A Note from the Facilitator and Doctoral Candidate: Lora R. Hubbard
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not an "either/or" event with regard to the dates. It's a TWO-DAY event, so registrations for BOTH dates, 4/17 AND 5/1, should be made. Content is different for both sessions. PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY MATTER!
This FREE two-day virtual event is for women, 18 years and older*, who have grown up in households where at least one relative, usually a parent, abused alcohol. Sometimes referred to as “adult children of alcoholics”, many are unaware of the possible links between this adverse childhood experience and certain aspects of their adult lives. With this in mind, the overall purpose of this event is to raise self-awareness through education, spiritual reflections, self-examination, and other voluntary activities while recognizing that everyone’s story is different. The actual impact of this childhood experience will vary from person to person—from mildly impacted to significantly impacted.
What are some of the main topics to be covered in the two-day workshop?
Since the topics for this two-day workshop build upon each other, and because it is part of a pre-determined doctoral project, participants must commit to both workshop sessions. Only one (1) registration can be made at a time, one for April 17, 2021, and one for May 1, 2021. Only those who attended the first session can attend the May 1st session. Some of the enlightening topics to be covered over the course of these two days include the following (with Q&A built in):
• The Common Characteristics of Adult Children of Alcoholics (with additional focus on adult daughters of alcoholics)
• The Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Adulthood
• Encouraging Spiritual Teachings/Reflections: (1). How God Can Work Everything Together for Our Good; (2). Dealing with the Past; (3). The Importance of Self-Care; and (4). Striving to Have a Healthy Thought Life
• Focusing Attention on Your “Inner Child”: What Would You Tell Your Nine-Year Old Self? How Would You Go About Self-Parenting that Child?
• No One is Exempt: A Video Account of a Popular Actor Who is an Adult Daughter of an Alcoholic and Gleaning Nuggets from Her Journey
• Parental Testimonies: What Were Some of the Challenges from the Other Side?
• Ample Time Set Aside for Journaling and Personal Reflections
• The Role of Forgiveness in the Self-Awareness Journey and in Personal Freedom
• AND MUCH, MUCH MORE…
Special Additions: In addition to all workshop materials, every participant will receive a journal, be given chances to participate in multiple drawings (including a generous ALDI’s gift card) and be contacted at some point after registration to address any questions about the workshop, including any technical concerns they may have about the ZOOM platform. If any participant has questions prior to this time, please contact Lora Hubbard directly via email at [email protected] or via text or call at (412) 389.4843.
My Testimony:
As the workshop facilitator and lead for this doctoral project, I was drawn to this subject because of my own childhood experience with a parent who struggled with alcohol abuse. My dad, who was a gifted pianist and organist, was an alcoholic for a good portion of his life. While he certainly was not his best self when he drank, he was otherwise one of the kindest and most caring human beings you could ever know. I loved him dearly. Over the years, through family support, an excellent drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, and of course God's divine intervention, he was able to maintain his sobriety for the remaining twenty-five years of his life. While it seemed that our earlier family dysfunction had been dealt with, and much of it had been, I remained unaware of how damaging alcoholism had been to our family, particularly to me as a young girl. In fact, it was not until I studied drug and alcohol addiction while enrolled in my Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling program at Pitt that I learned how devastating alcohol abuse and other addictions were to the family unit. I often wondered if adults who had been raised in alcoholic homes generally handled life differently than adults who had not been. Research says, “Yes.” I became personally interested in uncovering the actual impact of my early life experiences on my own adult life. Further research over the years, including that which was conducted for my doctoral project, answered many plaguing questions. In what is sometimes called “emergent awareness”, I have been able to acknowledge, over time, the specific emotional and physiological areas in my life that can be linked directly to my childhood exposure to parental alcoholism. I now know what it means to have been infected as a child and affected as an adult! I have trusted God in this journey, and I am grateful that He continues to lead me on this amazing path to wholeness. It is my prayer that this two-day self-awareness workshop will be a valuable part of your journey. It was created with YOU--or more accurately with US in mind! ~Lora Hubbard~
*NOTE: As required by the Institutional Review Board of the seminary, in addition to the age requirement of 18, participants who are pregnant or become pregnant during the course of this project are advised against participating. Also, if a participant is incarcerated or becomes incarcerated during the course of this project, participation would not be permitted.
Presenters:
Lora R. Hubbard, Doctoral Candidate at United Theological Seminary, LPC, CRC, Mt. Ararat Counseling Center: Ms. Hubbard has worked in the field of counseling for over forty years—both in the private and public sectors, including the Pittsburgh Public School District. Ms. Hubbard successfully owned and operated a disability management company that provided vocational rehabilitation counseling services to such local entities as the City of Pittsburgh, Port Authority Transit and Equitable Resources. She is also a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) through the State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors and serves as a Counselor at the Mt. Ararat Counseling Center. Ms. Hubbard received her Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling (M.Ed.) from the University of Pittsburgh and holds certifications through the Commission on Rehabilitation Counseling Certification and the Sarasota Academy of Christian Counselors. Presently, she is a Doctoral Candidate at the United Theological Seminary, focusing on Pastoral Care and Counseling. Ms. Hubbard’s main counseling specialties include: Individual, Rehabilitation, Pre-Marital/Marital, Temperament Therapy, Career/Vocational, Family Relationships, and Personal Development.
As a native Pittsburgher, Ms. Hubbard is a faithful member of Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in the East End of Pittsburgh. She was licensed as a minister of the gospel by Rev. Dr. William H. Curtis, Senior Pastor. During the course of her eighteen-year membership, Lora has served as a Women’s Sunday School teacher and a facilitator for the church’s small group Bible Study Ministry. She also has engaged in women’s ministry beyond her home church. She is an active team member of the Journey to Freedom Ministry which provides teaching, primarily to women. In 2020, the ministry was blessed to travel to Kenya and Uganda where they spent two weeks teaching and ministering to men, women, boys and girls.
As a gifted writer, she has contributed numerous articles to Mt. Ararat’s Christian lifestyle magazine, The Mount. In the summer of 2016, Lora released her first award-winning novel, Not Off the Hook at 491: When Unforgiveness Feels as Natural as Breathing. It deals with the challenging subject of forgiveness. The book reminds its readers how willing many are to receive forgiveness, but often struggle to extend it to others—even though God commands it.
It is her prayer that those who attend this virtual workshop will use it as a springboard to advance their personal growth and development.
Dr. Taunya M. Tinsley, D.Min., Ph.D., NCC, LPC, Clinical Director Mt. Ararat Counseling Center: Dr. Taunya Marie Tinsley is the Owner of Transitions Counseling Service LLC and Life Skills Program that includes a ministry division, Love and Basketball Ministries, where she provides individual, marriage, family and group counseling and consultative services. She is both a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and National Certified Counselor (NCC).
Additionally, Dr. Tinsley is a facilitator with the New Paradigm Ministries Leadership Training as part of the Ephesus Project and is the Clinical Director of the Mount Ararat Baptist Church Counseling Center both in Pittsburgh, PA. She has a wealth of experience providing appropriate personal and academic growth opportunities for those seeking to become professional master’s degree-level counselors as well as for those helping professionals seeking advanced or specialty areas of training and development in multicultural and social justice issues, spiritual and Christian interventions, and sports counseling/athlete development.
Dr. Tinsley has also managed to stay active in both the workplace and in the community advocating for and promoting organizations, helping professionals, and their clients. She has served as the North Atlantic Regional Representative for the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD), the President of the Pennsylvania College Counseling Association, and the President of the Pennsylvania Counseling Association. In 2006, Dr. Tinsley collaborated with the American Counseling Association to develop, facilitate, and enhance the Sports Counseling Interest Network. Dr. Tinsley served on the board for the Association of Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC) in 2018-2019 as well as served as AMCD President July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
Dr. Tinsley holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN where she was also inducted in the Athletic Hall of Fame in September 2014. She received her M.A. degree in Higher Education Administration and College Student Development in 1995 from the University of Iowa. Dr. Tinsley graduated in December 2005 from Duquesne University with a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision. In April 2013, she completed her requirements for the Certificate in Missional Theology from Biblical Theological Seminary. Finally, in December 2016, Dr. Tinsley earned her Doctor of Ministry with a focus in Prophetic Congregational Development Using 21st Century Methods, Establishing Strong Leadership from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH.
Dr. Tinsley spent nine years at California University of Pennsylvania as an Associate Professor in the Department of Counselor Education and Program Coordinator for the Sports Counseling Certificate Program. She has also served as the Director of Graduate Programs in Counseling at both Waynesburg University and Missio Seminary, as well as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Education and Counseling Department at Villanova University.
Kathleen Hunt, M.Ed., LPC, Mt. Ararat Counseling Center: Kathleen Hunt received her Masters of Education (M.Ed.) degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Psychology. She is currently the Community Counseling Program Team Leader at Family Services of Western Pennsylvania where she supervises and evaluates community therapists, as well as coordinates services provided by the therapists. Ms. Hunt’s previous experiences included working as an employee assistance program specialist and team leader, serving as the clinical director of a chemical dependency program, and working as a therapist with a MH/MR center.
Joanne R. Arroyo, LPC, CCTP, Founding Director, A State of Becoming Consulting: Joanne Arroyo is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). She holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Education of the Exceptional and a Masters of Arts (M.A.) in Clinical Counseling Psychology. She has over thirty years of experience in a wide array of educational and social services settings ranging from inner-city classrooms in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to being the Education Coordinator at HAVIN Domestic Abuse Shelter to being Lead Adolescent Therapist at Irene Stacy's Children's and Adolescents' Acute Partial Hospitalization program. Her blessed journey of serving and being part of ethnically, economically, and geographically diverse populations has given her insight into the commonality of despair and hope. Ms. Arroyo is currently the Founding Director of A State of Becoming Consulting. Her work is dedicated to disseminating and utilizing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) science to guide and inform strategic change. She is devoted to shedding light through the broken places for healing.
Dr. Sheila L. Johnson, Ph.D., D.Min., United Theological Seminary Faculty Mentor: Dr. Johnson has over thirty years of experience in ministry and as a university administrator/professor. She has over fifteen years of experience with graduate students (teaching and doctoral dissertation process). She is currently the Executive Pastor/Minister of Music at First Baptist Penn Hills and Senior Manager of Special Projects for Western Penn Hills Community Action, Inc. Dr. Johnson has numerous specialty areas, including Leadership Development, Ethnomusicology, Women’s Inequities, Urban Ministry, Teen and Young adult Spiritual Formation and Mentoring Programs, and Church Administration. Her tenure at the University of Phoenix School of Advanced Studies (Doctoral Department) included instructing classes in Transformational Leadership and Innovation, Psychology of Personality, Emotional Intelligence, Human Motivation, and Student Development Theory. As a Faculty Mentor at the United Theological Seminary, Dr. Johnson developed a Focus Group entitled, “A Generational Approach for Today’s Urban Ministry.” Her extensive experience in church administration, leadership, teaching, program development and management, as well as her love of God, helped to propel her to her current role as the first female President of the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Pittsburgh and Vicinity in its almost hundred-year history.
Dr. Johnson earned her Doctor of Ministry (Urban Ministry) from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 2010. She also holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Higher Education), 1983 from the University of Pittsburgh. She holds a Masters of Arts (M.A.) in Counseling, 1978 from Western Kentucky University, as well as a Bachelor of Music Education from the same institution. Dr. Johnson is internationally respected for her music gifts, not only through her ministry in song, but her creative ability to compose and instruct in music. She has produced numerous compositions, many of which have received awards, such as recognition on the Billboard and international Charts.
Pamela Watkins, BSN, MTS, Associate Minister, Mt. Ararat Baptist Church: Pamela Watkins is a Registered Nurse with over forty years of experience in nursing, with emphasis on psychiatric nursing. She earned her Bachelors Degree in Nursing from Carlow College. Over the course of her career, she has taught Nurse Aide Training at the Job Corps of Pittsburgh. Because of her love for nutritional health, she was afforded the opportunity to develop a course on the importance of healthy eating and an active lifestyle (HEALS), and to teach students age 16-24.
Ms. Watkins is a graduate of the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary where she earned a Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies. During the course of her twenty-three-year membership at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church, she was licensed as a minister by Rev. Dr. William H Curtis. She has served as a cell group Bible Study facilitator and as a women’s Sunday School teacher.
It has always been her heartfelt desire to encourage and empower women to live lives that are both physically and spiritually healthy. It was this passion that enabled her to form a women’s cycling group. For 5 years, fifteen women, ages twenty-seven to sixty-two have ridden to Maryland.
Ms. Watkins is presently employed by a Christian-based healthcare facility that not only allows her to engage in patient care, but to provide spiritual support to her patients, primarily through prayer whenever needed or requested.
Dr. Crystaline Barger, D.Min., Associate Minister, Mt. Ararat Baptist Church: Dr. Crystaline Barger was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, and has lived in the Pittsburgh region for twenty years. Her journey with Christ started at a young age with the heart attitude and a humble prayer that God would help her navigate her journey through this world. She realized, even then that He was the power that she needed to accomplish what He had for her to accomplish in this life. That sentiment has not changed to this day.
Dr. Crystaline was licensed to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ by the Rev. Dr. William H. Curtis, and has since earned her Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree from the United Theological Seminary of Dayton, OH. She currently serves as an Associate Minister at the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, PA where she is an active member serving in several leadership roles. Her life’s work has been two-fold: (1). Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power that God provides by faith to help navigate this life’s journey accomplishing what God has purposed us to do; and (2). Helping people, especially women and girls, properly process through the experiences and challenges of life.
Dr. Crystaline is a strong advocate of exposing youth to the viable higher education option of our nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) as she is a proud graduate of the nation’s first Private HBCU, Wilberforce University of Wilberforce, OH. While there, she earned her Bachelor or Arts (B.A.) in Social Work. She is also a proud graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she earned her Masters of Social Work (MSW).
Dr. Crystaline is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and serves on several local boards including the following: Vice President for the Board of Directors of the Ephesus Project, Grace Space, member of the board of directors for the Western PA Council of HBCU Alumni, The Rap Sessions, Inc. and the Chapter President for the Wilberforce University Alumni Association, Pittsburgh Chapter.
Registration and Accessing ZOOM: To register, complete the "Eventbrite Ticket." There is no cost associated with this two-day event. The Zoom link for this workshop will be emailed approximately 24 hours before the scheduled event to the email address you provided when you registered. Please kindly add the Eventbrite platform to your safe sender list or check your junk mail. Sometimes our email systems redirect our mail to other places besides our inboxes.
Confidentiality: Due to the sensitive nature of the workshop subject, participants’ confidentiality will be protected to the best of our ability. The degree to which a participant engages in workshop activities or shares personal life experiences (written or verbal) remains within that participant’s control. Participant names will not be shared with any institution or become a part of any written results associated with this workshop event. Participants are also free to use a pseudonym (an alternate name) if that level of confidentiality is desired on their end. This may be most relevant during the registration process, as well as with the ZOOM platform since names may be displayed. Participants will be provided with an Informed Consent Form with additional details concerning confidentiality and other information pertaining to their participation.