Bellevue University Clinical Counseling Student Participates in Poster Presentation at Florida Counseling Conference
Ruth Castillo, a working adult learner in Bellevue University’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, recently participated in a poster presentation at the 74th Annual Florida Counseling Association’s conference held in Tampa, Florida.
Castillo works full-time as an academic program assistant at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences and works part-time at the Walt Disney Company.
She teamed up with her husband, Brandon Murray, a clinical mental health counseling student at Southern New Hampshire University, and Dr. Joanna Carter, an associate at St. Augustine, to look deeper into barriers to resilience in higher education that can cause burnout among faculty and staff.
Based on their literature review, they created a poster presentation for the conference entitled “Burnout: Identifying Resilience Barriers in Higher Education Faculty and Staff.” They plan to collect data and submit their paper to be published in key academic journals.
Presenting at academic conferences enhances the learning and development that students receive in the classroom,
According to Assistant Professor Dr. Terissa Upchurch-Butler, Castillo’s presentation and conference participation extends her 100% online classroom experience into the real world.
“Presenting at academic conferences enhances the learning and development that students receive in the classroom,” said Dr. Upchurch-Butler. “We’re so proud of Ruthie’s success at the conference and expect that her research and practical counseling skills will be enhanced by the experience.”
The Florida Counseling Association and the association’s annual conference promote the value of professional counseling, as well as support and unify thousands of professional counselors in all settings resulting in high-quality practices in Florida.
Castillo, from Palm Coast, Florida, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Psychology from St. Leo University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. She earned her associate degree in Psychology from Daytona State College.