Professional Background
I started my educational career teaching junior high science and biology in the Muscatine, IA public school system. It was a fulfilling experience for me in that I experienced a close bond with those energetic, and often off-the-wall students. It was during that time that I began to develop an interest in the area of counseling which I later pursued as my life's vocation.
After two years as a junior high teacher, I began my graduate training at the University of Colorado at Boulder but then transferred to the University of Northern Colorado where I received a master's degree in counseling and educational psychology. I then accepted a position as a high school counselor in the Council Bluffs, IA public school system. It was during this time that I became frustrated with the inability to use Biblical principles in attempting to help high school students who were so deeply entrenched in the complicated life problems of teenagers. This frustration then became the motivating factor for seeking advanced professional training in order to teach and counsel from a Biblical perspective.
After two years as a high school counselor, I was accepted into the doctoral program at the University of Missouri under an NDEA Scholarship program. Three years later I was awarded the Ph.D. degree in the area of counseling and student personnel administration. I then accepted a faculty position at Cedarville University where I have been for the past thirty years. I am presently a professor in the psychology department.
My tenure at Cedarville University has been an extremely rewarding experience in that I have been able to build into the lives of literally thousands of college age students. I am a licensed professional psychologist in the state of Ohio and have used that professional certification in private practice. I have also served as an adjunct professor at Sinclair Community for several years and at Wright State University for the past twenty five years at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.