Kara Carnes-Holt, assistant professor of counseling education in the University of Wyoming College of Education, has been selected as a 2013-14 Presidential Fellow by the national Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES).
The award supports emergent leaders and educators in the counseling profession.
“Carnes-Holt evidences a high level of professional commitment, potentiality and excellence with potential for future leadership as a counselor educator,” according to the ACES announcement. “This program will help develop connections with leaders who are currently shaping the profession of counselor education and supervision.”
“As a well-respected professional, Dr. Carnes-Holt is in her fourth year as a beginning, tenure-track assistant professor who distinguishes herself as a superior faculty member, delightful colleague, and leader in her commitment to and involvement in our profession,” says her department head, Professor Mary Alice Bruce. “Dr. Carnes-Holt has a wealth of insights, experiences and abilities as well as a growing record of broad contributions to counseling that make her an outstanding choice as an emerging leader.”
Bruce listed several of Carnes-Holt’s accomplishments in her letter of nomination:
Professional commitment -- Within one year of joining the faculty, Carnes-Holt established the Rocky Mountain Center of Play Center Studies, one of the few approved U.S. centers for play therapy education through the Association for Play Therapy. It provides ongoing training, clinical practice and supervision for play therapy. The center facilitates a biannual summer play therapy conference that features premier speakers and practitioners in the field of play therapy.
Potentiality -- In only her fourth year as a faculty member, she has six published refereed articles and two published book chapters, with several more articles under review, plus numerous refereed national/international conference presentations. She has been awarded four grants since arriving at UW.
Excellence -- She already has earned the 2011 Outstanding Humanistic Dissertation Award, Association for Humanistic Counseling, Division of American Counseling Association; as well as the 2008-2009 Outstanding Practitioner Award, Chi Sigma Iota, Rho Kappa Chapter of University of North Texas. Globally, Carnes-Holt and colleagues offered two intensive trainings related to play therapy in Uganda, as well as counseling supervision to support the children and educators of a war-torn nation.
