Oakland Counseling Association

The Oakland Counseling Association is a not-for-profit, professional and educational organization that is dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession.

Mission

The mission of the Oakland Counseling Association is to enhance the quality of life in

Oakland County by promoting the development of professional counselors, advancing the

counseling profession and using the profession and practice of counseling to promote respect for human dignity and diversity.

• Join the OCA Board
• 2023-2024 Award Winners
• 2023-2024 Mini-Grant Outcomes
• 2024-2025 OCA Membership
• 2024-2025 Mini-Grant Applications
• Board Member Resource/Experience Spotlight
• OCA Blast from the Past

The Oakland Counseling Association is only able to function and offer great benefits to our members as a result of our volunteer board members. We are always looking for new faces who would like to contribute to the leadership and continued service of this organization.

2024-2025 Open Board Positions Overview

• High School Counselor Representative
  
• Middle School Counselor Representative
  
• Private School Counselor Representative
  
• Member-at-Large

Please reach out to any of our current board members if you have questions.

We'd like to recognize Randy Maddock, counselor at the OSTC-NE campus, who will be stepping away from being an OCA board member for 2024-2025.

Randy has served as OCA's treasurer since 2012. Thank you for your service to this organization, your sense of humor, and for always keeping OCA's books in the black. We will miss you!

At our April 24th End of Year event awards were presented to our incredible OCA Counselor of the Year and Terry Hood Lifetime Achievement recipients.

"Angela goes above and beyond for every student whether they are on her caseload or not. If a student is upset/having a hard time managing their emotions she is there to support within moments. She uses a variety of methods to work with and help students process how they feel from art to kinesthetic to talking. She is an invaluable asset to teachers helping motivate and encourage students who are harder to engage for various reasons. She is always open to working with staff to help support students and come up with plans to provide a successful framework for students.

Angela is an incredible child advocate who always puts kids first. She goes above and beyond to support teachers with students from behavior plans, 504s, in class lessons and helps manage our amazing support dog. She is a walking ray of sunshine and joy who genuinely cares about people and will stop at nothing to help."

"Ann Marie has served her students, families, colleagues, administration and district admirably over her 29 year career in Walled Lake Schools. Losing Ann Marie Rutherford to retirement will be a great loss to our school community. She has been dedicated to the profession of counseling and improving the lives of those she interacts with reliably and with great integrity. Ann Marie's historical knowledge or our district and families will be greatly missed and a huge hole to fill.

One of Ann Marie's greatest strengths is her ability to connect with students on a personal level. She possesses a gift for empathizing with young people, understanding their concerns, and offering meaningful solutions. Whether it's helping a struggling student navigate personal challenges, providing academic support, or fostering a positive school environment, Ann Marie approaches every situation with compassion, empathy, and a genuine desire to make a difference."

In addition to Angela and Ann Marie, we had some other outstanding nominees for these awards. Nominations, which came from counselor colleagues and administrators, were evaluated by our full OCA board using a rubric. Unfortunately, we had quite a few nominated individuals who were not currently OCA members (and therefore not eligible for the award). Regardless, we had some great counselors nominated that we want to celebrate!

"Tara is positive, upbeat, caring, knowledgeable. She stays up to date on current practices and research to meet the needs of all our students and staff. Tara is innovative, supportive, and participates in extra initiatives to help support our entire learning community."

"Amy is a counselor that consistently goes above and beyond for her students. She cares about them as if they were her own kids. She is a very passionate and caring individual that works hard to make sure each student on her caseload is graduating and has found their own passion to continue post secondary. She provides a wealth of resources and always fights for what is right for the student. Her student advocacy is unmatched and she has always made sure to provide services to those that have no one in their corner."

"Families appreciate Wendy so much. They know they can turn to Wendy and she will help in any situation. Wendy is an amazing advocate for each and every kid and she even reaches those kids that don't come to the counseling office regularly. She does career work, test prep, classroom presentations on bullying. EVERYONE at Oak Valley is better because of Wendy. She is an amazing counselor and she will be greatly missed when she retires soon."

This year OCA awarded six, $250 mini-grants to members to support a variety of programs and activities. Thank you to all who applied and received mini-grants this year!

Below you will find a few highlights from the mini-grant dollars put to use.

The counselors at Anderson Middle School assembled and distributed personal hygiene kits to

students in small groups and those referred by teachers. Students who have received a kit so far have been very excited and grateful. We have some who have taken the items home for use there and others who leave their kit in their locker so they have access to what they need at school. We also sent a few leftover kits with chaperones on an overnight field trip for students reporting not having necessary items accessible.

Students at Mott High School were invited to sign up for a pizza party with the counselors. Sign-up was intentionally designed to be first-come, first-serve so that students would be interacting with students they may not be familiar with. Counselors took this opportunity to build rapport and foster new relationships with students.

Every Wednesday, counselors hosted activities or events surrounding mental health (depression, anxiety, suicide, stress, test anxiety, etc). The activities were available all students and were most frequently offered during lunch hours. The grant supported helping make the activities more creative, including the purchase of paint supplies, chalk, and fidgets for the Kindness Rocks and Positive Chalk Talk activities. Each week we seemed to have more participation as awareness of these activities grew during the year.

This program was instrumental in allowing Milford Counseling to furnish and supply two new rooms for students to utilize when they were feeling anxious. The spaces were design with comfortable seating and decor to provide a relaxing environment for students. Supplies included coloring books, colored pencils, CBT sheets, manipulatives/fidgets/etc.

The purpose of this project was to determine if the Smovey-Vibroswing System would have an impact on improving children’s ability to self-regulate their emotions, over time, by utilizing motion and vibrations to activate both hemispheres of the brain. All students involved showed a decrease in the average number of times that they became dysregulated per day, from the beginning of the study to the end.

Mini-grant funds were use to purchase supplies and support activities as part of a friendship group for female middle school students. Activites included:

• Group Juggle - Learning how to manage things in their everyday lives
• Listening Activity - Learning to be an active listener
• All About Me - Students describe themselves utilizing a vision board
• TP Shuffle - Non-verbal communication skills are learned
  

The Oakland Counseling Association is a membership-based, community organization. Memberships run from September 1st through August 31st each year. Heading into a new school year is the best time to renew your OCA membership to take advantage of all the discounted event registrations, free SCECH processing, and mini-grants available to members only.

2024-2025 OCA membership information is available on the OCA Membership page and reminders will be sent out early in the fall. Please share with any counselor colleagues who may not be an OCA member yet!

COST

• Individual counselor - $25
• Graduate school student - $10
• Retired counselor - $10

BENEFITS OF OCA MEMBERSHIP

• FREE or reduced price professional learning opportunities
• All online professional learning events are FREE for members
• FREE SCECH processing for all events
• Identify as a professional counselor (solidarity)
• Opportunities to network and connect with other mental health professionals
• Advocacy and support for counselors
• Eligible for mini-grant opportunities
• Eligible for end of year awards
• Eligible for membership and prize drawings
  

OTHER NOTES

• Membership is valid from September 1 through August 31 each school year
• Membership is open to all school and private practice counselors
• Membership is welcome for counselors outside of Oakland County

The OCA mini-grant program is back for 2024-2025 and the application is now open!

The Oakland Counseling Association (OCA) will offer a maximum of eight (8) grants of $250 to be used to support an initiative that directly advances career readiness, academic growth, and/or social/emotional development with students.

To be eligible to receive a mini-grant:

• Grant applicants must have current OCA membership for the 2024-2025 school year and provide a detailed application of how mini-grant funds will be used
• Preference will be given to applicants and organizations who have not previously been awarded an OCA mini-grant

All grant applications that are submitted before the deadline of October 13, 2024 will be reviewed by the OCA board on a rolling basis as applications are received. Applicants will be notified of application approval within 30 days of submitting the application.

Grant funds can be utilized anytime during the 2024-2025 school year. A final mini-grant outcome report is due by June 1, 2025.

Our school reached out to the Selfridge Air National Guard Base to inquire about a tour of their facilities and to learn more about opportunities for our students.

Topics that were covered:

• Air National Guard
• Army National Guard
• Navy and Marines
• Coast Guard
• Museum & Educational Center Presentation
• Customs & Border Patrol Sea and Air
• Air National Guard

During our tour we learned about the benefits and opportunities of each of these programs. I have heard recruiters before and I am familiar with some of those programs, but what was different about this experience was how close up we were able to get.

Some of my favorite experiences were:

• Being in a hanger with a A10 warthog and learning how these planes work. The A-10 was specifically engineered to deliver close air support (CAS) to allied ground troops, specializing in engaging armored vehicles, tanks, and other hostile ground forces. Notably, it stands as the sole production-built aircraft exclusively crafted for CAS duties to have been utilized by the U.S. Air Force.
• Interacting with the Coast Guard who allowed us to try out their night vision goggles, step inside their helicopters, and understand firsthand how both jumpers and pilots navigate the aircraft. The coast guard represents a maritime security entity within a specific nation. This designation encompasses a broad spectrum of responsibilities across different countries. These responsibilities can range from serving as a heavily armed military force with duties in customs and security, to operating as a volunteer organization primarily focused on search and rescue efforts without law enforcement authority.
• Visitng with the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) which stands as the largest federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. Tasked with managing the nation's borders, CBP serves as the principal entity for border control, overseeing the regulation and facilitation of international trade, the collection of import duties, and the enforcement of various U.S. regulations encompassing trade, customs, and immigration.
  

For those interested in exploring opportunities for our students further, I highly recommend reaching out to Selfridge to arrange a tour.

In addition, an enticing opportunity was extended to school counselors: the Air National Guard has graciously invited counselors to attend an open house and air show on June 7th. Counselors would enjoy VIP access to a designated section on the air strip, complete with food, beverages, and optimal views of the show. If you are interested, contact TSgt Justin Nabarrette at 586-321-3944.

In fact... OCA is planning an event this fall to take OCA members out to Selfridge for a full-day event! We are still working out the details, but it will be in October. Stay tuned for more information and registration which will be coming out around the start of the school year.

Back during our November OCA board meeting we were fortunate to have a special guest! For those of you who have been around for a bit, you'll recognize Jim Whitledge. Jim was a long-time Farmington counselor, he helped build up the University of Detroit-Mercy's counseling program and get it CACREP accredited, he served as a the Oakland Schools consultant for guidance and counseling, and was a crucial part of the Oakland Counseling Association.

Jim shared some of his experiences with our OCA board and helped us to better understand the history behind the evolution of the Oakland Counseling Association.

For those of you who are newer to school counseling in Oakland County: Jim served as the Oakland Schools consultant for guidance and counseling from 2002-2010 before his position was cut during a massive restructuring and budget crisis at Oakland Schools. His leaving, and the absence of any direct support for school counselors in Oakland County, led to the Oakland Counseling Association advocating for the re-creation of a school counseling consultant role, which was ultimately adopted in 2019. Pictured above you'll find Sean Dougherty (left) and Jim Whitledge (right), the current and former counseling consultants at Oakland Schools.

Selina Abraham

Nicole Bell

Sean Dougherty

Elizabeth Germaine

Amanda Gohl

Randy Maddock

Albana Metaj

Kelly Messing-Mirabito

Ben Morin

Pamela Wesley

Email: oaklandcounselingassociation@gmail.com
Website: www.oaklandcounselors.org
Phone: ------------------------
Twitter: @OCACounseling