Kankakee Times

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Giselle Hernandez Navarro

Giselle Navarro, LCSW, CADC is a Ph.D. candidate in the Counselor Education and Supervision program at Northern Illinois University. Giselle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Psychology with High Departmental Distinction from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 2007. Giselle graduated from the University of Chicago with a Masters of Arts Degree in Clinical Social Service Administration, specializing in school social work in 2009. Giselle completed her education in addiction counseling at Waubonsee Community College in 2018. Giselle maintains the following licensures in the state of Illinois: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (149.020788), School Social Worker Endorsement (871714), and Certified Addictions Counselor (34707). Her professional background has been influenced by 13 years of clinical work in multiple community and school settings: elementary and high schools, inpatient hospitals, foster care, autism home supportive services, substance use disorder intensive outpatient programs, and college counseling centers. Giselle completed a year-long Fellowship at the University of Chicago to strengthen her clinical skills in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) specifically. Giselle has facilitated DBT coping skills groups and workshops for clients with severe addictions, mental health concerns, and relationship distress since 2018. Currently, Giselle works as a private practice clinician at LivingRite in Sycamore, IL. Recently, Giselle completed her dissertation exploring the relationship between the ambiguous loss of alcohol use disorders on affected family members, Al-Anon involvement, psychological flexibility, and distress versus resilience. She has published her research on Attachment to God, religious coping, and alcohol use in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. Giselle has 5 years of teaching and supervisory experience in higher education. As a counselor specialist at Northern Illinois University’s Counseling and Consultation Services, Giselle taught, modeled, and supervised graduate students’ implementation of DBT coping skill groups, as well as substance-specific assessments, interventions, and psychoeducational practices for 3 years. For the past 5 years, Giselle has researched, developed, and facilitated workshops for NIU graduate students, licensed clinicians, and addiction counselors on topics of diversity and equity, substance use disorders, trauma-informed practices, stages of change, Motivational Interviewing, evidence-based risk assessment, DBT, and ACT. Giselle has taught undergraduate introductory counseling courses and graduate group counseling, addiction counseling, human development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion courses within Northern Illinois University’s Department of Counseling and Higher Education and Aurora University’s Social Work Department. Giselle has educated professionals on resilient and multiculturally responsive leadership as an active member of the Illinois Certification Board’s Leadership team since 2021. 

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