How long have you worked at Buffalo State College and if applicable what other areas have you worked/positions have you served in at Buffalo State College?
I started working at Buffalo State May 2006 at The Counseling Center. My primary role as a senior counselor is providing individual and group psychotherapy services for our students, providing consultation, mental health program development/evaluation, as well as facilitating/ co-facilitating training workshops for our faculty/staff on various mental health topics and Buffalo State community partners. I have also served in different roles at Buffalo State College such as, being a Trauma-informed Coordinator (2016-2018),Group coordinator (since 2006 until the present), Professional Development Coordinator (2020-present) at the Counseling Center. Other roles have included being a stafff/faculty advisor for Buffalo State Active Mind chapter2010-2015, the nation’s premier nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education of students (2010-2015); Chaired the committee organizing Mental Health Awareness Week for Buffalo State College community (2010-2016); Chair for Buffalo State Employee Assistance Program(EAP) (2010-2016); EAP Committee member,(2006 to present).
What motivates you to provide excellent services for your colleagues, students, and supervisor?
What motivates me to provide excellent service is my passion to learn about, connect with and help others in their personal growth journeys. It is thrilling to see people succeed and grow in what is important to them. I really enjoy building relationships with people and learning about people’s experiences and different ways to view the world. I enjoy my ability to use my clinical and personal skills, which are so intertwined I don’t think they can be separated, to understand and connect with others and to provide valuable feedback to others that they may not be aware of, and or to validate their own experiences. It is a privilege to be able to provide the service I do. I love being a therapist and being able to assist in the process and witness people grow and change and believe in themselves, accept themselves, and trust in the collaborative process of the therapeutic relationship
What personal philosophy about working with others guides your day-to-day work?
Be real. Theory, skills, ongoing professional development, and clinical experience are of course important, but are irrelevant without first connecting as humans and building mutual trust. Being authentic and making connection with others through collaboration excites me and motivates me to invest so much of myself into my work. When I was a younger therapist, I tried hard to do everything right, I was fearful of making mistakes or not being good enough. With age and experience, I’ve seen over and over that people are not interested in opening up to someone not willing to be real. I have deep curiosity and compassion toward others, as well as genuine interest to help others grow.
What do you do when you are not working?
When I am not working, and it is possible, I enjoy spending time with my children aged 20,18, and 12-year-old, respectively. I enjoy chalking and have participated in every Buffalo Chalk fest until the onset of the pandemic. When the weather permits, I prefer outdoor activities such as hiking, running, and taking walks with our golden doodle. I also like engaging in other creative activities such as enhancing my photography skills, rock painting, sketching, etc. Since the start of the pandemic, I accomplished painting my first outdoor mural, climbed 3 high peaks and 2 other peaks in the Adirondack mountains.
Suzanne shares a unique understanding and perspective of being a parent. She has demonstrated an impressive innate ability to easily develop strong therapeutic alliances with challenging students and works with these students to instill hope and explore underlying complex emotions thereby initiating positive change in their emotional/behavioral functioning. Her nonjudgmental attitude and ability to listen to the unspoken words allows her to establish strong and therapeutic relationships with students who might feel unheard/marginalized. She meets student where they are and works together with them to support, educate, empower, and assist them to acquire skills that promote their personal and professional growth. Suzanne has been able to successfully incorporate insightfulness, sensitivity to culture, and a mastery of several theoretical models into her treatment sessions.
Suzanne also goes above and beyond to not only provide student centered services, but also improve program services to meet the students during current changes with mental health services. She is truly a great clinician and integrates effective counseling practices while providing empathy, flexibility, support, and advocacy for students. She is a dedicated, well known, and wonderful counselor who is an inspiration to all in the field and at the college.
I have observed Suzanne since May 2006, to be highly engaged and collaborative across the institution and throughout the duration of her employment at Buffalo State. She has developed many resources that are valuable to the great breadth of our community and she is generous and sharing of her time and expertise. For example, Suzanne has been instrumental to the Buffalo State Employee Assistance Program while having led the effort consistently as chairperson for seven years. Additionally, Suzanne has both chaired and been a member of various search committees where her careful listening and assessment skills have enabled the employment of persons who have positively grown our Buffalo State team. Having recently chaired a search myself, this nominee was the first person I asked to serve on the committee and the response I received was both eager and positive. As chair, I found Suzanne's observations and judgments to be particularly helpful in the disposition of candidates.
Suzanne has significant professional expertise in many areas including trauma informed therapy and multicultural counseling, and she has been encouraging of other’s development on these fronts; sharing her resources and acting as a sounding board both informally and formally within the Counseling Center and beyond. Other examples of collaboration include developing and facilitating workshops for faculty and staff on various mental health topics, consistently spearheading the annual Mental Health Awareness Week, establishing and advising the Active Minds Buffalo State Chapter, and membership on the Students of Concern Care Team.
The impact that the COVID-19 disease has had on the mental strain of the BSC community has been relentless. Any staff member that works at university health center will easily attest to the unprecedented number of students that have sought its services. At BSC, it is no different. It takes a certain psychological fortitude to keep up with the current student demand for services. Yet for Suzanne, a front line counselor, she has dedicated countless hours at the expense of her personal and family life to support students. Suzanne has done a phenomenal job working effortlessly with faculty/other staff at Buffalo State College to provide services without letting the stressors undermine her positive and catching demeanor. Recently, I learned of the support she provided colleagues seeking her help to process professional and personal challenges. One would think that after a day of intensive counseling, that she would shy away from such requests to instead decompress. That is not Suzanne's nature. Faculty too are strained by the uncertainty that BSC is facing through its financial constraints. It does not matter the time day, she makes herself accessible. It is for this insatiable support that she provides our campus, on or off the clock, that makes Suzanne deserving of a President Caring Bengal Award.
Suzanne is an asset to the counseling department. She always puts students first and helps them. Although this has been consistently true for as long as Suzanne has been at Buffalo State, it is even more relevant now as she supports students who are especially vulnerable at this time of crisis. Helping our students through their mental health crisis is one of her greatest achievements and act of kindness and selflessness. Suzanne is sought by many of our students for her compassion and understanding. She always has their best interest at heart.
Suzanne always has a friendly demeanor and she is always looks on the positive side. She is an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) committee member. For many years, she served as the chair of the EAP. She contributes very helpful and informative resources to our EAP coordinators and website, attends most meetings, and assists in many ways to achieve our EAP goals and accomplishments. Suzanne's clients receive the utmost respect, assistance, and guidance in resolving personal and social issues.
