About our authors
Victoria E. Kress, PhD/LPCC-S (OH), NCC, CCMHC, is a professor, counseling clinic director, and the director of the clinical mental health and addictions counseling programs at Youngstown State University. She previously worked as the director of advocacy for the National Board of Certified Counselors. She has over 25 years of clinical experience working with youth and adults in various settings, which include community mental health centers, hospitals, residential treatment facilities, private practices and college counseling centers. She has published over 130 refereed articles and book chapters and she has coauthored 5 books on counseling youth and adults. She was identified as the top producer/publisher in counseling journals between the years 2000 and 2017. She previously served as the associate editor of the Theory and Practice Sections of the Journal of Mental Health Counseling, and as an editorial board member for the Journal of Counseling and Development and other counseling journals. Dr. Kress has lectured throughout the United States, as well as internationally, on various topics related to counselor practice. Dr. Kress served 2 terms as a governor-appointed member of the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board and served as the chair of the Counselor Professional Standards Committee. She also served as the ethics liaison for Ohio's state regulatory board and presently serves as a consultant/expert witness for counselor ethics cases. She has been the recipient of over 40 professional and community service awards, most of which were for her advocacy, leadership, scholarship, community service and mentorship initiatives. She has also received awards for her work with people who have intellectual disabilities, for empowering girls in her community, for her sexual assault prevention efforts and for her child abuse advocacy work. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) honored her with the Martin Ritchie Award for Excellence in Advocacy. She also received the following American Counseling Association (ACA) Awards: the ACA Fellow Award, the Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person, the Distinguished Mentor Award, the Counselor Educator Advocacy Award and the Government Relations Award. She has been the recipient of the following Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Awards: the Counseling Vision and Innovation Award, the Outstanding Mentor Award, the Robert Stripling Award for Excellence in Standards and the Leadership Award. She has also received several Youngstown State University awards (e.g., the Giant Award, Distinguished Scholar, Distinguished Public Servant) as well as various Ohio Counseling Association awards, including the Counselor of the Year Award, the Research and Writing Award, the Legislative Advocacy Award and the Leadership Award. She is a past president of Chi Sigma Iota International and the Ohio Counseling Association; she is a past ACA region chair and she is the president-elect of the Association for Humanistic Counseling. She has also worked and volunteered in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Rwanda, promoting mental health awareness and training, as well as the professionalization of counseling.
Linda Seligman, PhD, received her doctorate in counseling psychology from Columbia University. Her primary research interests included diagnosis and treatment planning as well as counseling people with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Dr. Seligman was a professor at George Mason University for 25 years. She served as codirector of the doctoral program in education, coordinator of the Counseling Development Program, associate chair of the School of Education and head of the Community Agency Counseling Program. She was later named professor emerita. Dr. Seligman also served as associate at Johns Hopkins University and as a faculty member in counseling psychology at Walden University. During her lifetime, Dr. Seligman authored 15 texts, including Selecting Effective Treatments; Diagnosis and Treatment Planning in Counseling; Developmental Career Counseling and Assessment; and Promoting a Fighting Spirit: Psychotherapy for Cancer Patients, Survivors, and Their Families. She also wrote more than 80 professional articles and text chapters. She lectured throughout the United States, as well as internationally, on diagnosis and treatment planning and was recognized for her expertise on that subject. In 1990, the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) designated Dr. Seligman as Researcher of the Year. In 2007, AMHCA honored her with the title of Counselor Educator of the Year.
Lourie W. Reichenberg, MA, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor in private practice in Falls Church, Virginia. She also provides clinical supervision for therapists and interns at The Women's Center in Vienna, Virginia. She earned her master's degree in counseling psychology from Marymount University. She has taught crisis counseling, abnormal psychology and counseling theories to graduate and undergraduate students. She is currently on the executive committee of the Virginia Association of Clinical Counselors and serves on the board of directors for the Northern Virginia Licensed Professional Counselors. Reichenberg is a member of the CrisisLink LOSS team, which provides assistance in the community after a suicide has occurred. She served on the CrisisLink Board of Directors from 2003 to 2006 and is on the organization's Advisory Council. She is a past editor of the Northern Virginia Licensed Professional Counselors and was the editor of the Journal of the College and University Personnel Association from 1988 to 1993. She coauthored Selecting Effective Treatments (2007, 2012) with Dr. Seligman and has published many professional articles including a chapter on grief and loss in Crisis Assessment, Intervention and Prevention (Jackson-Cherry & Erford, 2010, 2013). She has edited more than 30 texts and monographs. Her primary interests include crisis counseling; grief and loss and helping individuals, couples and families cope with life transitions. She approaches her work as a therapist, educator and community volunteer from a humanistic, person-centered and emotionally focused perspective and incorporates mindfulness into her practice.
