Adler University

04/01/2026

The Joy MacPhail Leadership Scholarship recognizes leadership grounded in community. This year’s recipient, Maiya Gillespie, has been building that foundation well before her doctoral training, through early experiences that shaped how she understands care, connection, and responsibility to others.

In a Victoria drop-in centre, that took form through sustained presence, shared conversation, and meeting everyday needs alongside young people navigating complex circumstances.

Now a doctoral student in Adler University’s clinical psychology program, Maiya continues this work in settings where care is often hardest to access, including residential substance use treatment for women and their children.

Grounded in the Adlerian principle of social interest, her path reflects a relational, community-rooted approach to mental health, oriented toward systems that support

Read more about Maiya's journey below.
https://bit.ly/40Uhgf7

04/01/2026

A teacher’s influence can last a lifetime, and for Jay Colker ’80, D.M., that influence continues well beyond retirement.

At Adler, Dr. Colker remains an active faculty member, mentoring students and helping connect Adlerian theory to real-world practice. From studying with foundational Adlerian scholars to teaching open forum family counseling and helping launch AdlerPedia, his career reflects a lifelong commitment to education and community.

Read more about Dr. Colker’s enduring legacy and the generations of students he continues to inspire.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4c45Sm0

03/24/2026

Most behavioral health systems still don’t reach the people who need them most. That’s where Adler Community Health Services operates.

Today, that work is being recognized. ACHS has received Insight Into Academia’s 2026 Civic Engagement and Community Service Award.

Across Chicago and Vancouver, Adler students are delivering trauma-informed care in schools, clinics, and community agencies — often at no cost — while training to lead in systems that are long overdue for change.

This isn’t theoretical. It’s happening every day, in partnership with communities.

Learn more → https://bit.ly/4d8wkNu

03/11/2026

Two continents, one mission: building classrooms rooted in respect, belonging, and inclusion.

Adler University faculty member Elvita Kondili, Ph.D., is concluding a yearlong international collaboration with university partners in Northern Albania to help future teachers strengthen intercultural communication and address bullying, mobbing, and discrimination in the classroom.

Grounded in Adlerian principles of social interest, belonging, and community well-being, the project equips educators with practical tools to foster learning environments where cultural, linguistic, and regional differences are met with understanding rather than division.

For Dr. Kondili, the work is also deeply personal: an opportunity to give back to the country that helped shape her and to help build something lasting alongside her Albanian colleagues.

Read more: https://bit.ly/40reSfv

02/25/2026

For the second year in a row, our Vancouver counselling psychology program has been recognized as one of Canada's best, placing No. 8 nationally by CourseCompare.

What makes us proud isn't just the ranking. It's knowing our graduates are out there doing the work: leading community mental health initiatives, conducting research that shapes policy, supporting youth through complex mental health challenges, and transforming how care reaches under-resourced communities.

At Adler, we believe strong clinical training is the foundation for real change. Our programs combine rigorous academics with 700 hours of supervised practice, preparing students to meet communities where they are.

To our faculty, students, and alumni making this possible: thank you.

Learn more about Adler’s counselling psychology program: https://bit.ly/3ZSJjuT

02/23/2026

Laughter = therapy? Sometimes, yes.

Join us April 10 for the 2026 Adlerian Summit at Adler University in Vancouver. This year’s theme, “Courage to Laugh: Adlerian Psychology and the Art of Humour,” explores how humour fosters healing, connection, and hope.

The day-long event will include a keynote address, multilingual breakout sessions, open mic, photo booth, student poster presentations, and lunch is provided.

Laugh, learn, connect.
Register by March 31: https://bit.ly/4rDM7rW

02/11/2026

We spent last weekend celebrating the values that helped build Adler University and we are grateful to all who participated in Founders’ Days.

Adler alumni, friends, trustees, and employees have helped us raise $13,947 so far to support the work inspired by Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs. Thank you for helping keep that vision moving forward.

If you didn’t get a chance to give over the weekend, you can still make an impact.

Donate here: https://bit.ly/4acMzal

02/08/2026

Some kids don’t just grow up alongside a sibling with developmental disabilities — they quietly grow into caregivers.

While working as a family support worker in British Columbia, Adler alum Maren Rogers, MA'25, started noticing a pattern: siblings taking on emotional and practical responsibilities far beyond their years. Not because they were asked to, but because they felt they had to.

That observation became her graduate thesis, which explored sibling-focused parentification: how children navigate being “mini adults,” what that responsibility takes from them, and what helps them cope. Through in-depth interviews, Maren found that while these experiences can create emotional strain and isolation, they can also shape empathy, resilience, and a strong sense of responsibility — if children are supported, validated, and allowed space to develop identities beyond caregiving.

“Kids are pretty extraordinary,” she says. “They’re much more perceptive than we ever give them credit for.”

This kind of work reflects why Adler University exists in the first place: scholarship grounded in lived experience, focused on families, and accountable to the real world. On Founders’ Days, we invite you to help ensure this work — and the students behind it — continue well into the future.

Make a gift here: https://bit.ly/4a5aZCH

02/05/2026

From the beginning, Adler University has been shaped by a belief that education should be accountable to communities and responsive to real-world needs.

That belief continues to take form through partnerships like our collaboration with the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia. Together, Adler and FNHA are advancing culturally informed mental health training, practicum pathways, and professional development that support community-led wellness approaches.

With Founders’ Days approaching this weekend, we’re highlighting how Adler’s ideas continue to guide partnerships that extend learning beyond the classroom and into communities worldwide.

Founders’ Days | Feb. 7–8
Read More: https://bit.ly/3MmhuI3

01/27/2026

When Joseph Mapp joined Adler University as an administrative intern in early 2020, he had just returned home after nearly 20 years of incarceration. What he remembers most about that day was the welcome — people who looked at him, not past him.

Through an internship with Adler’s Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice (IPSSJ), Joseph discovered that his lived experience wasn’t a barrier. It was expertise. It was leadership. And it was needed.

Five years later, Mapp is now the director of the Office of Reentry for the City of Chicago, shaping policies and partnerships that support residents returning to their communities after incarceration.

In conversation with Mapp, he reflects on the power of education, the role of restorative practice in healing communities, and how students today can contribute to a more responsive and humane reentry ecosystem.

Read his full story and join us in celebrating the possibilities created when trust, education, and opportunity come together.

Read More: https://www.adler.edu/news/why-education-was-the-turning-point-for-joseph-mapp-and-chicagos-reentry-strategy/

01/22/2026

Due to extreme cold conditions in the Chicagoland area, Adler University’s Chicago facilities will be closed Friday, Jan. 23, through the weekend.

All Chicago faculty, staff, and students should check their Adler email for important details regarding building access, classes, and remote work expectations.

Additional updates, if needed, will be shared via [email protected].

11/28/2024

11/26/2024

For John Gingrich, Adler University was more than just an educational journey — it is a deeply personal connection to a legacy of Adlerian psychology. Gingrich's grandfather, Gary Lehman, studied under Rudolf Dreikurs, a pioneering figure in Adlerian psychology and co-founder of the Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago, now Adler University. More than 50 years later, Gingrich followed in his grandfather's footsteps by receiving his Master of Counselling Psychology: Art Therapy student at our Vancouver campus.

Explore how this rich family legacy shaped Gingrich’s transformative time at Adler, and how it Adler has influenced his current work combining therapy, community, and art.

Gingrich co-founded “A Good Universe,” an artist collective of mural painters that provide community- and commercial-based painting services and therapy.

11/19/2024

Adler University doctoral candidate Wanda Rosario sheds light on the essential mental health support required for Chicago's migrant community. Rosario is reflecting on her internship with Faith Community Initiative, where she helped assess the daily needs of migrants and their families. The experience debunked her personal misconceptions, underscoring the need for creating safe and supportive spaces where migrants can feel heard and understood. “Like most of us, I had preconceived notions about what it was like to be a migrant in America,” Rosario shares.

https://www.adler.edu/2024/11/14/addressing-an-overlooked-need-mental-health-support-for-chicagos-migrant-community/

11/08/2024

The Adlerian spirit embodies a commitment to serve with empathy, courage, and dedication to empower individuals and strengthen communities.

As approaches, we are honored to celebrate our recent Military Psychology graduates, who are stepping forward to support those who have served and their families. Through guidance from our distinguished faculty, including Joseph Troiani, Ph.D., founding director of our Military Psychology program and himself a veteran, the graduates are equipped with the knowledge, compassion, and skills needed to make a meaningful impact in the veteran community.

10/27/2024

The big day has arrived! 🎓 Today, we celebrate the culmination of all the hard work and dedication from our Chicago and Online students. Don’t miss a single moment — tune into the livestream and join us in celebrating this incredible achievement!

Welcome to the official YouTube channel for Adler University’s Chicago and Online Commencement Ceremony. Join us on Saturday, Oct. 27, as we celebrate the ac...

10/24/2024

Eme Swaggthorne is blending their journey from drag clowning to art therapy to create healing spaces for marginalized communities. As they graduate from Adler’s Art Therapy program this Sunday, Oct. 27 at The Chicago Theatre, Swaggthorne is reflecting on the meaning of this milestone and its deep connection to their work. Their story is a powerful example of resilience and creativity coming together to make a difference.

Discover more about Swaggthorne's inspiring journey and how they are using art to heal.

Similar to the way drag can create spaces that allow historically marginalized people to feel safe, Eme Swaggthorne feels that art therapy can do the same.

10/21/2024

With only a few months under my belt, I can say that every member of the council has a genuine objective of helping every new arrival with the resettlement process," shared Farrah Beidas, a third-year Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology student in Chicago.

This past summer, Beidas was appointed to Chicago’s New Americans Advisory Council, which advises Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Office of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee. She’s utilizing the knowledge and expertise she has gained at Adler to benefit newly arrived immigrants and refugees in the city.

By submitting this form, I am giving Adler University consent to contact me by email, telephone and/or text messaging at the address(es) and telephone number(s) provided above, including wireless, even if I am on a corporate, state or national Do Not Call Registry. This consent includes contact via....

10/18/2024

Children often change their minds about what they want to be when they grow up — one day it’s a doctor, the next a firefighter. But for Jennifer Pierson, she decided at third grade that she wanted to be a psychologist. Now, after years of dedication, that dream is about to come true as she earns her Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and walks the Chicago Theatre stage at the Chicago and Online commencement ceremony on Oct. 27.

Since the third grade, Jennifer Pierson, Ph.D., has always known her answer when people asked what she wanted to be when she grew up: a psychologist.

10/16/2024

✨ It's that exciting time of year again — Commencement is just around the corner for our Chicago, Vancouver, and Online students! 🎓 We can't wait to celebrate the amazing individuals who are stepping into the next phase of their careers.

One of those inspiring graduates is Tahani Abdallah, Ph.D., from our Online Campus. She will be delivering the student commencement address for our Chicago and Online ceremony on Oct. 27 at the iconic Chicago Theatre.

Dr. Abdallah's story is one of incredible resilience and determination. After a successful career in the corporate world, she made the bold decision to pursue a career in higher education and to earn her Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Leadership. Her message to fellow graduates is both powerful and thought-provoking: their degrees are not just achievements, but a call to action to use their knowledge and influence to drive meaningful change in their communities.

Want to know more about Dr. Abdallah’s journey? Read more about her inspiring story , and hear from an Adlerian dedicated to making a difference.

By submitting this form, I am giving Adler University consent to contact me by email, telephone and/or text messaging at the address(es) and telephone number(s) provided above, including wireless, even if I am on a corporate, state or national Do Not Call Registry. This consent includes contact via....