Therese Cristiani's passion for counseling has its roots at Southwestern where she was a psychology major under Professor of Psychology Doug Hooker and a resident assistant for two years.

"Dr. Hooker's influence on my career cannot be underestimated," she says. "I still remember the power of his classroom. Not only did he give us a strong foundation in humanistic psychology, he transformed many lives. His mentorship reached far beyond the classroom. He strongly encouraged me to go to graduate school at Indiana University, where I completed my doctorate in counselor education. I have been teaching counseling for 29 years and share Dr. Hooker's love of the classroom."

Hooker's emphasis on "The Healthy Personality" also had a tremendous impact on her career. For more than 12 years, she has directed an annual conference for adolescent girls. The "Empowering Young Women" conference addresses the issues facing adolescent girls.

"I believe that many of the clinical issues which women face today, such as eating disorders, clinical depression, battering and abusive relationships, clinical depression, anxiety disorders and addictive behaviors have their roots in adolescence. The conference focuses on providing a forum for adolescent girls to explore themselves and assists them in developing skills to survive the negative cultural and societal influences which they confront in their daily lives."

By engaging school counselors in the conference, the themes addressed during the conference each year are the focus of "Empowering Young Women" groups facilitated by the counselors in their schools. Over the past five years, they have added a separate conference for fifth grade girls, and one for sixth graders is being piloted this year.

Cristiani looks forward to returning to Southwestern during Homecoming after so many years, and she feels honored to give an alumni lecture on behalf of Hooker's retirement. She will be on campus Saturday, Oct. 25, and will speak on her work with adolescent girls at 2 p.m. in the Brown-Cody Lounge.

"The opportunity to honor Doug Hooker's lifelong career as a professor; the opportunity to renew personal acquaintances and to see Southwestern will be an amazing experience and certainly a highlight of my career."