Graduate Faculty Focus | Stephanie Snyder

I am licensed in the State of Maryland as a counselor for mental health (LCPC) and addictions (LCADC), and I have a supervisory status for both licenses. I am the director of NeighborHood Counseling Training Center (NCTC), and I am an adjunct faculty for the clinical mental health counseling program at Hood College.

I have my bachelor’s in psychology from Mount St. Mary’s University, and I received my master’s in humanities with a concentration in mental health counseling from Capella University. I am finishing my Ph.D. in counseling, education and supervision (CES) at Walden University. I expect to finish my Ph.D. by March 2025. 

I’ve been affiliated with Hood College for a very long time! I started my undergraduate program at Hood in the early 2000s before transferring, as I had switched schools to pursue a different degree. I still loved Hood, though. My oldest daughter graduated from Hood with both her undergraduate and master’s degrees, and my youngest daughter is currently an undergraduate student at Hood now! 

During the internship phase of my Ph.D. program through Walden, I was able to secure an internship site through Hood College working with NCTC in fall 2022. Upon the completion of my internship in December 2022, I was hired as the NCTC director under the direction of Professor Megan Shaine and the Behavior Health Workforce Education Training (BHWET) grant.

I have more than 20 years of experience working in the mental health and humanities field. NCTC allows me the opportunity to provide both education and supervision for the NCTC interns known as “site fellows.” Having the opportunity to help support a low cost to free mental health clinic for both community members and Hood students, along with supervising and providing the structure needed for optimum growth and learning, is very fulfilling. 

This semester, I helped teach four classes. I have had the opportunity to work with people recovering from substance use disorders in all levels of care, mental health hospital settings and trauma work with veterans. 

It’s one of those things where you discover how well you do in crisis situations. I found that I excel in those situations, and I wanted to help others in said situations. When you’re dealing with trauma, you have to make your support count for the people you are counseling.

I’ve also worked in hospital settings and with people dealing with many types of mental health crises. Doing this allowed me to develop those essential skills for trauma work, and I want to help as best as I can. It looks different today than when I first entered the field, as I am in a solid position to teach new clinicians how to do their work well.

I created a one-credit elective class. It is the one thing that people need to get their addiction training certification through Maryland, which is alcohol and drug training (ADT). One of the 15 credits you need is “Ethics for Addiction,“ and only a handful of schools offer that class.

The students in the Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC), or school counseling programs, who take the one-credit Ethics for Addiction class have the potential to do more during their practicum and internship phases of the program. Having their ADT will allow them to work directly with substance use clients if they are at a site that focuses on addiction and recovery. They will be able to complete “billable“ tasks that other interns would not be permitted to complete. This gives them an advantage. Having their ADT may help them get hired after graduation while they wait for other licensures to be approved by the state. This will make our students more marketable overall.

This one-credit class maximizes their ability to find work during and after the program. You’ll earn more with a dual license in addictions and mental health. It also opens up doors in settings like hospitals, where they need experts in mental health and addictions.

It raises the awareness of trauma-informed care and pairs well with the addictions class I teach along with Professor Erik Messinger. It helps prepare students to work with a more vulnerable population. There are more regulations on what you can and cannot share when helping people with addictions. These rules are in place to ensure the clients don’t get in trouble for seeking help with overcoming addictions.

I hope that students get an awareness and understanding that addiction requires privacy beyond the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) laws. The addicted population is high-risk and requires special care. The elective prepares students for a topic outside of the typical scope of mental health counseling.

I have two courses that I am playing around with and would love to create. For the supervision piece in the State of Maryland, Proffesor Shannon Shoemaker, Professor Messinger and I would like to create an 18-credit continuing education unit (CEU). Not many places in Maryland offer it nearby, so we would like to offer it to make it more convenient for students. This 18-credit CEU would be offered to any LCPC, LCSWC or LCADC who are seeking the supervision status for the State of Maryland. This would be offered to people outside of Hood, not just students.

The other class I would really like to work toward is a licensure class. We want to prepare students for their lives after graduation to ensure they are prepared to work in their fields. It would be about finishing all their internship stuff, learning how to complete the Maryland state application and all other post-graduation requirements.

I love theater. I like to perform in local community theaters as a form of self-care. 

Curious about trying out electives like Stephanie’s? Ready to #GOFURTHER in your career? Learn more about Hood College’s certificates, such as trauma, crisis, grief and loss, by clicking here.