A&M-Commerce Hosts 31st Annual Murphy Day

The A&M-Commerce Department of Psychology, Counseling and Special Education will present the 31st Annual Murphy Day Continuing Education Conference at the Rayburn Student Center on Feb. 21, 2014. The conference topic is “Becoming Creative or More Creative as a Counselor,” and Dr. Samuel T. Gladding, chair of the Wake Forest University Department of Counseling, will be the featured speaker.

The conference is structured as a day-long workshop that will encourage creativity in counseling and provide participants with new skills and strategies they can use to help clients. Participants will examine the therapeutic uses of creativity, discover the steps of the creative process and acquire skills in employing creative arts such as music, drama and painting in counseling. Full participation in Murphy Day provides counselors, social workers and psychologists six hours of continuing education.

On-site registration for the conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. Lunch will be provided.

“The Murphy Day Conference is the premier counseling educational event in northeast Texas each year. The conference provides counselors and mental health professionals with the latest information in the field of counseling,” said Dr. Lavelle Hendricks, associate professor of counseling. “This year’s speaker, Dr. Sam Gladding is the brightest and most effective researcher and writer in the field of counseling.”

Murphy Day honors Professor Emeritus Dr. Harold D. Murphy, who joined the faculty of A&M-Commerce (then East Texas State Teachers College) as director of the Veterans' Counseling Center and instructor of student personnel and guidance in 1950. He later served as director of placement and alumni affairs in 1955. Murphy was a charter member of what is now known as the Texas Counseling Association and served as its president in 1964. Distinguished for teaching skill and promotion of the counseling profession, Murphy passed away in 2010.

The focus of Murphy Day is to provide professional counselors and human service workers the highest quality continuing education at an affordable cost. The conference provides the opportunity for professional growth in education, agency and business settings.

To learn more about the conference and its featured speaker or to register online, please visit the A&M-Commerce Marketplace or contact Dana Sutherland-Wyma at [email protected] or 903-886-5940. Information about the A&M-Commerce Department of Psychology, Counseling and Special Education is available here.