Richard Spears

About Richard Spears

Professor, Richard T. Spears MS, MA LPC, LADC, CPP is a certified professional…

Experience

1. Adjunct Professor

   Springfield College

   Jan 2010 — Present

   Provided introduction into Family Counseling / therapy and the problems families face which are often conditioned by the cultural issues its members combat, regardless of their socioeconomic background. However, most therapeutic models ignore this important factor. This course explores various models for diagnosis and therapy that incorporates cultural issues. It provides clinicians and trainees with readily applicable concepts, methods, and techniques for helping families and their members overcome difficulties related to marriage, immigration, acculturation, socioeconomic inequality, prejudice, and ecological or demographic change. This course enables students and future therapists to analyze and describe a family as a cultural system, explain its culture-related difficulties, and design and carry out culturally sensitive strategies for solving these difficulties.Counseling from a Racial perspective provided strategies for students future counselors, clinician, therapist, psychologist and practitioners to be effective as helping professionals. As practitioners they must understand counseling principles, theories and approaches within various subgroups, and populations. Effective counselors / helpers reduce the social, economic and emotional barriers encountered by American subgroups and consider culture to be broadly comprised, containing elements of religion, gender, sexuality, lifestyle, ethnicity and historical context. Utilizing current research and personal experience, convey the needs, experiences and characteristics of populations commonly encountered by counselors as well as those commonly discriminated against and misunderstood. The course focuses specifically on African Americans, Arab Americans, multiracial persons, incarcerated individuals, those in the sexual minority, and, more broadly, on men\'s and women\'s issues.

Education

• Springfield College

  Masters, Administration

  2000

• Vermont College

  Masters, Psychology Counseling

  2009