Continuing Conversations

Continuing Conversations September 2024

Greetings Alumni! And a tremendously joyful welcome to our new Alumni – the Class of 2024!

Welcome to your late Summer Edition of Continuing Conversations. We hope this newsletter finds you well. Here in the Office of Alumni, it has been a productive and exciting Summer. We have deepened our work immensely. We are so blessed by our new alumni. We are nurturing evolving alumni rhythms, tending to our new directory (see below!), and having wonderful conversations about expanding our community connections.

Huge News: Please join our new Alumni Directory!

We are now ready to welcome all alumni to join! We are ecstatic and hope you’ll enjoy it and find it helpful!

Lastly, please contact me if you have any concerns about your email access or contacts – we have a new database and are working on improving all of our alumni data management – any issues can be sent directly to me at jskillman@theseattleschool.edu!

We send you all our love,
Jocelyn Skillman MACP ‘13
Supervisor of Alumni Outreach

Tributes

Over these past several months, several in our alumni community have known significant heartache as we have grieved the deaths of Elle Malmstrom MACP ’20, Tos Fackenthall MACP ’10, and Laurie Hovis MACP ’17. Thank you so much for sharing these tributes with us: 

Please continue to pray for these three beautiful alumni, their families, and their circles of connection.

School News

Join Us at Convocation!

Convocation is around the corner! Please save the date and join us this September 14 at St. Mark’s Cathedral as we welcome, mark, and bless our incoming cohort and community! We strive to have every year of our school’s life walk with us through your alumni representation of a great embodied cloud of witnesses in our convocation ceremony & procession – contact alumni@theseattleschool.edu to RSVP by September 12 and get more details!

Alumni Support

MACP graduates: State Licensure process guidance varies wildly and uniquely depending on when you graduated, your coursework, and what the current guidelines are state-by-state — please contact Student & Academic Services if you have any licensure-related needs and they can help with advising. Sign up here for a meeting! 

Thank You to Our (S)ending Alumni Workshop Leaders! 

We want to extend a huge thank you to the incredible Bethany Bylsma MACP ‘16, Dan Cumberland MATC ‘13, Paula Womack MACP ‘10, and Martha McNeely MACP ‘17 who each led just incredible workshops for our graduating class’ (S)ending Season – on Private Practice, Entrepreneurship, Community Mental Health, and Finances 101, respectively! If you’d like to get in on their wisdom please email us at alumni@theseattleschool.edu and we will share their workshops and materials with their blessing!

IFPE Conference in Seattle

The International Forum For Psychoanalytic Education is hosting a conference in Seattle on October 17-19 that will have a large number of alumni presenters in attendance – and Dr. Caprice Hollins (former faculty) and John Totten MACP ‘12 will both be receiving IFPE’s Distinguished Educator awards! Congratulations! Please check out the conference website for more info and join your fellow alumni! 

Alumni Spotlight

Thank you Charlie Howell, MACP’16 for welcoming us into your life as we spotlight you and your passion for storytelling as a business consultant, tutor, and photographer. Learn more about Charlie’s journey and see some of the photos from his time as a student.

Read More about Charlie

Alumni News & Offerings

Faculty News

Goodbye to Dr. Stephanie Neill

Dr. Stephanie Neill has officially retired as of this academic year’s close. Dr. Neill dedicated over 20 years to teaching and training students, laboring alongside Christie Lynk, Steve Call, Chelle Stearns, Dr. Caprice Hollins, Roy Barsness, Jo-Ann Badley (to name a few!) and those still here to shape The Seattle School for the next generation of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Many of us are recipients of her grounding clinical knowledge and ethical expertise. Stephanie’s passion for poetry and learning, participation in our life together, deep kindness, and ready laugh have marked us all. She will always be a part of us.

Welcome Dr. Lizz Barton!

Dr. Elizabeth (Lizz) Barton has joined the faculty of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology! A licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Washington, she has received a degree in Psychology from Concordia University-Portland, a Master’s degree in Theology from Fuller Seminary as well as a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology. She has taught undergraduate courses in psychology and world religions, directed the training program for master’s-level and doctoral-level counseling students at Pacific Lutheran University Counseling Services, and served as the director of the Counseling Center at PLU.

While Dr. Barton has worked in a variety of mental health settings, her passion is engaging emerging adults in meaningful therapy and investing in the development, training, and mentoring of the next generation of deeply human and present clinicians. We’re excited about the gifts and talents she brings to our faculty and we look forward to growing together with her in our relational community.

Board Games & Mental Health Conversations

Check out the Board Games & Mental Health series on our YouTube channel with Dr. Paul Hoard, Dr. Jermaine Ma, and Paul Steinke MACS ’05, MACP ’23. Take a look at the latest Episode 4 here. The series began with the game Turncoat, posted earlier in 2024.

Faculty Publications & Presentations

Center for Transforming Engagement News

The Allender Center News

The Other Journal Updates

Check out the new issue of The Other Journal for an exploration of Church from ableism and racism to mystical theology, stories, and poetry. Sign up to receive the free newsletter of The Other Journal where each month Editor-in-Chief Zac Settle shares insights and curated recommendations! For more access to each new issue and the archive, subscribe to The Other Journal! Check out our latest call for papers on the topic of death. The next issue drops in late November!

Community Links

Alumni Announcements & News

If you would like to place an announcement or share news in our upcoming quarterly alumni newsletter, please email Jocelyn Skillman at jskillman@theseattleschool.edu. Thank you!