Research and Publications
Pictured above: Dr. Melissa Mariani (Assistant Professor) is recognized at FAU's 47th Annual Honors Convocation
The Department of Counselor Education is home to ten full-time tenured and tenure-track professors and the Department Chair. Our award-winning faculty members are nationally and internationally recognized leaders in their fields, having a strong record of research productivity, excellent teaching evaluations, and outstanding university service and national service to the counseling profession. In recent years, the department has contributed approximately 25% of the publications in FAU’s College of Education and has a proven record of procuring external grant funding, placing the program at a competitive level among similar counseling programs across the country.
Here you will find the latest information about research-related news, including recent awards, books, articles, graduate dissertations, and other publications, most of which can be accessed directly online below.
Faculty Award Lineup: 2015-2019
Dr. Kelly Emelianchik-Key: 2017 ACA Best Practices Research Award (2017); SACES Outstanding Program Clinical Supervisor (2017)
Dr. Michael Frain: 2016 ARCA Best Paper Award, Second Place Winner (2016)
Dr. Len Sperry: 2019 Scholar of the Year Award (Professor Level); Faulk Center for Counseling's 2016 Community Impact Award for Educational Excellence (2016)
Dr. Brian Canfield: 2016 FCA Advocate of the Year, presented by the Florida Counseling Association (2016)
Dr. Greg Brigman: COE Researcher of the Year, Professor Level (2016)
Dr. Elizabeth Villares: COE Scholar of the Year, Assoc. Professor Level (2016); COE Researcher of the Year. Associate Professor Level (2017)
Dr. Melissa Mariani: FAU & COE Scholar of the Year, Asst. Professor Level (2016)
Dr. Paul Peluso: Presidential Award, presented by the American Counseling Association (2015)
In the Press: Dr. Paul Peluso makes headlines: "Counseling Journal Led By Department Chair Now Tops in Field"
According to FAU Division of Research's publication, Research Weekly, "The American Counseling Association recently ranked a journal edited by an FAU professor as No. 1 by impact factor in the field of counseling. Since 2012, Paul Peluso, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Counselor Education, has served as editor of Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development."
"It has been exciting to see this process from beginning to end and to be able to set the bar high for research integrity and publication," he said. "The resulting impact factor and the fact that we are the highest ranked journal for the American Counseling Association is a testament to the team effort that the editorial board has put in."
Publication Spotlight: Mental Health and Mental Disorders (Published Dec. 2015)
Congratulations to Dr. Len Sperry, as well as the other Department of Counselor Education faculty members, graduates, and students, who partnered on the recently published three-volume encyclopedia, Mental Health and Mental Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Conditions, Treatments, and Well-Being (2015).
This exciting book provides an integral introduction to the fields of mental health and mental disorders that is written specifically for students and interested lay readers.
Affectionately referred to as the "FAU Encyclopedia" due to its high-level of faculty and graduate collaboration, its associate editors include our own Alexandra Cunningham, Ph.D., Melissa A. Mariani, Ph.D. Mindy Parsons, Ph.D., and Steven R. Vensel, Ph.D.
Contributors include Elizabeth Smith Kelsey, Ph.D., Jon Sperry, Ph.D., Ashley J. Luedke, Ph.D., Christina Ladd, Ph.D., Layven Reguero, M.Ed., Jeremy Connelly, M.Ed., and George Stoupas, Ph.D. candidate.
Faculty Book Showcase: 2014 - 2018
Brigman, G., Webb, L., and Villares, E.
Evidence-based School Counseling: A Student Success Approach
Routledge Publishing, Taylor and Francis Group, 2018
Gill, C.S. and Freund, R.R. Spirituality and Religion in Counseling: Competency-Based Strategies for Ethical Practice
Routledge Publishing, Taylor and Francis Group, 2018
Sperry, J. and Sperry, L. Cognitive Behavior Therapy in Counseling Practice
Routledge Publishing, Taylor and Francis Group, 2018
Zyromski, B. & Mariani, M.
Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling: A Manual for Practice
Corwin, published March 28, 2016
Sperry, L., Carlson, J., Duba-Sauerheber, J., & Sperry, J. (Eds.).
Psychopathology and Psychotherapy: DSM-5 Diagnosis, Case Conceptualization and Treatment
Routledge, published August 3, 2014
Mozdzierz, G, Peluso, P.R. & Lisiecki, J.
Advanced Principles of Counseling and Psychotherapy: Learning, Integrating, and Consolidating the Nonlinear Thinking of Master Practitioners
Routledge, published May 10, 2014
Mozdzierz, G. & Peluso, P.R.
Principles of Counseling and Psychotherapy: Learning the Essential Domains and Nonlinear Thinking of Master Practitioners (2nd Ed.)
Routledge, published January 16, 2014
Faculty Published Articles: 2015-2016
Clinical Mental Health Counseling
- Sperry, L. (2016). Teaching the competency of family case conceptualizations. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy with Couples and Families 24, 279-282.
- Sperry, L. (2016). Educating the next generation of psychotherapists: Considering the future of theory and practice in Adlerian Psychotherapy. Journal of Individual Psychology 72 (1), 4-11.
- Sperry, L. (2016). Varieties of religious and spiritual treatment: Spirituality oriented psychotherapy and beyond. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 3, 3-5.
- Emelianchik-Key, K.., Byrd, R., & LaGuardia, A (2016). Adolescent self-injurious behaviors: Analysis of the youth risk behavior survey trends. The Professional Counselor Journal, 6(1), 61-75.
- Gill, C. S. , Barrio, C., & Myer, J. E. (2015). Poor, rural women: The impact of spirituality and religion on wellness across the lifespan. Adultspan, 14(2), 66-76. DOI: 10.1002/adsp.12005
- Robertson, L., Dailey, S., F. & Gill, C. S. (2015) Spirituality Competency Scale: Further analysis. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 48(1), 15-29. doi: 10.1177/0748175614544688
- Dailey, S. F., Gill, C. S., Karl, S., & Barrio Minton, C. (2015). Historical underpinnings, structural and philosophical changes: Practice implications of the DSM-5. The Professional Counselor, 4(3), 166-178. doi:10.15241/sfd.4.3.166.
Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling
- Bishop, M., Chan, F., Rumrill, P., Frain, M., Tansey, T., Chiu, C., Strauser, D. & Umeasiebu, V. (2015). Employment among working age adults with Multiple Sclerosis: A data mining approach to identifying employment interventions. Rehabilitation Research, Policy and Education, 29, 135-152.
- Bishop, M., Dennis, K., Bishop, L., Sheppard-Jones, K., Bishop, F., & Frain, M. (2015). The prevalence and nature of modified housing and assistive devices use among Americans with multiple sclerosis. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 42, 153-165.
- Chiu, C., Tansey, T., Chan, F., Strauser, D., Frain, M., & Arora, S. (2015). Effect of rehabilitation technology services on vocational rehabilitation outcomes of individuals with Multiple Sclerosis. Rehabilitation Research, Policy and Education, 29, 183-192.
- Frain, M., Bishop, M., Rumrill, P., Chan, F., Tansey, T., Strauser, D. & Chiu, C. (2015). Multiple Sclerosis and Employment: A research Review Based on the International Classification of Functioning. Rehabilitation Research, Policy and Education, 29, 153-164.
- Tansey, T., Strauser, D., Frain, M., Bishop, M., Chiu, C., Kaya, C. & Chan, F. (2015).Differential vocational rehabilitation service patterns related to job retention and job-seeking needs of individuals with Multiple Sclerosis. Rehabilitation Research, Policy and Education, 29, 109-121.
School Counseling
- Brigman, G., Wells, C., Webb, L., Villares, E., Carey, J., & Harrington, K. (2015). Psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis of the Student Engagement in School Success Skills survey. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. 48: 3 (originally published online 29 July 2014 DOI: 10.1177/0748175614544545)
- Mariani, M., Villares, E., *Wirth, J., & Brigman, G. (2015). An evaluation of the Student Success Skills program on student learning, behavior, and wellness outcomes. Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 11, 223-240.
- Mariani, M., Webb, L., Villares, E., & Brigman, G. (2015). Effects of participation in student success skills on pro-social and bullying behavior. The Professional Counselor.
- Villares, E., Colvin, K., Carey, J., Webb, L., Brigman, G., & Harrington, K. (2015). Convergent and divergent validity of the student engagement in school success skills survey,4:5, 541-552 ,doi:10.15241/ev.4.5.541 Article published online: November 2014. The Professional Counselor.
- Renda, M., & Villares, E. (2015). The effect of a student achievement curriculum on grade 9 completion rate and student engagement. Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation. doi:10.1177/2150137815598812.
- Wirth, J., & Villares, E. (2015). Examining adolescent wellness, success skills, and academic performance: A classroom intervention. The Journal of Happiness and Well-Being, 3(2), 204-217
Graduate Dissertations
Recently Defended Dissertations