Gleaning Nuggets in Geneva’s MA Counseling Program with James K. Matta, Ed.D., NCC, LPC

If you look closely at Geneva academic programs, it is easy to find nuggets of great value. And you need look no further than the Master of Arts in Counseling Program. Associate Professor James K. Matta, Ed.D., Director of the Clinical Mental Health track, urges graduate students to glean nuggets of wisdom from their interactions with the faculty. “I think students appreciate the wisdom of experience,” he says.  As an object lesson to reinforce this idea, Dr. Matta presents students with a small, gold-colored nugget as a reminder that looking closely and listening intently can lead to discovery of valuable bits of wisdom that will mean so much during their professional careers.

Geneva’s Dr. Jim Matta was elected chairperson of PA state board of counseling

Dr. Matta should know. He’s been in counseling for 30 years as a clinician, researcher and educator, and he was just recently selected as chairperson of the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists and Professional Counselors by a unanimous vote of his peers. As the new head of the 13-member board, Dr. Matta leads the committee that is responsible for protecting the public from unprofessional, improper, unauthorized and unqualified practice. He was originally appointed by Governor Ed Rendell to a four-year term in 2008. Upon completion of that term, Governor Tom Corbett re-appointed him in 2013 to the board where he became Vice-Chair in March 2015 before taking his new role as chairperson in May 2016. “I was flattered,” Dr. Matta says about the honor. “I have the opportunity to serve the profession and make an impact. The board is about the citizens of Pennsylvania and we’re looking to protect them with higher standards of care.”

This kind of faculty involvement in the profession is a boon for Geneva students, who are well positioned to gather deeper insights and greater opportunities. Dr. Matta thinks they will value the nuggets of wisdom such experience forms. “We know what characteristics to look for in a potential counselor with a working degree [M.A.] and can help our students develop them,” he declares. After high school, Dr. Matta admits that he struggled trying to find direction. He reached out to God for guidance. He finally got that direction through the influence of his brother, Dr. Thomas Matta, who had just become a practicing counselor and encouraged him to think and pray about pursuing a career in counseling. “The Lord just opened my eyes that counseling was how I was called to serve,” Dr. Matta reveals.

These many years later, he is seeing the fruits of responding to that calling; along with being selected as state board chairperson, he received tenure at Geneva this past April, and later this year he will celebrate a 30^th wedding anniversary with his wife, Carla. Two of his four children are Geneva alumni, with a third currently enrolled. For all of this personal and professional success, he credits Christ. “I am filled with gratitude for opportunities to help people in Christian and secular environments over the years, but in all of it I know who I am truly serving – it’s Christ.”

Counseling and the Christian life share many characteristics – the desire to serve others, genuineness, transparency, honesty, accountability, coming alongside the suffering, sharing the burden, and especially hope. “A key ingredient in mental health problems is isolation,” explains Dr. Matta. “Many times a counselor just needs to be present with the person and at some level to let them know that God has not abandoned them. It’s not what we say; it’s letting the person know that they are understood. That’s hope and it’s a key characteristic of Christian counseling.”

Geneva’s counseling program is unique in its integration of a Christian worldview, according to Dr. Matta. It combines the foundational tenets of the Christian faith along with the secular viewpoints necessary to provide well-rounded professional counseling guidance to individuals in secular and religious settings. Students often have questions about how to integrate their Christianity into counseling, and among the Geneva faculty are walking examples of professionals in the field who are there to help answer those questions.

After commencement, program graduates can continue to access a highly-qualified reservoir of experience for support. “We build the students up. We’re always available to them even after they graduate whether it is for a reference or for advice on licensure. They know we’re going to walk them through it,” promises Dr. Matta.

While Dr. Matta lauds the current CACREP-accredited graduate program, he stresses that he and his colleagues are committed to continuous improvement. “The program is in wonderful shape, but we’re all students. We always treat it like a learning opportunity, evaluating, seeking feedback, identifying strengths and weaknesses, continuing to strive for excellence,” Dr. Matta says.

One example of ensuring program quality is following up with graduates. Counseling faculty seek feedback from program alumni six months after graduation to see how they can help and how the program can be made more effective. They also talk to employers about preparedness of the graduates. All of this input is brought back into the program in a feedback loop to help the faculty apply continuous improvement and glean their own nuggets of wisdom in the process.

This approach is paying off as the Master’s in Counseling Program was recently ranked #8 as a Top Value Counseling Master’s Degree Program in the state of Pennsylvania by TopCounselingSchools.org.

To learn more about Geneva College’s Master of Arts in Counseling Program, contact the MA in Counseling Office at counseling@geneva.edu or visit the Geneva College website at geneva.edu/graduate/counseling.