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Lennis Echterling is a clinical psychologist, research scientist, professor of counseling and psychology at James Madison University. He has developed models for crisis intervention, resilience building, and counseling supervision.
Echterling studied at Rockhurst College, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970. [1] Echterling studied clinical psychology at Purdue University, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy in 1976. [1]
Echterling is a practicing Roman Catholic. For over four decades, Echterling has been a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Harrisonburg. [1]
Echterling developed Pathways to Resilience, a resilience building program sponsored by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs of the State Department. [2]
In 1986, Echterling founded the Critical Incident Stress Management Team in the Shenadoah Valley. Through this work, he provided crisis intervention services to hundreds of first responders following traumatic events. [1]
In 1990, Echterling began serving as a professor at James Madison University. [1] [3] Echterling teaches graduate level courses in brief counseling, crisis intervention, group counseling, and emergency supervisors. Echterling also serves as the director of the Ph.D. in Counseling and Supervision program, and supervises counseling psychology interns. [4]
In 2008, Echterling was awarded the All Together One Award by James Madison University. [3] In 2010, Echterling was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Award by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. [5] In 2020, Echterling was awarded the Magis Medal [1] by Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society of Jesuit colleges and universities.
Echterling's research interests include crisis intervention, [6] [7] disaster response alcoholism, [8] [9] constructing meaning, [10] building resilience, play therapy, [11] hypnosis, [12] [13] chaplaincy, [14] [15] and counseling supervision. [16] [17] [18]
In Crisis Intervention: Building Resilience in Troubled Times, [19] Echterling posits that there are six facets of the crisis experience, summarized by the acronym BASICS:
In Crisis Intervention: Building Resilience in Troubled Times, [19] Echterling posits the LUV triangle as a crisis intervention strategy, LUV being an acronym:
Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.
Hypnotherapy, also known as hypnotic medicine, is the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy. Hypnotherapy is generally not considered to be based on scientific evidence, and is rarely recommended in clinical practice guidelines. Reviews by psychologists have found hypnosis to be effective as an adjunctive treatment for a range of conditions, such as chronic and acute pain, irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias and eating disorder. ”It is regarded as a type of alternative medicine.
Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome problems. Psychotherapy aims to improve an individual's well-being and mental health, to resolve or mitigate troublesome behaviors, beliefs, compulsions, thoughts, or emotions, and to improve relationships and social skills. Numerous types of psychotherapy have been designed either for individual adults, families, or children and adolescents. Some types of psychotherapy are considered evidence-based for treating diagnosed mental disorders; other types have been criticized as pseudoscience.
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how individuals relate to each other and to their environments.
Applied psychology is the use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience. Educational and organizational psychology, business management, law, health, product design, ergonomics, behavioural psychology, psychology of motivation, psychoanalysis, neuropsychology, psychiatry and mental health are just a few of the areas that have been influenced by the application of psychological principles and scientific findings. Some of the areas of applied psychology include counseling psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, engineering psychology, occupational health psychology, legal psychology, school psychology, sports psychology, community psychology, neuropsychology, medical psychology and clinical psychology, evolutionary psychology, human factors, forensic psychology and traffic psychology. In addition, a number of specialized areas in the general area of psychology have applied branches. However, the lines between sub-branch specializations and major applied psychology categories are often mixed or in some cases blurred.
Counseling psychology is a psychological specialty that began with a focus on vocational counseling, but later moved its emphasis to adjustment counseling, and then expanded to cover all normal psychology and psychotherapy. There are many subcategories for counseling psychology, such as marriage and family counseling, rehabilitation counseling, clinical mental health counseling, educational counseling, etc. In each setting, they are all required to follow the same guidelines.

Steven Alan Hassan is an American mental health professional and author who specializes in the area of cults. He worked as a deprogrammer in the late 1970s, but since then has advocated a non-coercive form of exit counseling.
A school counselor is a certified/licensed professional that provides academic, career, college readiness, and social-emotional support for all students. There are school counselor positions within each level of schooling. By developing and following a school counseling program, school counselors are able to provide students of all ages with the appropriate support and guidance needed for overall success.
Suicide intervention is a direct effort to prevent a person or persons from attempting to take their own life or lives intentionally.
Psychological resilience, or mental resilience, is the ability to cope mentally and emotionally with a crisis, or to return to pre-crisis status quickly.
Hypnotic susceptibility measures how easily a person can be hypnotized. Several types of scales are used; the most common are the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales.
A mental health counselor (MHC), or counselor, is a person who works with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. Such persons may help individuals deal with issues associated with addiction and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics distinguishes "Mental Health Counselors" from "Social Workers", "Psychiatrists", and "Psychologists".
Crisis intervention is a time-limited intervention with a specific psychotherapeutic approach to immediately stabilize those in crisis.
Grief counseling is a form of psychotherapy that aims to help people cope with the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive responses to loss. These experiences are commonly thought to be brought on by a loved person's death, but may more broadly be understood as shaped by any significant life-altering loss.
John Goodrich Watkins was a United States psychologist best known for his work in the areas of hypnosis, dissociation, and multiple personalities. With his wife, Helen Watkins, he developed ego-state therapy, which uses analysis of underlying personalities, rather than traditional talk therapy, to find the causes of psychological problems.
Reflective listening is a communication strategy used to better understand a speaker's idea by offering your understanding of their idea back to the speaker in order to confirm that the idea has been understood correctly. It is a more specific strategy than general methods of active listening.
Vicarious trauma (VT) is a term invented by Irene Lisa McCann and Laurie Anne Pearlman that is used to describe how work with traumatized clients affects trauma therapists. The phenomenon had been known as secondary traumatic stress, a term coined by Charles Figley. In vicarious trauma, the therapist experiences a profound worldview change and is permanently altered by empathetic bonding with a client. This change is thought to have three requirements: empathic engagement and exposure to graphic, traumatizing material; exposure to human cruelty; and the reenactment of trauma in therapy. This can produce changes in a therapist's spirituality, worldview, and self-identity.
Pediatric psychology is a multidisciplinary field of both scientific research and clinical practice which attempts to address the psychological aspects of illness, injury, and the promotion of health behaviors in children, adolescents, and families in a pediatric health setting. Psychological issues are addressed in a developmental framework and emphasize the dynamic relationships which exist between children, their families, and the health delivery system as a whole.
Arlene Istar Lev is a North American clinical social worker, family therapist, and educator. She is an independent scholar, who has lectured internationally on topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity, sexuality, and LGBTQ families.
School-based family counseling (SBFC) is an integrated approach to mental health intervention that focuses on both school and family in order to help children overcome personal problems and succeed at school. SBFC is practiced by a wide variety of mental health professionals, including: psychologists, social workers, school counselors, psychiatrists, and marriage and family therapists, as well as special education teachers. What they all share in common is the belief that children who are struggling in school can be best helped by interventions that link family and school. SBFC is typically practiced at the school site, but may be based in a community mental health agency that works in close collaboration with schools.