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Holistic Counseling at Southwestern College: You Say You Want a Revolution
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| Jim Nolan is President of Southwestern College in Sante Fe, New Mexico. |
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SANTE FE, NM
Thinking of going into Counseling Psychology, Art Therapy, Clinical Social Work, Holistic Counseling?
My name is Jim Nolan, and I am the president of Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico (just happens to be the most gorgeous setting on earth, but you probably know that already…).
First off, let me say that you have to make a decision whether you want to be only a “clinician,” working mechanically with insurance company–mandated protocols, learning paper work and seeing a deadening number of clients a week, or whether you want to make a difference in the world, contribute meaningfully to your clients at the individual and collective levels, and grow exponentially yourself, as both a person and a professional.
Both of these options are available. Actually, there are scores of options for the first one, and stunningly few for the latter.
Southwestern College is very different from any graduate program I have ever seen. I do not say that because I happen to work there; I work there because what I said is true. At a time when, honestly, I was getting pretty disillusioned with mainstream Psychology, and Counseling programs, I found great hope in Southwestern College’s truly holistic approach to graduate education in both Counseling and Art Therapy/Counseling.
At Southwestern College the focus is on experiential learning, which most evolved educators know is the only really effective way to learn. The whole idea is for you to awaken your own inner teacher, align with your own truth and inner knowing, and see what resonates for you, or makes sense to you. We absolutely want to hear your voice, in the first person. That is what matters—that you find and align with your inner knowing.
Our holistic approach holds that it is the therapeutic relationship that matters. When you have the greatest self-awareness possible, and are connected with, and grounded in, your Higher Self—well, that is when great things can happen with you and your clients. It is not just about theory, or evidence, or the “treatment plan”—it is about you holding a space for your clients to open up to their own inner knowing, so they can access their own inner and outer resources and heal or grow or whatever it is they have come here to do. We are not the experts, the “fixers”—we co-create an environment within which clients can access the resources they need to find their own alignment with their own truth and dreams. This is a pretty creative and some might say radical approach to this work.
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Lest you wonder whether this interesting and meaningful approach is recognized in the world, let me tell you that Southwestern College has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1996 (just recently recommended for ten more years) and by the American Art Therapy Association. Our graduates are licensed all over the country, so we are extremely well respected and received, and our graduates tend to rise into leadership positions quickly, due in significant part to the orientation we have toward cultivating higher consciousness in our students and ourselves. Different? Yes. No doubt. Respected and on target? It sure looks like it.
Speaking of consciousness, “transforming consciousness through education” is in fact our mission statement. We are looking to do much more than “train clinicians.” Our mission is much greater than that. We hold the high-minded notion that through changes in consciousness the world can change and become a more highly evolved place.
Consciousness, as understood at Southwestern College, is the capacity and willingness to live life with intentionality and the highest possible level of awareness regarding our personal, social, and spiritual reasons for being here. Good stuff.
I am guessing that if you have read this far, something about Southwestern College is resonating for you; that you might be a kindred spirit. I would encourage you to come visit our Web site at swc.edu and fill out an information inquiry. We would love to talk with you, and I am offering my personal email address here in case you want to contact me directly.
I assume you want to go into Psychology, or Counseling, or Art Therapy in order to become an agent of change, or a helper, or a healer. I heartily encourage you to pursue that direction.
For more information visit www.swc.edu.
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