Graduate Admission

It was early in the summer of 2008, and the unfortunate combination of low rainfall, high winds, and untimely lightning strikes had turned Northern California into a tinderbox and ignited wildfires that spread across vast acres of land, burning homes and displacing thousands.

Among those who rushed in to help was Judith Warchal, a professor of psychology and counseling in the Alvernia University Master of Arts in Community Counseling program and a disaster mental health volunteer with the American Red Cross.

Dr. Warchal, who has spent much of her career helping those in trouble, was assigned to a shelter set up in a Chico, California, high school, where she aided rural residents who had been displaced. “It was our job to help them cope with the fact that they had lost everything,” says Dr. Warchal. “To tell them they will get through this, that there are people to help them.”

These efforts were critical for the Californians. But they weren’t the only ones who benefited—Dr. Warchal uses the experience to help her students at Alvernia as well.
The MACC program prepares students to work in community settings treating mental illness and addiction, and it tries to expose students to a wide range of situations they may encounter on the job. Dr. Warchal’s volunteer work offers first-hand insight into some of those situations.

“It’s part of my job to prepare all counselors to deal with a crisis,” she says. “It helps when I’m not just talking theory, but I can bring in real-world experiences to the classroom.”

Her job is made easier, she adds, because she works at a university that has a strong commitment to the community, one where service and advocacy are highly valued. And she finds satisfaction in the role she plays to reinforce those values.

“It’s a humbling experience to realize you’re preparing the next generation of counselors,” Dr. Warchal says. “To teach people who go out and touch other peoples’ lives—it’s a privilege to be able to do that.”