THE MARY JO ROLLI CODEY CENTER SERVES COMMUNITY WITH COUNSELING ART THERAPY SERVICES
The Caldwell University counseling art therapy community treatment center has been in operation for nearly a year now. Named in honor of alumna Mary Jo Rolli Codey ’77, the center offers group and individual sessions for adults and recently added services for children.
The wife of former governor Richard J. Codey was honored at the ribbon-cutting celebration ceremony on Caldwell’s campus on March 11. “This is a deeply meaningful recognition for Mary Jo,” said Codey, a state senator and the longest-serving member of the Legislature, who will retire from the Senate this year. “She has been a tireless advocate for mental health—as a teacher, a parent, in her public life and as a driving force behind the Codey Fund for Mental Health.”
Mrs. Codey said she was very grateful to members of the Caldwell community for all they have given her throughout her life, not just the four years she was in college. She has previously shared her struggle with postpartum depression in order to help others, and she and her husband started the Codey Fund for Mental Health.
In delivering mental health services to the local community, the Mary Jo Rolli Codey Center provides graduate students in the counseling with art therapy specialization program excellent practical experiences to develop as practitioners; this includes partnering with community groups. This past year graduate students hosted an “Arts and Wellness” program for the local community, partnering with the West Caldwell Library, the Caldwell Public Library and other community groups.
The center provides a unique program for people with aphasia, a language impairment that often results from a brain tumor, head trauma or infections. Cindy Concannon ’19, director of Caldwell’s center, said clients with aphasia have been traveling as much as two hours to attend the “Express It” open studio. It is important work because living with aphasia can affect everything from reading and writing and holding a job to socializing and family relationships. Since many mental health professionals are not trained to work with people with aphasia, Concannon is proud that Caldwell’s graduate students in the center are working on that area. The graduate students provide supportive communication along with a safe space for expressing emotions, building skills, rebuilding identity and forming community. The reward for the graduate students is seeing the community develop and individuals living with aphasia “finding their voice and the autonomy to express what they want to,” said Concannon. Caldwell graduate students also worked with the Adler Aphasia Center in West Orange through a partnership with the center.
MORE ABOUT THE MARY JO ROLLI CODEY CENTER
Counseling art therapy services are available to the public on the University campus. These services have been used to enhance the lives of individuals and families through art-making and verbal processing. Services can help solve problems such as:
- stress due to physical and mental health
- career concerns
- relationship issues
- grief and loss
- life transition
The Mary Jo Rolli Codey Center provides the public with access to innovative, person-centered, clinical services provided by advanced master’s students under the supervision of program faculty and licensed counselors with art therapy specialization, demonstrating the University’s commitment to the larger community, and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 6 p.m. Fees are based on a sliding scale.
https://www.caldwell.edu/counseling-art-therapy-services/
PROGRAMS IN COUNSELING WITH ART THERAPY SPECIALIZATION
Caldwell offers highly qualified undergraduate psychology and art majors a combined B.A. in Psychology/M.A. in Counseling with Art Therapy concentration. Caldwell offers graduate programs in art therapy including an M.A. in Counseling with Art Therapy Specialization and a postgraduate M.A. in Art Therapy. 🟥
