Leah Brew Associate Professor, Department Chair 714-278-2708 Office: EC-444 lbrew@fullerton.edu

Dr. Leah Brew is bi-racial Japanese-American. She is an associate professor, and has co-authored books and journal articles in her areas of research: diversity, basic counseling skills, and supervision. She is particularly interested in researching the experiences of multiracial people, and also understanding prejudice and teaching social justice. She has also worked as a biofeedback therapist working in two primary areas: peripheral biofeedback for stress-reduction and neurofeedback to treat attention deficit disorder. This experience has created an additional interest in understanding the connections between the brain, emotions, and overall wellness

Personal Biography

When I was a young child, I made the decision to get a doctorate in psychology. I wanted to help children and adolescents deal with the ignorance associated with prejudice and discrimination. I am bi-racial, American and Japanese, and I was the only minority in my elementary school for about three years at a time and place where racism was still alive and well. A teacher helped me overcome the prejudice and helped to build my self-esteem, and so, I also was interested in teaching. Mostly, I just wanted to make a difference and help reduce or prevent suffering. I am still surprised that my path led me here to California State University, Fullerton as an assistant professor, teaching students to become therapists. I received all of my degrees at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, as I am essentially a native Texan. My undergraduate major was in psychology, and my minor was in business. I chose this combination at the recommendation of professors who said that organizational behavior was the wave of the future. I found out quickly after graduation that if it was the wave, I was too early to catch it. Burned out from working full time while going to school full time, I decided to take some time off and worked in management in a mortgage company. Unsatisfied with corporate life, I quickly returned to school and started volunteer counseling with rape survivors. I initially went into vocational rehabilitation fearful of working with more severe disorders, but my advisor educated me on the multiple possibilities I would have with a degree in counseling. I learned that I did not have to work with more severe disorders on a regular basis. She also turned me on to the field of biofeedback-assisted relaxation. Eventually, I earned my Master's degree in counseling specializing in biofeedback and with six additional courses because I enjoyed school so much. When I finally did my internship working with HIV/AIDS survivors, I found that I missed the academic aspect of school, and I applied to the same doctoral program. I worked on my Ph.D. in counseling with enthusiasm and five more courses beyond my requirements; graduation was bittersweet. I was happy at the prospect of making money, but I was equally sad to leave this school family that had developed over eight years of coursework (and I still had other courses I wanted to take). I am now excited that I can combine both of my passions into this one field, and I look forward to developing my skills as a professor.

Research

I have a few areas of research interests. My initial experiences are in biofeedback. I have research and clinical experience working with children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I provided brainwave biofeedback (neurotherapy) to reduce or eliminate symptoms associated with this disorder. This treatment has about an 80% success rate for treating this disorder without the use of medication. I have also provided biofeedback-assisted relaxation to pregnant women at risk for premature births. In my doctoral studies, we completed a pilot study that seemed to indicate biofeedback was helpful in increasing gestational age and birth weight of the babies as compared with a control group who did not receive any additional treatment. My professor and I presented the results of this research at the European Health Psychology Conference in Vienna, Austria in 1998 and at the International Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB) conference in 1999. AAPB also recognized our paper/presentation for an award for outstanding research.

In 1998, my doctoral coursework included a course on supervision, and as part of that class, we were required to help supervise Master's students in their practicum. After watching several sessions, I noticed a trend of common mistakes from beginning counselors and developed a video series showing examples of bad and good relationship building skills with the client. What makes this video unique is that I used an Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) model developed by Kagan where I interviewed the client after the session to let them express how they experienced the bad or good sessions. I have presented this tape at the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) conference, and copied the tape for several other professionals. In addition, when I present this tape to my classes, my students seem to gain a much clearer understanding as to why asking too many questions or giving advice, for example, can diminish the relationship with the client. I will have this workbook and video combination coming out in 2005 published by Brooks/Cole.

I have also had the opportunity to place several career courses on the Internet for web-based teaching. Therefore, I gained some understanding on career counseling as well as web instruction. This led me to work with a professor on a book chapter on how web-based courses can be used for distance learning or in combination with traditional classroom instruction.

I have co-authored a book with Jeffrey Kottler for pre-practicum courses called One Life at a Time, and I also published a chapter called Blind Spots and Ruts in the Road: The Limitations of Self Supervision in a book called Doing Better edited by Jeffrey Kottler. Currently, my focus of research is on defining White American culture. Finally, my dissertation research project was on surveying accredited programs in counseling for the perceived benefits of accreditation to a program. I will continue to work in the area of accreditation at CSU, Fullerton, in order to help our program become the best it can be.

Teaching

My teaching experiences are with all levels within a university. I have taught undergraduate counseling courses in basic counseling skills, an introduction to the counseling field, group dynamics in business or therapy, and career development. At the Master's level, I have teaching experiences in biofeedback, career development, group therapy, theories of psychology, human inquiry/research, law and ethics, introduction to the profession, culture, basic counseling skills, pre-practicum, practicum, and advanced practicum. At the doctoral level, I have had the opportunity to supervise an advanced practicum.