I am a professor of psychology and licensed clinical psychologist. I teach related courses (Abnormal Psychology, Introduction to Counseling, and Psychology Internship) and have conducted well over 5,000 psychological evaluations involving child abuse/neglect, veterans’ issues, and psychiatric disabilities, often in forensic settings. My students frequently observe an evaluation as part of taking one of my clinical courses. I also have strong interests in the environment and politics and recently developed a new course for Luther called Environmental and Political Psychology.
Most of my interaction with students outside of the classroom involves assisting them in gaining entrance to graduate programs in various helping professions. In 2019-2020 I wrote letters of recommendations supporting successful admission for 15 students to the following programs: Counseling, Master’s in Social Work, Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant, School Psychology, and Speech Pathology.
General Professional Philosophy
Whether I only have contact with a student in General Psychology or work closely with him or her for four years, I want all of my students to appreciate psychology as a practical science that promotes self-awareness and good citizenship by aiding the disadvantaged.
Recent Professional Activity
I represent the practitioner aspects of the scientist-practitioner model in our department. Therefore, most of my professional work is practical in nature, but I dabble in related research with students, mostly with senior projects related to clinical topics of interest to them and that are often presented at regional conferences. My interest in the environment, specifically naturalists with ties to my native Wisconsin, led to me co-editing with Richard Thiel the childhood memoirs of Wallace Byron Grange. This book is entitled, As the Twig is Bent: A Memoir and will be published by University of Wisconsin Press in August 2020.
“Original and refreshing, reminiscent of the poignant writings of Increase Lapham, Fran Hamerstrom, and John Muir. Grange does a superb job of portraying societal life a century ago in Illinois, and the pioneering life of the Grange family in the ‘cutover country’ in northern Wisconsin.”—Sumner Matteson, author of Afield: Portraits of Wisconsin Naturalists, Empowering Leopold’s Legacy
“An engaging memoir of the making of a devoted conservationist, evocative of the unhurried pace of a bygone era. Grange shares with us a voluminous, detailed treasure trove of experiences that reveal the making of a man who dedicated his life to the cause of conservation.”—Arthur Pearson, author of Force of Nature
Hobbies
I love silent sports like hiking, snowshoeing, cycling, canoeing, and swimming, alone or with family and friends. I also enjoy going to concerts and reading.
The New Counseling Minor!
Britt Rhodes (Professor of Social Work) and I recently developed a counseling minor for Luther students. Luther is the only college we are aware of that offers this opportunity. The minor was first available to students this fall semester. It is designed to be a complement to any major related to helping others from a pre-med major brushing up on bedside manner to an art major more fully appreciating the science behind related interventions. More information about the counseling minor can be found here.
Book Co-Author
As The Twig is Bent: A Memoir by Wallace Byron Grange - I served as the co-editor of this book with Richard Thiel. It is the childhood memoir of a pioneering environmentalist. The book was published by U.W. Press in 2020. Since then, the book has earned the following recognition and reviews:
2021: Awarded Certificate of Excellence by the Illinois State Historical Society
2022: Selected for Wisconsin Public Radio’s Chapter a Day program
2023: Selected for Luther’s Paideia III Book Club
“Original and refreshing, reminiscent of the poignant writings of Increase Lapham, Fran Hamerstrom, and John Muir. Grange does a superb job of portraying societal life a century ago in Illinois, and the pioneering life of the Grange family in the ‘cutover country’ in northern Wisconsin.”
—Sumner Matteson, author of Afield: Portraits of Wisconsin Naturalists, Empowering Leopold’s Legacy
“An engaging memoir of the making of a devoted conservationist, evocative of the unhurried pace of a bygone era. Grange shares with us a voluminous, detailed treasure trove of experiences that reveal the making of a man who dedicated his life to the cause of conservation.”
—Arthur Pearson, author of Force of Nature
Sabbatical Projects
I was awarded a sabbatical leave for January Term and Spring Semester of 2024. My two projects are to gather data supporting the success of the new counseling minor and write ten chapters of a book tentatively entitled, Trauma Bonds: The Bittersweetness of the Broken-Open Heart, which advocates for extending the teaching of psychology from kindergarten on to create a more psychologically sophisticated population less vulnerable to the many forms of trauma that characterize society today.