Dr. Gibson: 2021 Thomas J. Sweeney award recipient
Donna M. Gibson, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, department chair and professor in the Department of Counseling and Special Education, recently received the American Counseling Association’s (ACA) Thomas J. Sweeney Award for Visionary Leadership and Advocacy.
The award was presented to Gibson at the 2021 American Counseling Association Virtual Conference Experience held during the months of April and May.
The Thomas J. Sweeney Award for Visionary Leadership and Advocacy is given in honor of the lifetime contributions of Dr. Sweeney to the counseling profession. Sweeney is a visionary leader who served as ACA president and president of two divisions: the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) and the International Association for Marriage and Family Counseling, for which he served as founding president. He also served on the executive board of two additional divisions.
Sweeney served as chair of the board of directors of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), and he established Chi Sigma Iota (CSI), an international counseling honor society. He was also a branch officer and Southern region chair. Sweeney's professional career as a counselor, counselor educator and CSI executive director was dedicated to promoting excellence within the counseling profession.
“This award holds special meaning to me as Dr. Sweeney is a mentor of mine. He has advocated for a strong professional identity within the counseling profession, and he is a model leader in empowering others to advocate for clients and the profession. This is the type of leader I wish to be,” said Gibson.
Recipients of this award:
- Demonstrate a strong identity as a professional counselor, as evidenced by a terminal degree in counseling, preferably from a CACREP-accredited program, and appropriate credentials (e.g., LPC, NCC); and
- Have demonstrated through independent work a career commitment of at least 20 years to issues of professional leadership and advocacy to promote the profession of counseling. Such advocacy work may occur at the national, regional and/or state/local level.
The ACA is a not-for-profit, professional and educational organization dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession. It is the world's largest association exclusively representing professional counselors, with over 56,000 members in various practice settings.