In spring, nature shows us what is possible. First, buds appear and later we see trees become full with leaves, and flowers show us their color. Sometimes this is a gradual unfolding, each leaf or flower taking time to show itself. We get to know what is possible with each new leaf and begin to imagine how full the tree might become. Other times it seems to happen overnight with a great burst of energy. We go to bed with the tree outside our window looking nearly bare and wake up with leaves everywhere. It’s as if the tree is saying “I’m here, notice me, look at what I have to offer.”

Salina Renninger

For those of us working in higher education, May is also a time of graduation and the celebration of many student accomplishments. Like spring, it calls forth a sense of potential and possibility. Many students excitedly look toward their futures. Families feel a mix of pride in their child’s accomplishments and hope for a successful path beyond college. As educators, we join in these emotions. We have guided, cared and supported students toward their success and we want the best for them.

The truth is, however, that upon graduation some students will show up fully right away and some will take a bit longer to show their fullness. This will depend on a number of variables. The “right conditions” matter. Just as the spring vegetation varies in inherent hardiness and response to the soil, sun and water conditions, students vary in their own internal resources and responses to the various environments in which they are expected to bloom. There is only so much that one has control over, and given the current news headlines, it might be well to remember this.

If one Googles the term “college graduate outlook,” a variety of headlines will appear. These will range from “job outlook positive for 2013 college graduates” to “job outlook for college graduates is grim.” Many of these stories focus on data that evaluates rates of unemployment, underemployment (part time or poorly paid work), and overqualified workers (working in a “high school job” with a college degree). A 2012 Rutgers University study titled “Chasing the American Dream: Recent College Graduates and the Great Recession” (http://www.heldrichpodcasts.com/Chasing_American_Dream_Report.pdf) noted that only one-half of the 444 study participants (individuals who graduated between 2006 and 2011) indicated they worked full time. A 2013 report from the Pew Charitable Trusts (http://www.pewstates.org/uploadedFiles/PCS_Assets/2013/Pew_college_grads_recession_report.pdf) suggests that while all young adults are impacted by the economic conditions in the United States, college graduates are better off than their peers with an A.A. or high school diploma.

On the one hand, it’s not looking good; on the other hand, it could be worse. By any stretch of the imagination, this is not likely reassuring to a new graduate or anyone who cares for a new graduate. Still, it’s what we have. Given this reality, I am reminded of John Krumboltz’s happenstance learning theory (http://www.studentintegration.fi/filebank/77-The_Happenstance_Learning_Theory.pdf ). The theory provides a dose of optimism and expectations for success, eventually. One of the important tenets of this theory is that one’s career path is a result of a mixture of planning and serendipity, and that it is not fully within one’s control.  It is not linear and organized. Rather, most career trajectories are a mixture of intentionally planned events (e.g., earning a degree) and making the most of the opportunity that comes one’s way (serendipity). Additionally, people play an active role in what opportunities come their way. Maintaining an exploratory attitude to each endeavor in which one engages has the potential to yield more opportunity over time.

Ask any person you want about “work story” and you will quickly see how much the role of “chance” plays in his or her trajectory. Sometimes it comes in the form of discovering that your neighbor knows someone who knows someone who can help you get your foot in the door at a particular corporation. Other times it’s applying for one job but being offered something else you hadn’t considered, but wind up loving. Nonetheless, it’s also important to recognize the same chance opportunities may not be as readily available to all individuals. Work by Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald (http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/04/22/177455764/What-Does-Modern-Prejudice-Look-Like) on why individuals may be more likely to help others who are perceived to share some type of group identity suggests that discrimination can unintentionally occur when individuals solely reach out to those more “similar” to them. While happenstance learning theory recognizes the power of the individual to create opportunity through networks and experiences, it is important to recognize some inherent limits. Extending opportunity toward all, versus solely those who share similar identities, is necessary and required for everyone to thrive.

Happenstance learning theory is not only about making interpersonal connections and creating opportunity through openness to various experiences. It also is about getting to know one’s self and what that could mean in the work world. It might involve discovering aspects of a job that are satisfying and determining how to have similar experiences, but in a different work setting.  By way of example, I would suggest that my own experience of cleaning residence hall bathrooms as a college sophomore taught me that I love completing tasks with a beginning, middle and end.  It’s quite satisfying. Nearly 30 years later, doing very different work, I find I am the same. I still enjoy tasks that have clear beginnings and endings. Happenstance learning theory suggests observations like this are worth paying attention to. I didn’t take the job to clean bathrooms because I love cleaning. I took the job because it was conveniently located in the residence hall in which I lived and paid a fairly decent wage compared to other positions on campus. By staying open to the experience and learning what I could, I found out something important to my lifelong career satisfaction.

Thus, while the job outlook data may look somewhat discouraging, I challenge new graduates to adopt an attitude of discovery, potential, possibility and generosity. Scan the horizon for new prospects and say yes when they arrive. Offer your assistance to others when you can. Notice what energizes and excites you, and what depletes and diminishes you. Make efforts to engage in greater energizing activities and fewer activities that deplete you. This approach will yield results. I also encourage the important others in our young folks’ lives to help them maintain this perspective during daunting times.

And always know that like the trees and flowers of spring, some graduates will burst onto the scene in full foliage and color and others will take a bit longer to unfold. In the end, their beautiful offerings will all be revealed, if we assist with creating the right conditions for discovery and success.

So how does a young woman from Prior Lake, with three degrees from the University of St. Thomas, end up in prison?

Life happens. While Holly Hanson ’00, ’08 M.A., ’12 Psy.D. was busy making other plans – to become a therapist and a psychologist in the mental health field – her focus changed to the field of corrections during an internship at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater.

Today, she is a clinical program therapist within the Sex Offender Treatment Program at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes.

“I would have never guessed that I would ever work in a correctional facility,” Hanson said in a recent interview. “I didn’t enter this field thinking that I would work in a prison, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised.”

Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services

Hanson was introduced to the integration of legal concerns and the provision of psychological services through St. Thomas’ Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services. Before finishing her graduate studies, Hanson had participated in several practica, and the IPC was one of them.

According to the IPC website, it is “among the first in the country through which faculty, staff and students from law, psychology and social work collaborate to help clients in need. At the same time, students from all three disciplines gain practical experience working on real cases, learning skills that will serve them well in their future careers.”

Holly Hanson is a clinical program therapist within the Sex Offender Treatment Program at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes, a job she has held since Sept. 25, 2012. (Photo by Mark Brown)

Between 2000 and 2004, following her graduation from St. Thomas, Hanson worked in a group home with adults diagnosed with a mental illness or who had a dual diagnosis of mental illness and chemical dependency. Between 2004 and 2007 she was a clinical interviewer at the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research at the University of Minnesota. She was always open to new experiences but she never imagined a career in corrections.

“I think that’s why during my graduate school training I tried a lot of different types of practica,” she said. “I trained in a private practice, in a hospital and in a college counseling center. I trained in the IPC, and then I ended up in a correctional facility. I was just kind of sampling different areas. I knew I wanted to use a variety of my skills. I knew I wanted to be involved in many different areas of the field. I just didn’t know what location or what type of ‘population’ I would work with.”

Hanson credits the IPC for introducing her to variety in her career, which was useful in her internship at Stillwater. She also credits the IPC for fostering the skills she uses today. “It really enhanced my growth in a way that my other experiences hadn’t,” she remarked. “I definitely learned from each one, but the IPC is so dedicated to the student experience that I just really found it was what I needed at the time.”

The IPC gave her a place to practice the skills and implement what she had been learning throughout her graduate studies, and “the two together were really a powerful experience and gave me the foundation from which to go almost anywhere.”

Hanson found the internship at Stillwater rewarding, and she began looking for openings in correctional facilities. Nothing was available in the mental health field at the time, but there was an opening in the sex offender treatment program at Lino Lakes, just 20 miles north of campus.

On the job in Lino Lakes

Hanson began her career in corrections on Sept. 25, 2012.

“It was definitely outside of my comfort zone, but I had worked with men at Stillwater who had committed sexual offenses,” Hanson said. “I had foundational skills, so I thought I’d give it a shot and see what happens. I was offered the job, and I was informed that it was the foundational clinical skills that made me someone they wanted to bring into the system; the belief was that I could pick up the specific sex offender treatment skills pretty easily along the way.”

Security measures at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes include double fencing and several layers of barbed wire.

Her responsibilities include running a sex-offender treatment group, which involves group and class work, as well as some work with individuals, and teaching classes such as Personal Victimization, her first class. The class helps inmates deal with their own traumas, which could be anything from physical abuse to verbal abuse to sexual abuse to neglect. “This class is a way to enhance coping skills and process that,” Hanson said.

A challenge she faces is learning a new skill set, learning more about sex offender treatment rather than focusing on a lot of the mental health issues that she had worked on previously in her career. She still uses the foundational clinical skills that she developed in her studies and practica, but now she is learning how to tailor those skills to sex offender treatments.

They include “an openness. I bring an ability to build rapport. I bring an interest in people, others, and a motivation to learn. And I think my approach can really help to make an environment in which people are willing to speak and feel comfortable. I think that’s really, really helpful in this field.”

In addition to the work being rewarding, she has found that it is no more stressful than other places she has worked, and security personnel are always within earshot.

(Lino Lakes Daily Inmate Profile Report)

A St. Thomas resume

Hanson is one of a handful of alumni who holds three St. Thomas degrees. She has a different reason for earning each at St. Thomas:

• Undergraduate: “For some reason St. Thomas stood out. I really liked the facilities. I wasn’t sure what I was going to major in at that point. I wasn’t drawn to a specific school, but I knew I wanted smaller class sizes, and I wanted more interactions with the professors.”
• Master’s: Hanson looked at various clinical programs around the country but found them too focused on research and not focused enough on the counseling skills involved in therapy, which was her area of interest. “When I got into the master’s program I just really enjoyed the curriculum, the faculty and the student body.” Staying close to home also was a factor.
• Doctorate: Hanson, while considering a Ph.D. degree rather than a Psy.D. degree, looked at other schools but again found them too focused on research rather than on honing counseling skills. And married (to a Tommie) with three children, she wanted to remain close to home. “When I got into the master’s program I knew pretty quickly that it was a really good fit for me and it was offering what I was looking for both with the students that I was with and the faculty. I knew I wanted to continue.” She earned her doctoral degree in August 2012.

Looking to the future

“I really do like my work,” Hanson remarked. “I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon. … I’ve been happy with the direction that my career has taken.”

Clinical program therapist is an entry-level position. Hanson is working toward becoming a licensed psychologist, which requires, in addition to a doctoral degree, one year of supervised work and passing two tests. (She has passed the state ethics test and is studying for the national test.)

Eventually she may look at other positions as she advances in her career. “While I see myself moving on from my current position,” she said, “I would like it to be within the Department of Corrections.”

 *   *   *

Editor’s note: The Minnesota Department of Corrections offers training opportunities for students as practicum students and interns within chemical dependency treatment, sex offender treatment and general mental health areas. Careers also are available within each of these areas. Entry-level positions allow for opportunities to receive supervision while working toward licensure at the master’s or doctoral levels. For more information about internships and careers, visit the Department of Corrections website. For more information about counseling psychology at the University of St. Thomas, visit the College of Education, Leadership and Counseling website.

The multiple-award-winning documentary “Justice for My Sister” will be shown at 7 p.m. Monday, April 15, in Room 126 of the John R. Roach Center for the Liberal Arts on the university’s St. Paul campus.

The film will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Kimberly Bautista, its producer and director. “My hope is that audiences from all walks of life will be moved to recognize the violence in our own communities and take a stand against it,” she said.

Adela at age 27.

The program is free and open to the public. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. The discussion with Bautista will be translated from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish.

The feature-length documentary begins with the story of a 27-year-old Guatemalan, Adela, who left for work one day and never returned. Her ex-boyfriend beat her until she was unrecognizable and left her at the side of road.

Despite dismal odds, Adela’s sister Rebeca takes on Guatemala’s corrupt legal system in a three-year fight to bring the ex-boyfriend to justice. Of the 6,000 cases of women murdered in Guatemala over the past decade, only 2 percent of their killers were sentenced.

A trailer for the film can be seen here.

The April 15 program includes the sale of Guatemalan crafts; free-will offerings will be accepted. Checks may be made out to La Paz International Inc. All proceeds go to provide financial support for Rebeca, the subject of the film, and Olga, another Guatemalan woman who lives with her children in poverty.

The program is co-sponsored by St. Thomas’ College of Arts and Sciences, Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion Services,  Luann Dummer Center for Women, and the departments of History, Political Science, Women’s Studies, Family Studies, Justice and Peace Studies, Modern and Classical Languages, and Sociology.

- Lydia Radke, master of social work student, on the 400 hours she spent in the Interprofessional Center in 2003-2004

They come to the center – the underserved poor – for help with problems ranging from health care issues to political asylum to life-threatening situations of domestic violence.

And St. Thomas students enrolled in the schools of law, social work and professional psychology work with these clients under close faculty supervision at the Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services.

“A number of clients have expressed gratitude for the level of dedication that students give to their cases. One client sent Christmas cards to all of the students and staff working on her case, thanking them for their assistance,” recalled Virgil Wiebe, director of the Legal Services Clinic.

St. Thomas opened the center in fall 2003 across from the School of Law on the downtown Minneapolis campus in the Harmon Court building. Most professional schools in American universities offer clinical services and training in law, psychology and social work, but the St. Thomas center is among the first in the country to forge a partnership among these disciplines.

“There is no program exactly like this in the country with its three-way collaboration of social work, law and professional psychology,” said Dr. Barbara Shank, dean of social work.

“It is an invaluable training experience for students that fits the mission of St. Thomas,” said Dr. Jean Birbilis, interim dean of professional psychology during the clinic’s first year.

“It is unique and cutting edge,” said Dr. David Welch, dean of the Graduate School of Professional Psychology. “It is a wonderful compliment to St. Thomas and its originators.”

The center is the brainchild of Shank and Dr. Burton Nolan, former dean of professional psychology. “The mission of St. Thomas is to be of the community and in the community,” Shank said. “Many people are not poor enough to be in assistance programs but don’t have enough money to get the services they need. So there is a critical need for services to individuals who may be uninsured or cannot afford to pay market rates for lawyers, social workers and psychologists.” Typical of the working poor are those who have jobs in fast food, security or housekeeping, or immigrants who need government permission to hold jobs.

“The center is consistent with our mission both as an urban university and a Catholic university,” said Father Dennis Dease, president of St. Thomas. “We are committed to meeting the diverse, changing needs of the community and fostering in our students a tradition of service.”

Clients by referral

Clients come by referral only. The center collaborates with Catholic Charities and 13 other community organizations to avoid duplication of services and take advantage of strengths that those organizations bring to the project.

As of fall 2004, the center had provided extended services to more than 80 people and brief legal services or advice to an additional 70 people or organizations. Also, professional psychology took in 18 individual clients, did many assessments, and led several group therapy activities for elders and children.

In the process, 66 law students, eight social work students and eight psychology students have taken part. Law students have the majority of cases, but as the center evolves, more graduate students in social work and professional psychology will participate.

Law students are supervised by faculty members Jennifer Wright (elder law), Nekima Levy-Pounds (family law) and Virgil Wiebe (immigration law).

Students take a six-credit law class, Legal Services Clinic, and spend about 18 to 20 hours a week in the clinic. “It is a practicum,” Wiebe explained, “and it is essential for students to get the opportunity to represent clients and go to court – all under the supervision of a practicing attorney. Our law students are certified by court to practice in the clinic.

“Most clients are very grateful and get very connected to students. Students often comment that the experiences are very intense but they enjoy it and miss it when it is over. It is a lot different from sitting in class.”

Cases often go beyond legal scope

In family law, “students are exposed to a plethora of issues affecting low-income families and abused women and children,” Levy-Pounds said. “Under our supervision, they do initial client interviews, negotiate with opposing counsels, make court appearances, attend evidentiary hearings and draft legal documents.”

“By becoming advocates on behalf of those whose voices often go unheard, students gain confidence and a stronger sense of self,” Levy-Pounds added. “They learn the importance of using legal skills to work for the public good.”

Many clients have issues beyond the legal scope in family law cases, custody matters and abused women in particular, so counseling services are essential.

Immigration cases were a large part of student law practice for Matthew Donovan, who graduated in May and now is a clerk on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. “We see immigrants with a variety of concerns – from applications for asylum to torture relief to civil and criminal claims against alleged wrongdoers.

“I think one of the most crucial elements of the center, however, has been an emphasis on the kind of interpersonal skills a lawyer must have when interviewing clients, especially clients who may have endured some fairly substantial suffering or may just be uneasy in a legal environment.

“Generally, we put in 18 to 20 hours a week,” said Donovan, holder of an M.A. in theology from Boston College. “But my team inherited from last year’s students a complex case and we averaged more than that. We had a hearing date scheduled close to our law clinic orientation and it was on my birthday – so I kicked off my 30s by making an appearance in court.”

In elder law, legal issues range from clients evicted by their nursing homes due to financial eligibility issues to those who want to make decisions for themselves.

“Connecting emotionally with clients and establishing trust is very important,” Wright said. “Often, the referring agency will tell us the case is about one issue and at the first interview, a different issue – perhaps the client’s ability to lead an independent life – comes out as most important.

“Clients are very appreciative of the students. Many are so lonely that they really appreciate having someone on their side to affirm their rights when they feel very helpless to do so on their own.”

Social workers are essential

Social workers are involved in the majority of elder law cases, from helping to assess a client’s capacity to dealing with those whose capacity is impaired. They provide essential services that often help win a legal case, Wright said.

“For example, a client with mental health and substance-abuse issues was threatened with eviction from a senior apartment complex. Our social workers worked with the client to address the substance abuse and set up supportive services, such as a housecleaning service, to mitigate the effects of the client’s mental health problems. Because of this, we were able to defeat the eviction.”

Amanda Pettis, who interned at a battered women’s shelter while getting her B.A from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, will receive her master’s in social work from St. Thomas in 2006. During her first-year internship in social work, Pettis put in 200 hours at the clinic. She worked mainly with the elder law practice group and typically met with clients in nursing homes.

“Working on an interdisciplinary team with other students has been a tremendous learning experience,” Pettis said. “I appreciate getting another perspective when working with clients, and I can bring up issues that the law students hadn’t thought about during case team meetings and vice versa.”

As director of Social Services at the center, James Stolz, M.S.W., notes that “we have the luxury of students being able to conduct therapy sessions while being assisted by a supervisor via two-way mirrors as well as video and audiotapes.”

Legal issues might bring clients to the center but other problems, such as housing and transportation, are also present, Stolz said. “In addition, our Relapse Prevention Program attracts people who have not had success with traditional chemical dependency treatment programs.

“Just today I spoke with one of our clients who recently returned to work – a major hurdle for him. He said he could not have accomplished that without the support and help he has been receiving at the center.”

Need for psychologists is great

The need for professional psychologists is great. “With federal and state cuts, most agencies lay off the psychologists who are serving the working poor and the homeless,” Birbilis said. “Money is tight and comes and goes politically. Since our 80 master’s and doctoral students working in the community donate more than 50,000 hours in health centers, really every setting where you find psychologists working, our student contributions are needed more than ever.”

Last year, psychology students held focus groups in the community to see what was needed and effective. Clients bring with them problems such as mood disorders, discrimination, family violence, career/job/employment issues, health care and education problems, substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse and gang involvement.

Dr. Darryl Goetz, who has a Ph.D. in family therapy from the University of Minnesota, directed Psychological Services until leaving in December. He explained that students in the third year of their doctoral programs offer individual and group therapy, counseling and assessments.

Center an exciting collaboration

The center draws its funding from a variety of sources. Faculty and staff for the Legal Services Clinic are funded by the law school budget and funds for Counseling Services come from the university and two $75,000 grants approved by Congress for fiscal year 2004 and 2005. Additional requests for federal and foundation grants are in progress.

“The center is an exciting collaboration,” said Tom Mengler, dean of the School of Law. “It is entirely consistent with the Catholic identity of St. Thomas and its urban mission to fund a center that serves the poor and the working poor – those most in need of our care.”