Dan Cooper, Ph.D.

The Chicago City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a plan to close 53 elementary schools, in what has been identified as potentially the largest round of school closings ever in an American public school district.  This week, parents, teachers’ and schools professionals’ groups, community organizations, and others organized three days of action prior to the City Council vote.

For a press conference this morning, Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE) asked the Adler School Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice for its insights. IPSSJ Assistant Director Dan Cooper, Ph.D., provided the following statement:

Chicago has often been referred to as the “City that Works.” Yet in spite of its oft-mentioned amenities and accomplishments, we speak less frequently of its dubious honor as being one of the nation’s most segregated cities.

It is the fifth most segregated major city in the United States (Logan, J.R. and Stults, B.J., 2011). Chicago’s South and West Side communities have faced steady and continuous disinvestment from private market forces and public policies. There was red-lining and slumlord abandonment that resulted in Dr. Martin Luther King’s open housing campaign in 1966. There was the Chicago Housing Authority’s longstanding policy of building under-maintained public housing only in poor African American neighborhoods–resulting in a federal court intervention to mandate scattered site housing across different neighborhoods. Later, there was the Chicago Housing Authority’s “Plan for Transformation” that displaced more than 15,000 mostly poor African American families into other poor areas of Chicago (Bennett, Smith, & Wright, 2006).

There is the fact that youth of color in Chicago are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system, including being arrested on school grounds (Chicago Youth Justice Data Project, 2010). The ongoing foreclosure crisis has been especially devastating for Chicago’s largely African American South and West Side neighborhoods.

Last year, the City of Chicago closed six of its 12 mental health clinics, again disproportionately affecting communities of color. And now, today, CPS has proposed closing 54 schools located primarily on the South and West sides. This plan is a continuation of disinvestment in our most disadvantaged communities, and will only serve to reproduce our city’s glaring segregation and inequality.

 This disinvestment has very real consequences for the health and well-being of communities, families, and children. Inequality is one of the most important social determinants of health identified by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2003). It is associated with a range of poor health and mental health outcomes. 

Neighborhood schools are one of the most valuable resources for many disadvantaged neighborhoods. They serve as local catalysts for civic engagement, providing parents with opportunities for collective influence. The shared trust, cohesion, and social capital that is built through parent interactions at schools is crucial for neighborhood stability. Neighborhood norms of trust and cohesion are associated with neighborhood safety and stability (Sampson, 2012). In turn, these strong connections between parents at local schools are related to better educational and developmental outcomes among at-risk youth (Furstenberg & Hughes, 1995).

The proposed school closings will likely affect youth in very direct ways. Young people of color in Chicago are exposed to violence and other adverse childhood experiences at an alarmingly disproportionate rate. We know that chronic adverse childhood experiences are associated with social, emotional, and cognitive impairment. The disruption associated with school closings and forced mobility will only add to the chronic stress and social exclusion experienced by many young people of color on Chicago’s South and West sides.

However, we do not need to speculate about these impacts. All we need to do is ask the youth and families who will be affected by these school closings. At last weekend’s Citywide Community Action Council Meeting, breakout discussions among residents were full of reports about how much anxiety and stress this plan is already creating—for both students and parents. Almost all students of closed schools would have to attend schools outside of their neighborhoods, which is creating stress about how safe passage will be navigated in new areas.

Do the ends justify the means? Do students perform better when moving from a closing school to a new school? The answer, according to the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago, is no. Displaced CPS students do not perform any better when moving to a new school (de la Torre & Gwynne, 2009). There is no justification for once again ignoring the voices of our city’s most disenfranchised residents, for continuing the longstanding traditions of segregation, inequality, and disinvestment in our South and West Side neighborhoods.

Elena Quintana, Ph.D.

The Adler School Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice (IPSSJ), in collaboration with the Illinois Balanced and Restorative Justice Project (IBRJP), has issued a white paper examining restorative justice practice in Chicago and Vancouver—recommending that justice systems and schools more formally integrate restorative justice, particularly in the United States where retributive justice has created an “epidemic of incarceration.”

“Restorative Justice: A Primer and Exploration of Practice Across Two North American Cities,” is a primer and tool for practitioners, researchers, advocates, lawmakers, lay people and justice professionals. It provides an overview of restorative justice philosophy, its range of practices, and the evidence behind its practices—and how restorative practices are currently integrated, funded, and applied in two very different metropolitan contexts.

Traditional criminal justice focuses on establishing culpability and punishment. In contrast, restorative justice focuses on establishing accountability and repairing the harm done when an offense is committed.  It brings together affected victims, offenders, and communities to actively and consensually identify and implement steps to repair damages.

“The harsh punishment aspect of retributive justice, particularly in the United States, has created an epidemic of incarceration,” said Elena Quintana, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Adler School IPSSJ, who led the white paper research team. “The number of people under U.S. correctional supervision has skyrocketed from 200,000 in 1980, to nearly 7 million today.”

“In an era of government budget deficits and fiscal austerity, it is less and less feasible to continue relying on detention and incarceration. It is expensive, it disproportionally affects poor urban communities of color, and it is highly questionable in its effectiveness in rehabilitating people. We believe restorative justice can increase public safety, reduce the ‘prison pipeline’ in poor communities, and lower both human and economic costs to society.”

In Chicago, Illinois, the researchers identified little formal infrastructure and funding for ensuring that restorative justice reaches its full potential. However, they identified a strong foundation for growth due to a growing network of restorative justice practitioners, and to specific inclusion of balanced and restorative justice in the Illinois Juvenile Code and the Chicago Public Schools code of conduct.

While Chicago-area restorative justice focuses largely on youth and school settings, Vancouver practitioners apply it more often with adult offenders. The Vancouver area also demonstrates stronger evidence of formally integrating restorative justice within the justice system, and more evidence of funding to systemically support it.

The Adler School team that worked with IBRJP to research and develop the white paper included Quintana; IPSSJ Assistant Director Dan Cooper, Ph.D.; master’s candidate Jasmine Garfield; and alumna Natalie DeFreitas, M.A., a Vancouver-based counsellor, consultant and speaker. DeFreitas specializes in restorative justice, and spoke on “Rethinking the Impact of Traditional Justice” at TEDxVancouver last October.

Kevin Osten, Psy.D.

Dr. Kevin Osten, clinical psychologist and Director of the Adler School LGBTQ Mental Health and Inclusion Center, has announced that the Center in affiliation with Chicago Lakeshore Hospital will host a free continuing education program and dinner this month to provide a forum for discussing the social, cultural, and emotional components that impacts the life of LGBQ Latino/Hispanic adolescents and their families.

Through this event, participants will learn to:

• Understand the multiple minority identities of these LGBQ Latino/Hispanic adolescents.
• Increase their understanding of the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and culture.
• Identify psychosocial and cultural factors that influence the Latino/Hispanic GLBQ adolescent development and self-identity.
• Discuss the coming out process within a multiple minority identities framework.
• Identify and explain therapeutic interventions to strengthen the youth self-identity and improve the family dynamics.
• Identify community resources.

Elena Quintana, Ph.D.

Leaders of North America’s YMCAs recently came together in Baltimore to focus on “Keeping Y-Kids Safe in a Violent Society.”  Among the select speakers were YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago President/CEO Dick Malone, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Pamela Hyde, and Elena Quintana, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice at the Adler School.

A clinical and community psychologist focused on research and programs that promote socially just solutions to public safety concerns, Dr. Quintana is also a Master Trainer Community Resilience Coach–educated in helping communities, agencies, and governments understand and apply Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) research.

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study is a body of ongoing, groundbreaking collaborative research between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente. It is providing massive evidence showing how common childhood stressors can dramatically change health outcomes and life expectancies.

Throughout Chicago and the greater Midwest, Dr. Quintana has been leading ACES education and outreach.  In Baltimore, she did the same for North American’s YMCA leadership and supporting agencies, presenting on “Adverse Child Experiences and Trauma-Informed Environments”:

Dr. Quintana’s work also includes designing and evaluating community violence prevention efforts, addressing trauma, and creating and evaluating alternatives to incarceration. She previously was director of evaluation for Ceasefire Chicago, the federally funded effort to reduce gun violence on which the acclaimed documentary The Interrupters was based.

Danny McGuire, Ed.D.

Danny McGuire, Ed.D., spent more than 24 years in law enforcement–from serving as a suburban cadet/explorer and community service officer, to serving in a major metropolitan region’s sheriff’s department. He later joined the force for one of the country’s largest police departments. There, his duties ranged from serving on patrol, both as a police officer and sergeant, to serving on a Hostage Barricade Terrorist (HBT) Team, now known as SWAT–where his responsibilities expanded from those of a team member to chief crisis/hostage negotiator.

Dr. McGuire brings that experience to his work today directing the M.A. in Police Psychology program at the Adler School–a program not designed to teach students to conduct therapy or engage in psychological testing. Instead, it uniquely teaches law enforcement personnel how to practically apply psychology to their work and the field of law enforcement.

This week, Dr. McGuire will speak at the Chicago Police Department, Education and Training Division, on the challenges of the job, the opportunities for continuing education, and the ways that psychology knowledge benefits officers both at work and in their personal lives.

His talk “Furthering Your Education as a Law Enforcement Officer,” takes place Thursday, May 16, from 1800 hours to 2100 hours. Food will be provided.

Cindy Weisbart, Psy.D.

Cindy Weisbart, Psy.D., is  Program Director of the Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program at the Adler School in Vancouver, and a registered psychologist who previously served with the Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia.  As we observe Mental Health Week in Canada this week (May 6- 12), and in light of the opportunity to keep mental health parity in mind during upcoming provincial elections, Dr. Weisbart shares these perspectives.

British Columbia (BC) is a wealthy province, yet many of our residents are underserved—particularly in terms of access to mental health services. At the city level, here in Vancouver, we have considerable social inequity. Our Downtown Eastside (DTES) is known for its poverty, drug abuse, sex trade, and single occupancy “hotels” where many people subsist.

The DTES is also a vibrant community, where residents seek quality of life and struggle against gentrifying forces that want to move in and “clean things up.” Vancouver is a very wealthy city where housing can be exorbitantly expensive. Decent single-family homes cannot be bought for less than $1 million and rental housing is in extremely short supply. Daily, our city newspaper details stories about people “sponsoring” elementary schools’ food programs, aimed at providing breakfast for youngsters.

This city has heart and is interested in change, but needs change agents who are trained, prepared, and able to work on a range of levels to treat, research, and advise city residents about some best practices that will improve quality of life for all.

Quality of life must also be addressed at the provincial and national level. For example, at present, only medical health care is covered by BC’s universal health care system. This belies what we know about the interconnections between physical and mental health. Many visits to general practitioners are actually for mental health concerns. Psychologists, including myself, are searching for better options.

Collaborative care strategies where health care professionals are housed in the same buildings and funded provincially are one option. Adding psychologists to our provincial health care plan is an alternative that would provide psychologist services to those who need them. True universal health care that provides for the physical and mental health of our residents is an important next step toward making our society more equitable and improving quality of life for all.

I have had the privilege of working with underserved and oppressed peoples in Canada and the United States. Though too many people are oppressed by the “-isms” of our society, there are many with the power—and will—to make change a reality. They can be challenged to invest some of their own power and resources, including money, time and status, to enable others, as well as future generations, to succeed.

Residents of this province can anticipate a positive ripple effect into our communities with the entry of the first graduates of our new Psy.D. program at the Adler School in Vancouver.  Our program emphasizes Alfred Adler’s social justice focus, and will provide training that is uniquely suited to address the challenges faced by many communities in BC today and throughout Canada.

Our graduates will certainly learn excellent clinical skills, be able to digest and utilize research, and be ready to provide the range of direct clinical intervention, supervision, consultation, and teaching abilities expected of clinical psychologists. They will also learn to consider systemic barriers to success and well-being for individuals; the importance of context, with regard to key oppressive agents such as racism, “able-ism,” and poverty; and will learn and research ways to advocate for and effect needed changes. Our graduates will work in a range of traditional clinical settings—in hospitals, prisons, schools, and First Nations reserves.

They will also serve as change agents for a better society. I am honored to contribute to their learning and to witness that process unfold.

David Castro-Blanco, Ph.D., ABPP

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports startling increases in U.S. suicides particularly among men in their 50s and women ages 60 to 64.

Among the findings published in today’s in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report:

• Rates for completed suicide rose significantly–by about 28%–for people ages 35 to 64, averaging about 17.6 per 100,000 people, from 1999-2010.
• Rates increased across all four geographic regions studied, as well as in 39 states.
• The greatest degree of growth was seen among those ages 55 to 64.
• In the 35-to-64 age group, the most prevalent mechanisms used to complete suicide were firearms, poisoning (typically overdose), and suffocation (typically hanging).
• Rate increases were reflected among both men and women.

David Castro-Blanco, Ph.D., ABPP, Core Faculty in Clinical Psychology at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, shares these thoughts to consider in reviewing the report:

• More than 30,000 suicides occur annually in the United States, yet completed suicide is still a relatively rare occurrence.
• It is important to recognize trends without speculating too extensively about causes.  Some early news reports have speculated the economic downturn could be a factor. Keep in mind, however, the data reflects averages collected between 1999 and 2010–which means some data were collected in better economic times.
• The role of firearm use in suicide needs to be recognized. Firearms were the most prevalent means of suicide used by men, and the second most prevalent mechanism used by females.
• Most importantly: We need to improve our detection and monitoring with these vulnerable groups, paying particular attention to health concerns and alcohol use as potential contributors to suicidal behavior.

As  Dr. Castro-Blanco and the CDC report note: The results call attention to the need for suicide prevention strategies that address mental health issues.

Gail Roy, M.A., ATR-BC, LCPC

The summer before I joined the Adler School faculty, I became engaged in volunteering for the School’s new grant-funded pilot program in Chicago’s Englewood community, where I was born and raised. Englewood is severely challenged by poverty, crime, violence, limited quality housing, education and employment opportunities, and public services. The new pilot program was developed to change youth attitudes about gun violence through education and therapeutic art-making. I quickly discovered that the Adler School was serious about its mission while collaborating on the program with community partners, its Art Therapy staff and students, and Dr. Lynn Todman, Executive Director of the School’s Institute on Social Exclusion.

Four years later, our gun violence prevention program in Englewood had grown, and was well-known as a successful intervention with adolescent males there. I have been privileged to see the immediate rewards of using art as a means of social action within a disadvantaged community, as well as encourage our students to continue the work of our School namesake Dr. Alfred Adler—recognized as the first community psychologist—in Englewood.

We have presented our community art therapy work at numerous conferences. Much has since been written on this ongoing, much-needed program, at a time when our city seeks help in addressing gun violence. Through art therapy, the unique use of images to express hidden emotions is highly effective with adolescent males—most of whom, in this case, have experienced trauma either directly or as a result of living in a violent community. Participants have worked on images, poems, journals, and group directives that include a mural and construction of a small model neighborhood.

Once, the youth received cameras to document things in Englewood they wanted to change. They collaborated on a letter to the city that succeeded in getting more trash containers and more regular trash pick-up. An Illinois state senator, Sen. Mattie Hunter, was impressed with the investment these adolescents made in their community. She agreed to seek funding to extend this program from a summer program to one that continues throughout the school year.

The program continues today as a collaboration among our Art Therapy students and faculty, the Adler School Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice, and our colleagues and partner organizations in Englewood.

On a personal note, 13 years ago, I thought my career as an art therapist might end. I was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure due to polycystic kidney and liver disease. However, that May, I was successfully transplanted with my eldest son’s kidney. This month represents 13 years of care I have been able to provide as a therapist thanks to Mark’s precious gift.

We recommend that our clients use art-making to deal with personal struggles,  and this also applies to the art therapist. My recent sculpture “House of Cards” represents the ongoing frustration that all patients can feel while dealing with their illnesses, and the disparity of care and insurance coverage.

Our Art Therapy program is the largest in the United States, and has an excellent reputation in both the academic and professional communities. Before coming to the Adler School, I was initially hesitant to leave my position as an art therapist in a south suburban special education school. Today, I have realized the global rewards of training future art therapists to do this important work.

Michelle Tiwade, Associate Director of Admissions

A fan of the Adler School Facebook page recently posted this question: “Any tips on writing the autobiographical essay for admission?”

It’s a good question. The autobiographical essay, or personal statement, is part of the application for admissson to the Adler School.   Directions for writing it are brief: Discuss your personal and professional experiences, your career goals, your interests relevent to the program to which you are applying, and your reasons for applying to the Adler School.

“The personal statement will be one of the most important parts of your application,” says Michelle Tiwade, Adler School Associate Director of Admissions at the Chicago Campus.

“The directions for writing it are intentionally open, for you as a prospective student to tell us what is important to you.”

In writing your statement,  try to put yourself in the shoes of faculty on the Admissions Committee that reviews applications, Tiwade advises.

“Transcripts tell us about your academic career, but not about who you are as an individual. Your personal statements tells us: ‘Admissions Committee, this is who I am, this is who I want to be professionally, and this is why you want me to attend the Adler School.’ ”

Tiwade advises that answering the following four questions in your personal statement go a long way in addressing what the Admissions Committee wants to know about you as a prospective student:

1. What brought you to psychology? Many students start with a specific experience, perhaps a class in school. How did you start thinking about psychology as a career path point for yourself?
2. What do you want to pursue? What interests you about a specific program? “The Adler School offers many programs, so the Admissions Committee wants to understand why you are applying for a particular program, or why you are applying for an M.A. program rather than a Psy.D.,” Tiwade says.  ”The committee want to know that you know where you’ve been, and you know where you want to go.”
3. Why the Adler School?  Why do you want to study with the Adler School? “What is it about what we offer that will help you get to where you are going?” Tiwade says.
4. Where do you plan to go?  This describes the practice setting or settings that interest you, and the types of clients you are interested in seeing.  “How will the Adler School help you toward your goal seeing clients in the hospital setting or practicing in the community, for example?” Tiwade explains.

Tiwade offers a final tip: Keep it professional. Avoid “TMI,” sharing too much personal information or personal issues.  She offers the same advice for writing your personal statement as she does for preparing for the Admissions interview: “Once you start graduate school, training to become a counselor or psychologist is your job for the next several years. To get the job, it’s important you make a positive, professional impression.”