See NU website for details)