On Nov. 17, Bishop O'Connell's dean of student services and director of counseling, Mrs. Erin O’Malley, was the keynote speaker at the John Cook Lecture at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The John Cook Lecture is an annual event hosted by VCU’s School of Education’s department of Counselor Education, in conjunction with Counselor Education Student Networking Association, and Chi Sigma Iota National Honor Society. O’Malley’s presentation, “The Realities of Suicide: Prevention, Intervention and Response,” was attended by counselor educators, doctoral and masters students in counseling, area school counselors and teachers.
O’Malley is active in the national school counseling community. She has participated in conversations and listening sessions with Lynn Rosenthal, the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, and was invited to speak earlier this month at their latest listening session at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In addition, O’Malley is a member of the American School Counselor Associations selection committee for “School Counselor of the Year.”
“I embrace these opportunities to engage with counselors from different schools and different areas of the country,” said O’Malley. “Bishop O'Connell has a solid counseling core, and as much as I am proud of the services we provide to our students, we are continually striving to stay connected with best practices around the region and the country. We can never stop learning.”