Stella Beatríz Kerl-McClain

Associate Professor and Co-Program Director

Rogers Hall 433, MSC: 86

Dr. Stella Beatríz Kerl-McClain is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Counseling and has been teaching at Lewis & Clark College since 2006. Prior to joining the faculty at Lewis and Clark, she spent ten years teaching at Texas State University — San Marcos (formerly Southwest Texas State University). Although she has been working in academe a long time, she identifies primarily as clinician/psychotherapist. Prior to and concurrent with her academic appointments, she worked in many different community mental health agencies and settings performing family, couples, and individual therapy. She is bilingual (English and Spanish) and has experience working with a broad range of clients:  college students, children, adolescents, community women, couples and families, and people with chronic mental illness. She also has experience in time-limited individual and group therapies, forensic issues and with a wide range of presenting problems.

Dr. Kerl-McClain loves seeing her students grow as professional counselors, especially as they reach the moments when they begin understanding and making sense of their intuitive processes, i.e., why they believe counseling works. 

Dr. Kerl-McClain is proud of being a founding board member and current President of the Association for Creativity in Counseling,  a division of the American Counseling Association. Members of the division receive a quarterly copy of the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, a refereed journal which explores how creative, diverse, and relational therapeutic approaches can be used by therapist and client to cultivate self-discovery, personal growth, and positive relations with family and others.

Areas of Expertise

Families, Couples and Individual Therapies; Diagnosis and Treatment of College Students, Children, Adolescents, Community Women, Couples and Families, and People with Chronic Mental Illness

Publications

 

  • Dickerman, C., Christensen, J., & Kerl-McClain, S. B. (2008). Big Breasts and Bad Guys: Depictions of Gender and Race in Video Games.  Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 3, 1, 20 – 29.
  • Duffey, T., & Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2008). History of the Association for Creativity in Counseling: The evolution of a conference, division, and journal.  Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 2, 3, 61 – 70.
  • Kerl-McClain,  S.B. & Eichler, M. (2007).  Loss of innocence:  The emotional consequences of gatekeeping.  Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1, 3, 71-88.
  • Kerl-McClain,  S.B. & Eichler, M. (2007).  Loss of innocence:  The emotional consequences of gatekeeping.  In Duffey, T., (2007).  Creative Interventions in Grief and Loss Therapy:  When the Music Stops, a Dream Dies.  Binghamton, NY:  The Haworth Press. 
  • Kerl, S.B. (2006). [Review of the book Cellular Wisdom: Decoding the Body’s Secret Language]. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1, 2.
  • Kerl, S.B. (2005). Outside the box. Association for Creativity in Counseling Newsletter, 1, 2.
  • Kerl, S. B. & Juárez, A. (2005). Sexuality across the lifespan. In Comstock, D. (Ed.). Diversity and Development: Critical contexts that shape our lives and relationships. Belmont, CA: Thompson Brooks/Cole.
  • Kerl, S.B. (2005). [Review of the book Redemption of the Shattered: A teenagers healing journey through sandtray therapy]. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1, 2, 123-124.
  • Kerl, S.B. (2005). [Review of the book Cellular Wisdom: Decoding the Body’s Secret Language]. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1, 1, 154-155.
  • Kerl, S.B. (2005). [Review of the book Creativity in Psychotherapy: Reaching New Heights with Individuals, Couples, and Families.] Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1, 1, 153-154.
  • Juárez, A. & Kerl, S. B. (2003). What is the right (white) way to be sexual? Latina Sexuality. Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies, 28, 1, 7-37.
  • Kerl, S.B. (2002). Narrative approaches to teaching multicultural counseling. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 30, 2, 135-143.
  • Kerl, S.B., Garcia, J., McCullough, C. S., & Maxwell, M. E. (2002). Systematic evaluation of professional performance: Legally supported procedure and process.Counselor Education and Supervision, 41, 4, 321-333.
  • Sharma, P. & Kerl, S.B. (2002). Suggestions for psychologists working with Mexican American individuals and families in health care settings. Rehabilitation Psychology, 47, 2, 230-239.
  • Kerl, S. B. (2001). Sweepstakes. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 15, 2, 117.
  • Kerl, S. B., and Duffey, T. (2001). Do relational views of self support hierarchical systems?Professional Issues in Counseling 1, 1.
  • Kerl, S. B. & Moore, P. R. (2001). Women of color on campus: Coalitions and alliances for survival and success. Advancing Women in Leadership, 9, 1.

Presentations

  • Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2014).  Playing the Race Card:  Exploring Facilitative and Detrimental Dialogical Practices in Conversations about Race.  Poster presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, Honolulu, HI, March 2014.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2014).  Five Creative Techniques for Teaching Key Concepts in Required Courses in Counselor Education Programs.  Presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, Honolulu, HI, March 2014.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2013).  Integrating a Critical Theory Component into a Mental Health Diagnosis Class. Poster presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, Cincinnati, OH, March 2013.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B., Duffey, T., Haberstroh, S., Trepal, H.  (2013). Report from the Task Force for Ethics in Creativity in Counseling. Presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, Cincinnati, OH, March 2013.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2012).  The Emerging Field of Fat Studies and Its Relevance to Counselors and Counselor Educators Interested in Social Justice. Poster presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, San Francisco, CA, March 2012.
  • Kutcher, J. and Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2012). Letting Go: Exploring Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder in Women.  Presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, San Francisco, CA, March 2012.
  • Porter, J. and Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2012). Creative Techniques for Teaching Key Concepts in Required Courses in Counselor Education Programs.  Presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, San Francisco, CA, March 2012.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B. and Porter, J. (2011). Five Creative Techniques to use in Required Courses in Counselor Education.  Presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, New Orleans, LA, March 2011.
  • Kerl-McClain, S. B., Hammer, T., Doyle, C., Sawyer, C., Farn, V. (2010). Celebration of Creativity in Counseling: Research and Practice.  Presentation at the American Counseling Association Convention, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 2010.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B., & Pidcock, B. (2010). The CARE and the CARE-S Supervision Notes: Concise Forms and Format for the Documentation of Supervision. Juried poster presented at the American Counseling Association Convention, Pittsburgh, PA, March 2010.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2010). Fat Bias, Fat Acceptance, and Health at Every Size: A Counselor’s Guide to the Fatosphere. Juried poster presented at the Association for Women in Psychology, February, 2010.
  • Kerl-McClain and Maher, M. (2010). Sacrificial Pedagogy: Personal Costs and Rewards of Teaching Diversity. Guided discussion presented at the Association for Women in Psychology Convention, Portland, Oregon. February 2010.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B., & Pidcock, B. (2009). The CARE Supervision Note: Developing a Concise Form and Format for the Documentation of Supervision. Juried poster presented at the American Counseling Association Convention, Charlotte, North Carolina. March 2009.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B., Trepal, H., Haberstroh, S., Duffey, T., Valadez, A., Eichler, M. (2009). Experiential Approaches for Connection, Creativity, and Growth. Presented at the American Counseling Association Convention, Charlotte, North Carolina. March 2009.
  • Duffey, T., & Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2008). History of the Association for Creativity in Counseling: The evolution of a conference, division, and journal. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 2, 3, 61 – 70.
  • Dickerman, C., Christensen, J., & Kerl-McClain, S. B. (2008). Big Breasts and Bad Guys: Depictions of Gender and Race in Video Games. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 3, 1, 20 – 29.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B. & Eichler, M. (2007). Loss of innocence: The emotional consequences of gatekeeping. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1, 3, 71-88.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B., Eichler, M., and Doyle, C. (2007). Creativity in counseling as hermeneutic dialogue: Understanding diverse worldviews through creative practice. Juried poster presented at the American Counseling Association Convention, March 2007.
  • Kerl-McClain, S.B. (2006). Parenting diverse families creatively. Juried poster presented at the American Counseling Association Convention, March 2006.

Academic Credentials

PhD 1995, MA 1991, University of Texas at Austin,  BA 1988 University of Washington—Seattle

Location: Rogers Hall