Communications

Professor

College of Education and Social Work - Counselor Education

Bio

Dr. Kathryn (Tina) P. Alessandria is a faculty member in the Department of Counselor Education. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health (DE), National Certified Counselor, and an Approved Clinical Supervisor. She is a past Member-at-Large of the American College Counseling Association and recipient of the 2013 ACCA College Counseling Advocacy Award and 2018 ACCA Professional Leadership Award. Alessandria has represented ACCA on the Higher Education Mental Health Alliance (HEMHA) since 2008, is a past HEMHA Chair (2012-2013) and served as the technical writer for their Distance Counseling Guide (2018). As the child of immigrants, she has a special interest in social and cultural diversity issues, particularly ethnic identity development and generation of immigration, with a special focus on Italian-Americans. Through her 20+ year career in a variety of roles in higher education, she has witnessed increased technology use and expectations of use by students, faculty, institutions, and the profession and has developed an interest in looking at technology use across generations through a cultural lens. She is the proud parent of Stormy, a certified therapy dog who volunteers in local elementary school literacy programs and stress relief events at her institution. She teaches an elective course on animal assisted therapy and served as technical writer for the HEMHA Animals on Campus Guide (2023).

Expertise

• Animal Assisted Therapy
• Italian-American Ethnic Identity Development
• Ethnic Identity Development and Generation of Immigration
• Issues and Trends in College Counseling
• Multicultural Counseling

Education

• B.S., James Madison University
• Ed.S., James Madison University
• M.A., James Madison University
• Ph.D. University of Virginia