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Faculty Briefs: January 2012

Debbie Barrett (see video below) has an article published in Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Life, Jan./Feb. 2012 issue, “Fibromyalgia & Sexual Intimacy: Transforming Pain into Pleasure” (pages 20-21).

A short play by Barrett was performed as part of the Festival of New Works at the Acme Theater in Maynard, Mass., on Jan. 13 and 21.

Natasha Bowen has contracted with the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction to provide professional development to teachers in Halifax County Schools. She will focus her efforts in one struggling school where teachers will receive individualized consultation on how to motivate students to behave, engage, and learn to their full potential.

Mimi Chapman was recently part of a Playmakers post-play panel discussion of “No Child.” The play brings the reality of teaching in an arts-poor, inner-city community to life in a way in which the audience is able to feel compassion for all of the characters. Read more on Chapman’s blog.

Emeritus faculty member Andrew Dobelstein was elected treasurer of the Poverty and Public Policy section of the American Political Science Association at the September 2011 annual meeting.

His most recent article, “Social Security: A New Paradigm for Reducing American Poverty,” has been published on-line by Berkeley Electronic Press.

Dobelstein remains president of the UNC Retired Faculty Association and has played a major role in bringing the biannual meeting of the National Association of Retiree Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE) to the Chapel Hill campus Oct. 21-24.

Kathy Johnson and Jodi Flick presented workshops at the 25th Family Foster Treatment Association Annual Conference in Orlando on July 26-29, 2011.  FCRP also had an exhibit table at the conference to highlight our training opportunities and publications.  Flick presented on “Trauma Stewardship for Organizations,” and Johnson presented two workshops, “Brain Development and the Effects of Maltreatment and Trauma,” and “Separation and Loss: Attachment and Maltreatment.”  The Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FFTA) strengthens agencies that support families caring for vulnerable children. FFTA  is an agency-led organization of treatment foster care providers established in 1988 with an initial purpose of defining and refining Treatment Foster Care practices. FFTA is assisted by recognized researchers and policy-makers in the fields of child welfare and mental health.

Johnson was elected to the North Carolina Professional Society on the Abuse of Children Board of Directors, and serves as chair of the scholarship committee. NCPSAC is the NC state chapter of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Johnson is a former president and board member of NCPSAC and served on the APSAC Board of Directors.

Johnson was elected to the NC Masonic Home for Children Board of Directors and will start serving a three-year term in March 2012. She also will be leading her third mission team to Port-au-Prince Haiti in 2012.  She is chair of the Yahve Jire Children’s Foundation Task Force at Western Blvd. Presbyterian Church, Raleigh.  The group coordinates and guides in the operation and finances of this school and orphanage that houses 25 children and 5 staff members.  She also serves on the Board of Directors for the YJ Children’s Foundation in Haiti.

Johnson is also on the Board of Directors of The Haiti Connection.  THC is a non-profit organization in Raleigh that initiates coalitions, and provides information and support for collaborative educational, medical, and spiritual projects in Haiti.

Anne Jones did a day long training at the Eastern AHEC in Greenville entitled “Understanding and Working with Stepfamilies” on Dec. 9. Jones did two trainings for third-year psychiatric residents as part of the UNC Hospital Family and Group Lecture Series on Dec. 7 and 12 entitled, “Assessment and Intervention Techniques with Couples.”

Rebecca Macy was appointed by Governor Beverly Purdue to the North Carolina Domestic Violence Commission. The Domestic Violence Commission is part of the North Carolina Council for Women. The Council’s mission is to advise the Governor, the North Carolina legislature and state’ departments on the issues impacting women in North Carolina, and raise awareness statewide of the impact of violence against women and directing available resources to serve victims in communities across the State.

Macy led a two-day workshop on Dec. 13 and 14 entitled, “Working with Female Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault,” on at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Service providers from the Cherry Point Family Advocacy Program attended the workshop along with service providers from the local community, including the Department of Social Services, domestic violence and law enforcement.

Sherry Mergner is presenting at the 5th Annual WNC Conference on Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders at MAHEC on March 15, 2012.  She will be co-presenting with Cheri Brackett, a mother who has a daughter with autism and a therapist in private practice, on “Two Mother’s Perspective:  The Challenges and Gifts of Raising a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

Dennis Orthner is presenting a free web conference Jan. 25 on “Helping Military Families Create Systems of Social Support.”

Tina Souders presented at ECU on Jan. 11 at their field education orientation for BSW and MSW students and their field instructors. She spoke on “Social Media and Your Professional Reputation: What You Need to Know!”

Kim Strom-Gottfried presented on “Moral Courage” and “Ethics and Social Networking” at the national conference of the Children’s Oncology Camping Association in Boise, Idaho, in November and “Ethical Boundaries in an Electronic Age” at the Health, Law and Ethics Conference in Raleigh in December.