Blog

During the summer of 2018, directly following graduation festivities, I was honored to be a part of a team that traveled to Angola, Africa, to provide health education via health fairs and medical assistance, as well as community-building and networking for the future. Before the trip began, there were many planning meetings held on how best to serve the people of Angola, specifically in Bongo, Huambo, and Luanda.

This summer, the School of Behavioral Health made an historic visit to Samoa. One of the School’s largest trips ever, it included five faculty and 12 students from the departments of Counseling and Family Sciences, Psychology, and Social Work and Social Ecology. This trip was the result of an exciting collaboration between SBH, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), and the Samoan government. There were two major areas of focus for the trip.

When I made the choice to come to Loma Linda University, I knew that being in a practicum that was exclusively clinical was important to me. I also knew that I wanted to work in a psychiatric facility. The first time I met Professor Forrester, he explained what options I had after getting to know more about the sort of social worker that I wanted to be. He immediately recommended that I interview at the LLU Murrieta Campus Behavioral Medicine Center when he realized how much I loved psychotherapy.

The School of Behavioral Health recently hosted three alumni meetings at Starbucks locations in the Inland Empire. These meetings provided an opportunity for alumni to reconnect with one another, network, and hear the latest information about events occurring within the School and the broader University. Just a few of the updates included the publication of the first SBH alumni magazine, the development of an integrated field placement in Samoa, major research projects within the departments, and the addition of new faculty.

Promoting the social work core value of service, the Phi Alpha Honor Society, Iota Pi Chapter's finale for the academic year was the "Laundry Gift Basket" project benefiting homeless families transitioning into permanent housing. Members of the Honor Society were aware that the cost of obtaining household essentials was prohibitive for many homeless families, so Phi Alpha partnered with Inland Housing Solutions (formerly known as Inland Temporary Homes) to provide some needed items.

At the end of the 2017-18 academic year, three gifted and long-standing School of Behavioral Health faculty retired: Dr. Douglas Huenergardt and Dr. Cheryl Simpson, both Professors in the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, and Dr. Viola Lindsey, Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Ecology. Dr. Simpson has served the University for over 38 years and Dr. Huenergardt for over 18 years.

In late April, several of Dr. Holly Morrell's students presented a poster on problematic video game use at the annual Western Psychological Association (WPA) conference in Portland, Oregon. Student and first author Hyo Jin Lee summarizes its significance: "Problematic video game use (PVGU), or addiction-like use of video games, is associated with negative physical and mental health problems as well as problems in social and occupational functioning. However, studies on video games in general, and PVGU more specifically, are few in number.

Last weekend, the School of Behavioral Health contributed as a sponsor to the Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center's 2nd annual Stand Up to Stigma 5K Walk/Run, on May 20, 2018.

In Fall 2017, a new educational and training Child Life program was opened to pediatric nurses from the People’s Republic of China. The program was a result of a four-year series of educational exchanges between the Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health, Child Life Specialist Program, and The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (ZUCH). Xiaohua (Nancy) Wu, was the first student to enroll in a new six-month program designed to improve healthcare experiences for children and their families.

Jedd Alejandro, Clinical Psychology PhD student, has won the Society for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality/American Psychological Association - Division 36 (Psychology of Religion) Student Poster Award! Jedd was awarded for his poster entitled, "God, Give Me a Miracle!