Established on April 9th of 2016, the Military and Government Counseling Association of North Carolina exists as a conduit between mental health professionals and military and government service members and their families. The military and government cultures are unique and come with equally unique needs and issues.
Upcoming Education Session:
Assessment and Counseling Approaches in Working with Military Families
Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
1.5 CE hours available
FREE for NCCA members. $25.00 for non-members.
Description:
This training will help prepare current and future counselors to assess and provide evidence-based, culturally competent services in the area of deployment and families. This training provides an overview of military culture including its history, organizational structure, core values, branches of the service, mission, and operations. In addition, it examines military deployment and the unique experiences that service members, their spouses, and their children face throughout the deployment cycle. The presentation incorporates research findings to discuss stressors and challenges associated with separations, reunions, and reintegration.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify military terminology and operations in order to facilitate effective treatment of military personnel.
- Identify stressors faced by service members and their families before, during and after deployment.
- Discuss the adaptive skills used by service members while in a combat zone that can be problematic, when applied at home, as well as effective strategies for facilitating healthy and positive reunions between returning service members and their families.
- Discuss assessment and evidenced based interventions for military personnel and families
Presenter: Shon D. Smith, Ed.D., CRC, ACS
S.D. Smith Foundation, Counseling, Consulting & Assessment Group
Dr. Smith has worked with over 300 veterans and military families over his professional career. A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, SSG Smith has been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and North Africa and served on humanitarian missions in Central and South America and stateside. Dr. Smith understands firsthand of the impact deployment has on service members and their families.
2021-2022 MGCA-NC Officers:
Megan Numbers, MGCANC President
Megan Numbers is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, registered play therapist, qualified supervisor and doctoral candidate in the Counselor Education and Supervision program at Adams State University. She owns a private practice in Moore County, NC specializing in working with children and adolescents, military families, and trauma. Megan is passionate about serving students and her profession, and giving back to the military community as she was a military spouse and grew up in a military family. Megan has published a book for military children, as well as authored scholarly articles and presented across the nation on a variety of military-related topics. Her areas of specialty and interest include play therapy, group counseling, attachment trauma, creativity in counseling and counselor education, and military spouses, children, and families.
Kerri Legette McCullough, MGCANC President Elect
Dr. McCullough is a National Certified Counselor, a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Virginia & District of Columbia, and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Maryland, where she is also an approved supervisor. She is also a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She works with military members, children, adolescents, and families. Kerri graduated from Johnson C. Smith University in 2004 with a BA in Criminal Justice. Since graduating from JCSU she has earned a MS in Criminal Justice from North Carolina Central University in 2007, a MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Argosy University in 2014 and a Ed.D in Counselor Education and Supervision from Argosy University in 2018. She currently runs a private practice and serves as a Staff Sergeant in the DC Air National Guard.
Rollie Sampson, MGCANC Governing Council Board Member
Mrs. Sampson serves as the District Military Liaison for the Moore County School (MCS) district. She assists inbound and outbound military families, oversees programs that support military-connected students, provides professional development for staff, and manages the Impact Aid Program. She also facilitates the district’s Military Family Advisory Council and plans the annual Military Family Forum.
Mrs. Sampson is 1 of 5 Military Liaison Counselors in North Carolina and participates on several military advisory boards including the NC Military Affairs Commission (NCMAC) Quality of Life Committee. She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate (LCMHCA) in NC, Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and School Counselor and works closely with MCS school counselors, social workers, and psychologists to assist with behavioral health support for our military-connected students. She is also a military family member and has spent her entire life connected to the Army as a military children, veteran, and military spouse. Her children graduated from Pinecrest High School and attend college in NC.
Suzy Vaile, MGCANC Graduate School Representative
Suzy Vaile is a graduate student at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. She grew up in an Army family, living all over the world during her father’s 30 year military career, and has a passion for serving the military community. She was born at Fort Hood, Texas and now lives in NC with her husband and three kids.
Bill Stewart, MGCANC Public Relations Board Member
Bill Stewart holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Georgetown University and an MBA from Duke University. He is a current masters student in Counseling at UNCC. He is a former US Army paratrooper having served in the 82nd Airborne Division. After over 20 years working at Johnson & Johnson, he left to pursue his passion of helping the military community.
MGCANC Founders:
MGCANC Founders: Trey Perry, Jane McNeill and Seth Hayden
Military Discussion Panels at the NCCA Conference
We have hosted Military Discussion panels at the NCCA Conference in order to hear first hand how our mental health profession can be improved directly from those who are being most affected by it. We have opened the floor to Retired Veterans, Active Duty members, National Guard, as well as their families to hear their side of mental health care. Our hope is to continue to learn how we can better the counseling profession and never retreat from the Battlefield that is Mental Health!
February 2018
SPC Gabriel Vasquez, SGT Shaun McNerney, Seth Hayden (LPC), PFC Crystal Ellis,
Jane McNeill (LPC-A), Megan Numbers (LPC), SGT Robert McNeill, SGT Alex Kirchhoff
February 2017
LT Frederick Yebuah, Kati Toney, Seth Hayden (LPC), Rob Kierce, SGT LeAndra Oxendine,
SSGT Brie Kirkpatrick, Brittiny Kirkpatrick, Trey Perry, SGT Robert McNeill, Jane McNeill (LPC-A)
Contact Us:
Email megan@playtherapyofthepines.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MGCANC/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mgcanc/
Twitter https://twitter.com/MGCANC
You must be logged in to post a comment.