LIU Hudson at Rockland Graduate Student Presents at the New York State Mental Health Association Convention

I was excited to attend the bi-annual New York Mental Health Counseling Association’s (NYMHCA) Convention in Albany this year. NYMHCA is an advocacy organization representing the clinical counselors of New York State. This was an entire weekend of educational and enjoyable workshops, seminars and presentations within this year’s theme, which was ‘Integrating Creativity into Your Counseling Career’. This was fun way to meet new people, make connections and contacts with others professionals in the field that I probably would not have others been able to do. This was an opportunity to talk to others in all facets in the Mental Health Counseling field from all over the state. I don’t think there is any other organization quite like it which allows people to do this. In addition to attending as many seminars as I could, I was also able to actually be a part of a presentation as well. I was honored to be given the opportunity to be a co-presenter for a workshop on ‘Creative Mind Body Methods in Counseling’ with Dr. Nardi. This allowed me to have a first-hand experience of what it is like to lead an interactive presentation. Because it was interactive and got the audience involved, I think it was different than many of the other workshops, which made it stand out. There was a great deal of positive feedback about this presentation, which made me proud that I could be a part of it. This is an invaluably educational convention that I would strongly recommend anyone in the Mental Health Counseling field to attend in the future and I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it. This being my first time attending the convention, it was a genuinely rewarding experience and I can truly say that I will also be attending every two years that it will be held in the future. I plan to make this an integral part of my continuing education and in advancing my knowledge for my career as a Mental Health Counseling professional.

Jacquelyn Rizzo, MS recently graduated  from LIU Hudson at Rockland where she received a degree in Mental Health Counseling.