Bacino-Althaus' development as a counselor, teacher
Tim Deters
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Features
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Originally from Rockford, Illinois, Bacino-Althaus went to Northern Illinois University and earned a Bachelor's degree in counseling in 1990. From there, she went on to earn her Master's degree at Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State University, in 1992.
With her degree, Bacino-Althaus began work as a therapeutic counselor in the St. Louis and Rockford areas. "It takes a lot of emotional energy to do that," said Bacino-Althaus. Especially in the St. Louis area, she described how she worked with families and children who were in deplorable situations on the verge of severe abuse and/or neglect. "It was a very rewarding job but very emotionally draining," she admitted.
After working as a therapeutic counselor, Bacino-Althaus came to Lake Land College in 1995 to take a counseling job more in-line with the developmental aspects of the field. "Development had been a common theme through what I did," she explained. The role of a counselor at Lake Land allowed her to fulfill her passion of helping people to develop themselves through crucial times in their growth.
Bacino-Althaus also served as Student Life advisor and Strategies for Success instructor during that time. She even began taking online classes, eventually earning her master's degree in developmental psychology in 2004. This allowed her to begin teaching psychology courses at the college.
She explained that teaching psychology is an extension of her passion to assist people through their development as students and adults. "Teaching is another way of…helping people get from one point to another in their lives," said Bacino-Althaus. She also pointed out the importance of her field, saying, "There is nothing a student is going to do in their life where some area of psychology is not going to be incorporated."
Staying in pursuit of her passion for development, Bacino-Althaus plans on teaching more courses dealing with developmental psychology as her career progresses. And, as she made clear, she plans on teaching further into her future. "I want to continue what I do," she said "I love being in the classroom."
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