Phyllis Nasta 520 203-4968 phyllisnasta@yahoo.com
Here's the info on my education, jobs and publications.
I am currently a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Oregon. Formerly, I was a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Massage Therapist, and State Certified School Counselor in Arizona.
I grew up in New York City
I received a Bachelors Degree from Fordham University with a major in Philosophy and a minor in Art History, Obviously we were not given any career counseling.
From high school through college I worked here and there in a variety of programs to help "disadvantaged" kids. through Catholic Social Services - these were educational, residential, and recreational programs.
After college I moved to Phoenix
I received my Masters of Counseling at Arizona State University
I was lucky enough to be there when Dr. Robert Mosby, who had trained at Esalen,, founded the Gestalt Institute of Phoenix. I participated in the Gestalt Institute's group classes, individual therapy sessions, and residential programs for four years.
While in Phoenix...
I worked as a counselor at the Maricopa County Youth Services Bureau. The goal of the program was to prevent recidivism in youth who had been arrested for status offenses.
I worked for the Community Foundation for Mental Health "Toby House" which was a half way house for adult patients coming out of the State Hospital. One day a resident set the old Victorian house on fire. It was 105 degrees out and I was the only staff person there. A learning experience,
Moved to Tucson
I joined the Aviva Counseling Cooperative which included bodyworkers. It's where I was introduced to Massage, Rolfing, and Jin Shin Juytsu
I taught a few classes at Pima Community College in early childhood ed, and college success skills.
I worked as a Psychiatric Social Worker at Kino Community Hospital Emergency Department. It was the County hospital and received patients in mental health crises from all over Southern Arizona. I diagnosed, admitted and discharged patients, implemented involuntary commitments, worked with ER Doctors, Psychiatrists, Police and other Social Workers.
I worked at La Frontera Mental Health Center as a children's specialist. I learned play therapy and began having to testify in court on child abuse cases.
I worked at Las Familias, center for the treatment of child sexual abuse. I worked with the children, ages three and up, their mothers, and did some work with the offenders who were in a rehab program coordinated by the County Attorney and Child Protective Services.
I worked as a medical social worker at El Rio Neighborhood Health Center, as a provider for the primarily Hispanic population and the Yaqui Pasqua Tribe
I started tin school at the Desert Institute of the Healing Arts while working at Las Familias, and completed my diploma in Massage Therapy.
I worked at the Tucson Psychiatric Institute as a play therapist on the acute care unit for young children.
I worked at Family Counseling Agency as a child, family counselor, and at the Amphi School District family counseling center. I was a contract counselor at two elementary schools in the Amphi School District and I co-led long a long term therapy program for foster children recovering from sexual abuse at Esperero Family Center,
A number of the above jobs were part time , hence the volume. I often had two or three job situations going on at the same time..
After the state of Arizona changed the law to allow clinical counselors to become school counselors without having to be certified teachers, I took a job working at Wilson K-8 School in Oro Valley, North of Tucson. I worked there full time for 17 years and maintained my massage work and a small counseling practice during weekends, evenings, and summers. .
The school counseling job was Middle School Counselor. My duties at school involved counseling, consulting with parents and teachers, working closely with special ed and 504, crisis intervention, suicide assessments,, being on the district wide crisis response team, working closely with our substantial foster children population, teaching classroom lessons in social emotional topics, teaching vocational education to 8th graders, getting 8th grade ready for high school, running the student aide program, and whatever else the Principal decided to have me do.
During this time I also taught some continuing ed classes in Ethics and other topics on Massage and Counseling to Acupuncturists, Massage Therapists and Counselors.
.In my massage therapy practice, I worked as an independent contractor at the Arizona Inn and the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch for about eight years. When that work shriveled up in the economic downturn of 2008, I focused on my home office and built up a steady, part time practice.
In my continuing education I have taken scores of classes in mental health, school counseling, massage and wholistic health. And, for my personal interests I've studied Edgar Cayce, Carolyn Myss, Native American philosophy, Findhorn , Tibetan Buddhism, I was privileged to attend two teachings given by the Dalai Lama in Tucson, one for five days and one for three days..
Volunteer Work - Tucson Symphony, Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra, Tucson AIDS Project, Integrative Touch for Kids, Mental Health Assoc. of Southern Arizona, Board member of Student's Child Care Center,
Publications
Fostering Advocacy Addressing the Needs of Foster Children in the Public School System - published by the Journal "School Counseling Research and Practice" 2010
This article is about the problems that foster kids face in the public school system and what we can do about it. My original title was "The unintentional re-traumatization of foster children in schools and what we can do about it without spending a dime". But, in order to get it published it had to be whipped into scholarly shape which was done by the talented and newly minted Doctor of Education, Lia Falco Maland, professor at University of Arizona. The point of the article was to delineate the typical problems children face in public schools, and give practical, simple solutions. It was based on my experience with many foster kids. If any school counselors would like to pick my brain about problems and solutions with foster kids, give me a call.
Journey Through Acupuncture - published by Venture Inward, the magazine of the Edgar Cayce Association. 2008
I took an entire year and only got Acupuncture for my Self- Care, i.e., no counseling. I wanted to see what the Acupuncture would do to my psychological growth.
Two Tiered Licensing System published by Massage Magazine 2008
They published my opinion article that there is merit to a two tiered license, a relaxation massage therapist and a medical. I recently read an article in Massage Today in which the question is still being bantered about among professionals.
Parents' Tips for Greening Children - Tucson Green Magazine 2008 ideas on activities to teach conservation
Counseling Versus Communication - published by Massage Magazine 2007. This article delineates the significant differences between professional counseling and the kinds of emotionally supportive communication that massage therapists might find themselves providing clients. It was included as a chapter in a vocational textbook, and I recently discovered, is excerpted online.
Aaron Goes To The Shelter I created it and then Kidsrights publisher carried it for several years, till they morphed into another company, I wrote this to teach kids why they get taken away because of abuse or neglect and what happens at the shelter, I built in opportunities for counselors to help kids work through their emotions. It's bi-lingual Spanish English and I am looking for a new publisher to update it and get it out there to kids who need it.
Projective Drawings Reveal the Benefits of Massage With Children - published by the New York Society of Medical Massage Therapists in their journal in which they published the three winners of their essay contest. 1997 I had done a bunch of research on the effects of massage on kids, through using drawings before and after a massage. The drawings speak for themselves, showing improvement in sense of balance, reduction of anxiety, more openness and other areas. I am in the process of updating a flyer I created that shows some of the drawings. If you are interested let me know. phyllisnasta@yahoo.com
