Farewell Message

Dr. Maria del Carmen Rodriguez, NJCA president (2021-2022)

It is with joy that I share these final thoughts with you as my term as NJCA president comes to an end. What I have been able to accomplish has been possible because of the engagement of board members, committee chairs and generous volunteers that have worked with NJCA throughout the 2021-2022 year. Special thanks go to Kristi Capriglione (Social media chair), John Ascione (Legislative & Public Policy chair), division presidents Brandon Isaacson & Jennifer Baker, members at large Kate DeStefano, Jenna Rodriguez, Scott Shanley, and the invaluable support provided by Roberto Schiraldi, Anthony Zazzarino, Ashley Morris Dias, Callie Brown, Annette Vaccaro, Eurica Pinthieve, and gifted volunteers Amanda Parrella, Victor Perez, Joshua Rivera, Beth Fier & Nina Nechey.  My appreciation goes to NAR region chair Dr. Nellie Scanlon, ACA outgoing CEO Richard Yep, ACA government specialists Dominique Marsalek & Aprile Campbell, Mind Thrive Digital owner Kristen Nazzaro and  her digital team, NJ Business & Industry Association executive director Cheryl Buteas and coordinator Alexis Bailey for their invaluable guidance and support.

NJCA’s key mission is to promote counseling, including professional development, public awareness of counseling, as well as confidence and trust in the counseling profession (NJCA Bylaws, 2015, Article I section 2).   I am confident that under my leadership, this organization has contributed to the professional development of its members, increased public awareness of the counseling profession and solidified the trust in our profession.

During this time, we dealt with increasingly complex global & national stressors as well as challenges specific to our profession and organization. Along with board members, committee chairpersons and stellar volunteers (many of them graduate students), we were able to turn these challenges into opportunities for solidifying our identity as counselors and making a positive impact in the lives of our members and the communities we serve.

These are some of the highlights of the work we have accomplished during the current year: 
 

1. We just launched a new modern and fully interactive website that improves our communication with members and the community at large. 
2. We forged strategic/advocacy alliances with key organizations such as the NJ Business & Industry Association on behalf of our members. This collective effort spearheaded by the NJ Business & Industry Association has requested that the NJ Attorney General office examines the slow service provided to many members who pay substantial licensing fees to thirty-seven NJ licensing professional boards.
3. We coordinated a high-quality state conference back in April-2022 with an array of exciting topics and presenters. We were able to offer this 3-day conference at an affordable price.
4. We coordinated a virtual racial healing workshop (October 22, 202) which helped those in attendance to continue exploring the social injustices faced by our clients of different racial and cultural backgrounds. The goal of the workshop was to help counselors update their moral consciousness as well as their practical skills & strategies in response to the persistent racial injustices endured by clients and especially those who live in most vulnerable social conditions.
5. We promoted community awareness about counseling as a profession and the work we do. We successfully rallied the support of my town’s Mayor, Hon. Francis Womack. Mr. Womack declared “April as Counseling Awareness Month”. The council formally publicized this proclamation on April 4. 2022
6. We were able to recruit an excellent candidate for the position of treasurer, Kathleen Sherman.
7. We held a mini mental health fair jointly with West Side High in Newark (March 4, 2022). Both students and parents joined NJCA counselors & board members. Students were comfortable enough to share their suffering and insights gained from surviving the COVID-19 pandemic. This is by far my proudest moment as NJCA president. It was truly gratifying to see counselors and counseling graduate students extending their skills and solidarity to a community truly tested by the pandemic and complex social/economic barriers.

I seize this opportunity to remind you of the critical role that all counselors play especially at this moment of persistent violence inflicting so much pain and trauma to many Americans and especially our children.  Every time that a gun violence incident happens, opinions are divided in how to solve this ill. For some, it is a matter of having teachers use guns when they go to work.  For others, it is about treating the so called mentally ill perpetrators who pull the trigger. And there are those who simply say that there is nothing we can do in the face of so much destruction and evil.
 
Because this problem is multivariate, it will require the engagement of all Americans to effectively address it.  Our profession is more than ready for the challenge.  Our comprehensive skills, knowledge base and dispositions make us one of the best health providers in the nation.  We are committed to protect, enhance and empower all lives and especially our children. By unifying our voices, our impact will be most effective at this moment of individual and collective suffering.
 
I would like to remind you that on Wednesday 6/8/2022 (4 to 5:30 pm), we offer a virtual workshop led by gifted presenter, Prof. Marie Kinsella.  Her topic is: “Impact of health disparities, racism, social determinants & implicit biases on maternal & infant care: counseling implications”. For additional info and registration, visit our website (www.njcounseling.org).  Most important, let us all welcome Dr. Anthony Zazzarino as he formally begins his presidency on 6/11/2022.
 
In closing, it has been my honor and privilege to serve as your president. Namaste!