About

About…..My assumption is I’m supposed to give additional information about my background, credentials, experience and the like. For me, the most important credentials are my faith and family. I’ve been a follower of Jesus since my sophomore year of college in 1973. I’d like to be a better Christian, but I would be saying that regardless of where I am in my faith journey. My wife and I are members of an Erie First Assembly of God church in Erie, Pennsylvania. She’s on Church council and I sing whenever they let me.

And at the same time, I prize my relationships with my wife, children and extended family above everything else. Now, if you ask my wife or children, they could give you a list of foibles and unsavory qualities, but that’s who we are as people, saint and sinner. But they know where I stand in my love for them. Oh, by the way, I just became a “grandpap” in January for the first time. Gabriel Scott Valenzuela is the first child of my daughter, Natalie, and son-in-law, Milo. Everyone keeps saying that grandparenthood is one of the few things in life that lives up to its billing. I’ve had a chance to spend some time with my grandson and it seems like parenting without any of the anxieties. It’s glorious!

Mercyhurst College is where I hang my academic hat, presently. It is a wonderful Catholic liberal arts college with great students and colleagues. I would send my children there in a heartbeat. And one of my children will graduate from there this spring (2008). This is my sixth year of full-time teaching in the Family and Consumer Sciences Department. There are a number of different concentrations in this department and I teach in Marriage & Family Studies. A sample of the classes I’m responsible for are Human Growth & Development, Intimate Relationships & the Family and Client Assessment & Intervention Techniques. I’d love to get a graduate program in marriage & family therapy going at Mercyhurst to resolve my Eriksonian “generativity” psychosocial conflict (ha-ha).

I also have a small private practice as I am a licensed marriage & family therapist. Actually, I was the first marriage & family therapist to be licensed in the state of Pennsylvania in 2002 (License #: MF000001).

This is my ninth year on the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists and Professional Counselors. I served as Chairman of this board for three of the nine years I’ve been a member. This Board regulates the stated professions to ensure that the public is protected from unauthorized or unethical therapy practices.

During this same time period, I became involved with the Association of Marital & Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB). The charge is similar to the consumer protection mandate that the states have, but it is with a national emphasis. AMFTRB assists states in this regulatory charge. I recently completed my tenure as President of this association and am currently Past-President. And just this past month, I represented AMFTRB at an international conference sponsored by the International Family Therapy Association by participating in a poster session in Porto, Portugal.

As far as hobbies, I’m a crazy Steelers fan. It’s difficult to grow up in southwestern Pennsylvania and not love football. I played football at every level starting with termites, mighty-mites, midgets, junior-high, high school and one year of college ball. I remember when Joe Greene was drafted during Chuck Noll’s first year as head coach. The team record that year was 1-13. A former Steeler and Penn State All American by the name of Fran Rogel was my high school football coach. I’ll save those stories for later. But I can’t get enough football at any and all levels.

Finally, I love music! And growing up where I did in Pittsburgh, I’m a white guy who loves R&B like Motown along with blues and jazz. But my all time favorite is black gospel. I can’t get enough black gospel. Just ask my family. I have more black gospel CDs than any ol’ white guy you’ll ever find (I have over 600 black gospel CDs presently). But I love singing it as well as listening to it.