Vision
Our vision imagines a region and a world in which everyone has access to an inspiring education and is provided the psychological tools and support needed to propel them toward flourishing lives of meaning, purpose and connection.
We see ourselves as a strong community partner that serves this vision in our region.
Mission
To embody that vision, our mission is to prepare outstanding therapists, educators, and advocates, grounded in the Jesuit values of a deep respect for all and a focus on social justice. Our mission is to develop professionals who will serve and positively transform schools, communities, and the greater society through their work.
Purpose
Our purpose is to change the world – one client, one student, one family, and one school at a time.
Values
Our core values.
We aim to be transformative in our educational programs. This aim manifests itself in our work with students; we endeavor to assist them in transforming themselves into agents of healing and change. As a faculty, we do not merely transmit “facts,” but rather help our students transform and grow in ways that will enable them, in their work, to help others change and grow. Transformation ripples outward to inspire and empower others – from ourselves to our students, clients, schools, and our communities.
Excellence is central to the work we do. Excellence means that we demand excellence of ourselves in teaching and scholarship, and this means that we stay on the cutting edge of knowledge and ensure that our work is never stale. Preparing students to do excellent work is always a central focus of our attention. Excellence means we are always pushing ourselves to maximize human flourishing, that we face fears of the unknown, and that we are constantly renewing ourselves and our thinking.
This attention to excellence is based in an orientation to do the “more” that is encapsulated in the Jesuit construct of Magis. Our work is a calling, and we demonstrate our commitment to that calling every day.
We recognize and celebrate the power of an inclusive community that is strengthened by different voices and perspectives. There are many kinds of diversity. We place particular value on maintaining and deepening our racial, ethnic, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, economic, and disability-based diversity as a community, as it is only through acknowledging, understanding, and representing different experiences that we can support the human flourishing of all.
In all of our work, we are driven by a vision of a world guided by principles of social justice – a concern for all members of our society, and especially the most vulnerable. Our efforts are guided by a desire to support human flourishing and development, and thus are always mindful of attending to issues of social justice in our efforts.
We place a high value on respectful relationships -- with each other, with our students, among our students, and with our community. To us, this means being open to new ideas and listening deeply to each other.
The Jesuit construct of “cura personalis,” or “attention to the whole person,” is a core value. Cura personalis entails respect for the human dignity of each individual, encapsulated in empathy and deep listening -- to each other and to our students. It also involves the cultivation of deep listening in our students in their later professional work. This entails engaging in continual self-reflection to ensure that we are approaching our work with humility and compassion.
We value the cultivation of critical thinking in our work. This means encouraging students to discern fact from opinion, engaging in logical analysis, and developing the capacity for evaluating competing points of view. At the same time, critical thinking is an evolving capacity, and involves an emphasis on meaning-making, synthesizing information, and developing wisdom. Critical thinking grows best in an environment that fosters trust and intellectual risk-taking.
