Today, we have with us Denise Funke, who is a very recent graduate from the MSP.
I was very, very glad you could come and join us tonight.
Denise, would you give a little background of where you are, what your work at ministry looks like?
Sure.
I'm a consecrated woman in Reagan Christie.
So I have vows of poverty, trust, and obedience, and I get sent around the world to different ministry opportunities.
And I'm currently assigned to a boarding school in about an hour South of Boston in Rhode Island, the Northern Part of Rhode Island.
So working with sixth through eleventh grade girls who come from Latin American countries and Asia to study for one year, their regular school year, and, learn English as well.
So it's a big challenge for them to be away from home, to detox from their smartphones and social media and all of that, to live with a bunch of other girls with the, individuality that there is now.
So it's it's pretty challenging, but I love it.
I actually love working more in a boarding school than in a day school.
Wonderful.
So that yeah.
I can see, especially nowadays, that is not an easy ministry, but a very worthwhile ministry.
Tell a little bit, you just finished the MSP this May, and it was lovely to meet at graduation, which is always so special.
Tell us a little bit what are pieces of the MSP that was really helpful for your work at ministry as you work with these young or, you know, young women, young girls.
Right.
I think for me, it would be, like, on one hand is the knowledge and the skills that I received and was able to practice, and the other was personal growth.
Because DMU focuses so much on the per you as a person growing, it makes a huge impact because it's not just theoretical.
It's constantly integrating it into your person and into your ministry.
Every single week, you're supposed to go through these exercises that if you do them, they're so, so helpful, because I was constantly analyzing how do I work.
I had already worked in schools for twenty eight years before I took the MSP program.
Right?
So you kind of you get pretty good at what you're doing, and you kinda have your system.
So it was really wonderful to question myself again and to say, why am I doing what I'm doing?
Is what I'm doing working?
Evidence based practices is a huge thing.
First thing you'll learn in your first course, right, of is there evidence saying this is the most effective way to do this.
So that was hugely helpful.
And I would say if I could just give a quick top five things that I learned was intervention skills, absolutely, in intervening with people, how to how to speak to people, how to be empathetic, and all those things.
Human development, excellent course, amazing, and the personal reflection that you go through that to really help you understand how you develop, which in schools is absolutely essential, right, in helping parents understand that.
And then the common psychological problems that I think I shared with all of my colleagues, like, we're encountering so many people who are struggling with mental health.
And so to know what is that, how do I refer, how would I help somebody get help because I'm not a clinical psychologist.
That was extremely helpful.
I use that, I would say, literally every week.
I use that.
And the chart that I made in one of my courses, I'm still using.
And then the psychology of groups was unexpected.
I didn't expect that to be so, so helpful.
And let me in a building full of women.
And, the psychology of group and how that works has been really, really helpful.
I passed on a lot of things to my team to help us to know how to form the group.
And then the leadership courses that we had were phenomenal.
It has helped me immensely in leading my team because I lead the formation team.
So just there wasn't a single course that wasn't useful, even your class on statistics, which was brutal, but necessary.
They're excellent.
Excellent.
Yeah.
I'm so glad.
Thank you so much for sharing.
So tell me the the the group the psychology of the groups.
You're working in a group setting in the classroom.
Is there, like, something on insight, something that really helps you, like, understanding the functioning of the person better?
Right?
It's a new way of placing behavioral phenomena that you see.
Is it something that stood out that was really, like, oh, like, an uh-huh?
I think groupthink.
At the time we're studying it, no.
They did a wonderful assignment comparing the Apollo disaster and crisis to the, Challenger, and we studied the transcripts and everything and tried to understand what was going on.
And when I got to the classroom in summertime, to start setting up and the kids were arriving, seeing teenage girls and how groupthink affects.
Unbelievable.
So I've been able to really help this whole year we worked on as a team to kind of dissect that a little bit and try to break that apart and help the girls themselves be aware of, hey.
What do you think?
Right?
And are you able to speak up?
And to try to teach them how to create an environment where everybody feels free to speak up and everybody's heard and listened to and that we try to be rational in coming to conclusions.
It was amazing to work on peer pressure, actually.
It really, really was effective.
Right.
Well, that is wonderful insight and great that you were able to gain the skills, right, to to just be more effective.
And then the other piece that you mentioned was the personal growth.
Right?
Especially if you're in a challenging work or ministry environment, self awareness and self growth and well-being is an essential part to being able to be effective in the ministry or in a work setting.
And do you wanna share a thought related to that?
Yeah.
I think, when I when I started the program two and a half years ago, I finished my capstone in December, and so I wasn't expecting this ministry change.
So I had actually I was much more in one on one spiritual direction, pastoral counseling.
So all of my personal reflections was on that, and I was building how I wanted to be a better spiritual director, how I wanted to do better in, ministry of retreats.
And so then when I had my change last summer, I was like, shoot.
I did all this work, and now it's shifted.
And I think the the leadership courses helped me most to really question how am I gonna lead this team.
So I went back to my notes, and went back to some of the qualities of leaders that are evidence based, which was also very interesting.
So there's so many books of leadership out there, so this was so refreshing because I had studied so many books on leadership, and this just really got to the core of things in the heart and wasn't a straight jacket.
And so I use that very much to say, okay.
Who am I leading?
What are they like?
Who am I?
And what's the best way to have a good leader, follower, which is a word that we use in the course, which isn't like followers like we use in the world, but the people that are part of the team.
Right?
So, I was able to change completely how I leave meetings.
I've never led meetings in the way that I have this year, and it was really, really good.
And I got very good feedback at the end of the year of how effective it was and how it helped for them in personal growth and reflection as well as a team and as individuals.
Fantastic.
Well, thank you so much for sharing that, and I'm glad it was such a great blessing.
And we'll we'll look through the, overview of the program, quickly.
I will share my screen on, just kinda looking at, right, the the main parts.
And and, Denise, you can kinda kinda reflect on those things as well as we get to different places.
A little bit the history.
Right?
We are incredible credited with SACSCOC, as a graduate institution.
Important because it sets our standard and quality of education as well as the guidelines of how we and how much work has to be in each course, how we teach certain assessment pieces as well.
And DMU really started with this need for a Catholic Christian vision of the person in the mental health field.
The recognition of pea people are kinda walking all over the place without being deeply grounded in a in a healthy anthropology.
So so that's kind of that need kinda start at the school.
Then, 2014, we started the online programs.
Now added the, masters in counseling online.
So that's how the school has developed over the last twenty years.
Then it's just a background.
I'm Julia Klaus here.
I'm the program director.
I've loved being program director.
It's a great program and love our faculty.
It's a privilege to work with the DMU people.
So it's it's a real wonderful privilege.
Kinda thinking, right, how is the MSP unique?
There's a lot of masters in psychology programs out there.
And I think, Denise, thank you so much for sharing, kind of part of those pieces that stood out to you.
But it is it is fully online.
It is very adaptable to our different schedules.
And, right, probably for you working in a boarding school, in the classroom.
We have people who live all over the world.
We just had somebody in we have somebody who's in Melbourne, Australia, and we have somebody in Canada and South America.
And so being flexible and being able to accommodate people's work and ministry schedules, is is important to us because that's the kind of people who are coming to us.
The other thing is, kinda like Denise you mentioned, we are desiring to help build a deeper understanding of the person that is very well integrated from psychology, theology, and philosophy.
And, Yasim, you'll be a head start with your doctorate in philosophy.
But, right, a lot of people do psychology.
Right?
But I think to to really get a good understanding of the human person, of when does the human person do well, It really helps to have this integrative deeper approach and understanding of the person.
So I think that really, makes our program very unique, all the DMU programs very unique because you have the opportunity to to go further.
Psychology is wonderful, and evidence based psychology is wonderful and very, very important, but you need that more holistic, integrative approach to gain a deeper understanding of the person.
The other thing I think where the program is very, unique, and as a faculty, we've really worked over the last few years to keep growing and learning from our students and graduates, that we're really trying each faculty member to connect with students.
Everybody has an adviser.
We meet one on one with our advisees several times throughout the program.
Love having those relationships.
Love meeting with my advisees because I feel I'm always learning, something new with the capstone project they're interested in or they work in ministry settings where they are.
We have this kinda formative, continuous learning approach where you read every week, you write every week, you get individualized feedback every week.
So it's really this step by step formative growth process that we feel is kind of the best way of learning, not just acquiring knowledge, but having also a transformative process while you're in the program.
And I think, Denise, it was really helpful you spoke to that that it was helpful, not just the knowledge you gained.
That was great, but but also that you had time and space to think about your own well-being and functioning and how you do things.
Yeah.
If you have do you have a thought, you wanna add to that?
Or Yeah.
I mean, everything that's on this slide is absolutely true.
As as far as the the way to learn was really, really helpful to and and it's you get into that rhythm.
In the beginning, it's a little overwhelming, but then you get into the rhythm of how it all works.
And since every course is the same, it's really helpful too.
It's not that you have to learn a different format with each professor or a different, approach.
It's all, on the same same platform.
So that was really, really helpful too and, being able to have the integrated approach, like you said.
But, obviously, I have a theology background and philosophy, but, bringing it all together just makes it so complete and gives a a holistic vision.
Excellent.
Yeah.
Then, and in general, right, why why would you get a master's in psychology?
I think one is, and, Janice, you kinda mentioned that you gain a deeper understanding of yourself as well of others in professional settings or ministry settings.
Right?
And I think part of it is you are able to have a psychological explanation of behavioral phenomenon.
Right?
Stuff in the classroom is not that the girls are mean or they are not interested.
Right?
There's something going on while they're acting the way they're acting.
And do we have a paradigm and do we have an understanding of human functioning?
All of a sudden, behaviors we see, we're like, oh, that actually it's very logical within itself.
It's maybe not healthy or not good for the person or the group.
Right.
But it's very, very logical within themselves.
So you get the opportunity to develop new explanations.
Right?
Right.
Or And that's been so helpful for my team.
Right?
Because so many times teachers can get just frustrated and angry at students' misbehavior.
So being able to give insight to them to help them understand this is what's happening with this girl and makes it opens their heart to a heart of mercy, right, and under standing just like you were saying, Hozemine.
Like, once you understand the person, it's so much easier to see them with the heart of God as well and with much more desire to help instead of just to punish and to try to change behavior.
Yeah.
Very helpful.
And the other thing is but it's that ability and that's that evidence based approach and and also being very research oriented is you develop the ability to have innovative solutions for problems, right, that may before you kinda keep hitting a barrier.
But you have another paradigm, another way of what exactly is the goal?
Are we actually reaching the goal?
How would I know if we're reaching the goal?
Having those skills to be able to assess that, I think, is hugely helpful both in ministry and professional settings.
And we hear from our graduates that that is really helpful.
Then also, we are not a clinical mental health program.
Right?
We don't train for one on one and week after week counseling interventions.
For us, I always have the paradigm is like larger interventions for larger groups of people.
It's kind of the paradigm.
And part of that is the ability to create environments and cultures that foster flourishing and minimize risk.
Right?
The ability to think and be very intentional on how do I create a positive, create a resilient environment that can foster flourishing.
And I think the ability to do that and create those cultures and environments is is a huge asset in in having the program.
So so kind of the new content, we've added concentrations over the last few years mainly because our students and graduates bring needs to us.
Like, I'm doing this.
Can you offer something in that area?
And we're like, well, we'll try.
So, well, it's great.
We've been able to adjust the program the last few years.
So we're offering American family studies concentration, human services.
And we'll talk more about these other concentrations in the MENA leadership, a pre PhD in a self design for those who wanna pick and choose there like this.
But all probably under that umbrella of applied psychology.
How do I use psychology to be a benefit and blessing to others in all kinds of settings?
So so with that, first of all, we want people to have a really solid core knowledge of psychology.
Right?
You need to be psychologically literate.
It's kinda how we say it.
Right?
Basic human growth and development.
Am I able to see the person developmentally and where they are in the lifespan?
Do I have a basic understanding of psychopathology?
What are risk factors?
What increases resiliency?
Can I recognize and refer?
Right?
We're not gonna treat, TSM five level, things that come up, but we need to be able to recognize and know when to refer.
And very, very important to have that skill.
Cognition, emotion, and motivation, we added that course a few years ago because it's such a foundational understanding of the functioning of the individual.
We have the philosophy course, which is kind of that understanding how we support flourishing of the person through a view of vocations and virtues.
And we have stats.
I love the class.
I teach the class.
And it really is that class that moves you from a lay consumer of psychology that you see in a magazine, on a website, to the ability to go to the research literature and go to the source so you become the expert.
Takes a little bit of effort, but very, very worthwhile and effort in my opinion.
Then we do social psychology, understanding groups, understanding culture, understanding diversity, and how being created in the image of God and being from different places of this world.
How do we maneuver those and understand those differences and similarities?
And then we do research methodology and design, ability to evaluate programs, from an evidence based background.
So that's, like, the core everybody does.
Then we do have electives.
One is our mayors and family.
We have people who work in their coordinators of family life at parishes.
We have directors of mayors and family offices at the diocesan level, people who do sheltered education programs at diocese, parishes, and just secular in the, you know, professional settings.
So people who just want to understand, a, the family's assistant, but also very concrete interventions applicable to marriage and families.
So we have we have an extra philosophy course in that, this Catholic Christian marriage and human sexuality.
That is a philosophy course where we really think through, the philosophy of and theology of merit.
Then we have, our human services and track.
And that is really I would say, if you love to help people overcome adversity by connecting them to resources.
That's kinda my paradigm for human services.
You're working with people, peep working on people who wanna be addictions counselors.
That's me.
Like, you start, with, you know, clinical hours and work yourself up.
You can be a human service professional, rehabilitation work, case management.
Really, really helpful.
You have the skills class.
You have group counseling class and very helpful program for people who wanna work in that field.
Then we have the leadership and, three different courses.
We come from that, transformational leadership approach, virtuous leadership, not the crackdown from the top approach.
We really have a SEO model as you grow and virtue yourself and see the person you are leading, and you can create healthy environments and change and lead companies.
We have quite a few people who are executives of nonprofit agencies.
They like they come and and tend to take this program and human resource management.
You can do the SHRM certification.
It's just an exam based certification.
And overall psychology degrees are liked in the area of human resources or organizational consultant.
So this is when you are we have some people who are project management in Silicon Valley, and they have come to us and, like, I just know computers.
I don't know anything about people.
Can you help us?
So if that's your place, then this is a great concentration.
If you are head of a large parish that also includes a Catholic school and a ministry setting and you have quite a big staff, we have priests who come to us who are like, I'm actually in charge of a lot of people, and I would like some leadership skills.
They have found this very helpful and beneficial.
And then soft design, a lot of people in ministry choose this.
They just want a look pick and choose.
One family marriage family, one applied leadership, one skills class so that opportunity is there, for people to choose different electives.
And then, this, this is our pre PhD.
Is this our pre PhD?
Sorry.
I can't see.
And this is we've added this actually just this year.
We have a growing number of people.
They finished their undergrad.
They wanna go on for doctoral studies, but they wanna have an integrative approach, to psychology, and they wanna set themselves up to getting into better doctoral little more competitive doctoral programs.
If you come with a thesis, especially if you've been able to publish it, it just it's a little it's just helpful to get into certain doctoral programs.
So students in this program, concentration do a full research project.
They have to defend their proposal, defend their thesis, collect data, analyze data.
They take six one credit courses over fourteen months as they walk through the steps of a research project.
So if you like, you know, being a research assistant, research associate, I worked several years at University of Texas at Dallas just in a research lab for, parent child interaction analysis, which I learned so much about the family, about parents talking to their kids, was was really, really helpful.
So that's the pre PhD.
So those are the concentrations.
If you have questions about any of the concentrations, follow-up with Joe.
He knows and has more information on each of that.
Little bit on the learning experience is, I think it is very, very flexible.
Even though we do have due dates every week, and we get feedback every week, but there's continuous access to all the information in Canvas.
There's media and there's readings, and there's the possibility to listen now to all the readings through Canvas.
We've just added an audiobook feature.
So you can have different ways to go through the material.
And there's very, very ready feedback and interaction possibilities with the instructors and professors.
Yes.
Just an overview of our wonderful faculty.
All of them super committed and just wonderful people to work with.
And I think everyone just loves the students that the lord brings to this program.
It's just a huge privilege.
And, I wanna hand it over to Joe just to what are the steps of getting into the program?
Okay.
So thank you, Julia, doctor Julia and, Denise.
And, you know, you have to have a bachelor's degree with a 2.5 or better grade average, and then two letters of recommendation from, you know, people who you work for and, maybe your spiritual advisors or instructors.
But, it is not a big I mean, they they they don't have to write a letter.
They answer a questionnaire and read you.
You you stay consistent on that.
You know, your your resume, which tells us about your past and, your present.
Then a written statement of intent.
This is your future.
And, you know, it's a 300 to 500 word essay on how master degree in psychology will help you achieve your goal.
And if English is not your first language, you may have to take a TOEFL.
However, if you have taken classes in The US, you know, college level, you know, doctor Klausley would certainly look at that.
And then we do have a virtual, man it is mandatory or required virtual orientation, and that is we have one coming up seventeenth and the August 19, and it's a it's a big Zoom meeting.
You know, with you and your future classmates, doctor Klawsely.
It's a question answering, and doctor Klawsely will tell you more about this.
I mean, she's told you a lot about it now, but, you know, this is it's a it's a forty five minute program assistant.
Well, it's a place to ask all your other questions.
Oh, how do I move forward and get ready for the program?
So people always and that's why we're adding have added it because they're always sold so many questions.
So it's and we said, you may as well all sit together and answer all the questions together.
I think it's a more joyful way of moving through those pieces.
But but but it's very important.
Virtual, orientate is very important.
And as far as, you know, it's school affordable, well, you know, when you get to the graduate level, you know, they we don't have grants.
I mean, they don't have grants for master degree program for doctors.
But by Mercy, tries to level the playing field with, you have different scholarships.
You know, they got $1,500 early admission scholarships to scholarships you write for, and, you know, and maybe affiliation through what we call memorandums of understanding.
But, you know, that's something you have to, you know, once you get it applied, not necessarily be accepted, we wanna get you with financial aid to make sure it's affordable for me because, you know, we do not want to, have any undue hardship financially for you.
Okay?
And this is our tuition, and it's a fifty credit hours for thirty credit hours.
And, comes out twenty eight zero five o.
That's very, very reasonable unless many, you know, state colleges, public companies.
Now the technology fee is $50.50 dollars per class.
That's for your Canvas, which is our online learning platform.
And then we have a residence fee of $250.
And this is a 100% online, but there are two days where it's mandatory you are online.
It's, usually in a Friday or Saturday before you end your first term, your first day of your term.
And, it's on Friday from ten to five, and a Saturday from ten to five.
And, it is a big, like I said, a big Zoom meeting with all your classmates, all the instructors.
You break into, you know, discussion groups, and it's it it really cements, you know, your your first class.
And then we do have a $55 application fee that could be waived, for you.
Okay?
And then we do have the sixteen month option, which is you're taking two classes at a time.
On the twenty six month option, you take one class per term.
But, you know, the difference is is if you do the sixteen months, it it will save, you know, around $3,000 in two years.
That's that's significant in my book.
And I call these the big four questions.
And will the completion of this in master's degree in psychology online help you obtain your goals?
Well, gotta know what your goals are, and will this work for you?
Will the scheduling work for you?
You know, if you take, you know, one class at a time on the twenty sixth You're looking about fifteen hours per week of study.
We call, research, reading, writing, and reflecting.
And the nice thing is is that, you know, we have to be I do a lot of writing, but we do have a service that, if you send a paper into them, in twenty four hours, they'll have it back to you with some suggestions.
And, you know, I don't like certain criticism, but I prefer it.
And whether, you know, the financial options work for me.
You don't know that you don't know that TNC Financial.
And, you know, if you start the program, complete it.
And then anything you do, there's there's gonna be I call it bumps in the road.
What?
I mean, we have some students, they are, in the reserves or national guards where they're gonna be deployed for two weeks every summer.
And you know what?
When they're deployed, it doesn't they're not, deployed during our break time.
So but with, you know, cases like that, you know, you do what you can to get ahead.
When you come back, you do what you can to get.
So you know?
And there could be other things like that, and that's me.
Oh, there you go.
Great.
Thank you so much.
So And we'll all, thank you so much for that overview.
Yasim, do you have any questions?
I know you'll follow-up with Joe as well afterwards.
Well, thank you so much, Denise, for sharing your experience and talking about the program together.
Really, really appreciate your time, and always nice to see you too.
Fantastic.
And, so wish everybody a good night, and thank you so much for coming.
And good to see everybody.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Julia, and Denise.
Thank you, and we'll all be in touch.
Thank you.
Okay.
Bye bye.