Our first faculty highlight is Dr. Stephanie Neill, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology. Dr. Neill is a clinical psychologist who has been practicing in Western Washington since 1990, and in the Los Angeles area prior to that. In addition to private practice, she served as teaching assistant at Rosemead School of Psychology and as an adjunct and practicum supervisor in the graduate psychology program at Seattle Pacific University, and as an intern supervisor at Seattle University. She holds an AA degree in liberal arts from Cottey College, a BS in psychology from Montana State, and an MA and PsyD in clinical psychology from Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the VA hospital in Tacoma, where her training emphasis was on post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Neill began her work in the Practicum program at The Seattle School in 2001. In addition to her teaching, she runs a private practice in Woodinville.
Dr. Neill’s primary classes include Professional Ethics, History, Interpersonal Neurobiology, Case Conference and Learning Labs.
What are you currently reading?
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- John Brookes, The Book of Garden Design
- Monty Don, Down to Earth
- Judith Herman, Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice
- Justine Afra Huxley, Generation Y, Spirituality and Social Change
- John Muir, In Nature’s Heart
- Daniel Siegel, IntraConnected
- Numerous poetry books by Billy Collins, Joy Harjo, G. M. Hopkins, W.S. Mersyn, Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver, Roger Robinson, David Whyte
What have you been listening to lately?
Nature! I listen to nature and never walk with earbuds in. It is grounding to start each day with the birds and bugs, and the movement of leaves and water. If I am inside and need a podcast, it is most often The Hidden Brain, Being Well, This American Life, or On Being.
What research do you find yourself drawn to at the moment?
Issues of identity within communal spaces (the “we” and “me”); changes in the counseling profession with telehealth; climate issues and healing aspects of nature; impact of climate change on local farming communities.
What is something you’re celebrating?
My 33rd wedding anniversary! Also, the arrival of summer with its season of fresh produce and berries, and a more gentle rhythm.
Anything you’re looking forward to this summer?
Seeing my aging parents, being in the mountains and smelling pine and fir forests, paddling in Puget Sound, eating fresh-caught Dungeness crab.
What’s a favorite recipe or favorite food you enjoy?
Best summer meal for me is crab cakes and salad, followed by blackberry pie.
Why do you enjoy teaching at The Seattle School?
I love seeing students making connections. For example, as they leave ethics class and begin to see how their work from the core curriculum (epistemology, anthropology, human flourishing) impacts their professional ethic and how they will live this out at their internships and beyond.