Paul De Sena, a professor of counselor education in the School of Education, was inducted into Stanford’s H.B. McDaniel Hall of Fame, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the counseling profession.
In 1999 De Sena received the H.B. McDaniel Counseling Award, the most prestigious counseling award in the state of California. The H.B. McDaniel Foundation was created in 1973 to memorialize the life and professional contributions of Henry Bonner McDaniel of Stanford University to counseling and guidance in California.
On being inducted, De Sena said, “I find this such a great honor to be included with my colleagues who have given even greater service than I to the California counseling profession. I am extremely proud to be included in such company, many of whom I have had the pleasure to know and serve with personally over many years.”
For the past 47 years, De Sena has been intimately involved in the counseling profession in California, serving as a counseling consultant to students in several school districts, and holding numerous leadership positions in regional and state professional organizations. An expert in multicultural group activities, self-exploration activities for personal growth, maintaining career satisfaction in one’s chosen profession, structuring a counseling session and the anatomy and management of anger, he has assisted many adult school counselors in California refine their counseling skills through workshops sponsored by the California Department of Education and served on the Board that brought professional clinical counseling licensure to California.
“Congratulations to Paul on this prestigious recognition for the important work that he does for school counselors and counselor education,” said Shane P. Martin, dean and professor of the LMU School of Education.
Paul De Sena has been a faculty member at LMU since 1966 and is a former chair of the Department of Education and director of the school counseling program. De Sena is an expert in all areas of counseling and counselor education and has keynoted conferences and given presentations nationwide and internationally. Among his many awards, in 2011 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the California Counseling Association for his exceptional leadership contributions to the California counseling profession.
He is past president of the California Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors (CACES), former president of the California Association for Specialists in Group Work (CASGW) and served on the board for the California Coalition for Counselor Licensure (CCCL), which was successful in bringing licensure for professional counselors to California in 2009. He served on the Executive Council and the Educational Foundation Board of the California Counseling Association (CCA) and is on the Governing Board of the California Association of School Counselors (CASC) serving as the counselor educator representative.
