Patricia Higgins, PhD

Profile

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Successful track record of student and client counseling in both individual and group settings. Experience utilizing an integrated theoretical approach in individual, group, and family therapy with clients with depression, dementia, anxiety, substance abuse, and dual diagnoses. Emphasis on empowering clients through cognitive behavioral methods, motivational interviewing, positive reinforcement, hypnotherapy and visualization.

Expertise in web site design, instructional technology, educational psychology, communications, teaching and training. Teaching philosophy emphasizes empowering students through positive reinforcement, coaching, guidance and accommodation of various learning styles.

Experience in public relations, marketing, community outreach and communications. Proficiency in designing various collateral and promotional publications including press kits, press releases, newsletters, annual reports, strategic planning documents, web sites and catalogs.

EDUCATION

Doctorate of Philosophy in Family Psychology (2003) Capella University, Minneapolis, MN

Master of Science in Instructional Technology (2000) National University, San Diego, CA

Bachelor of Arts in Communications (1989) Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA

Certificates in: Web Design, Mediation, Facilitation, Counseling, Clinical Hypnosis

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My teaching philosophy involves empowering students to engage in deep, meaningful learning experiences that they can apply to their daily lives. By providing many opportunities for active participation, group and team assignments, and multimedia presentations, I aim to provide learner-centered instruction rather than teacher-centered lectures. I mentor, coach, encourage, and guide students to fulfill their personal potentials. Students have mentioned that they have enjoyed my classes because I encourage active participation, use various multimedia resources such as PowerPoint presentations, and adapt instructional techniques and projects to accommodate students' different learning styles.

I have taught separate classes in psychology, communications, public speaking, multimedia, and presentation skills. My psychology courses are both academically rigorous and highly accessible and engaging to students. I also designed class web sites featuring syllabi, PowerPoint presentations and practice quizzes. Please visit the following link for a sample of an Introduction to Psychology course: www.pathiggins.net/psychweb.

My background includes not only traditional academic credentials and widely varied teaching experiences, but also four years as a clinical counselor. Many of these clinical experiences have emphasized psycho-educational techniques and therefore have helped hone my teaching skills. Additionally, these clinical experiences allow me to provide better examples and relate course work to real life scenarios during my psychology classes.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My doctorate in Family Psychology from Capella University (2003) involved courses relating to teaching, including Teaching of Psychology and Theories of Learning. My dissertation explored Temperament-Based Learning Styles: Implications for Distance Education and involved a collaborative research project with my former employer, Coleman College, and its undergraduate students. College students who were currently taking or had recently taken a course via distance education volunteered to take two online assessments: the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (KTS-II) and a researcher-designed Distance Education Survey (DES). The results of these assessments indicated that some statistically significant relationships existed among gender, tendencies toward introversion or extraversion, grade levels, and students' grade point averages. My other research interests include: psychology of personality, substance abuse treatment, cognitive behavioral techniques, and hypnosis.