Counseling Alumnus Finds Success as Mental Health Advocate

对于许多, a college acceptance letter is the gateway to opportunity, but for two-time 365英国上市官网 graduate 拿破仑哈林顿, 他的成功故事始于拒绝.

哈林顿, 弗林特人, had always planned on pursuing post-secondary education in 密歇根, 就像他的许多同龄人一样.

“That’s where everyone else applied and had been accepted,他说. “It was only natural for me to follow the crowd and do what everyone else did.”

他很惊讶, 然而, to receive a string of rejection letters from every 密歇根-based university to which he applied.

“My hopes began to fade and the enthusiasm I once had for college was dashed after everyone I sent an application to basically told me a resounding ‘no,’”他说。. “除了奥克兰，所有人都去了.”

When 哈林顿 finally received a letter in the mail from OU, he was stunned to learn that he had again been denied regular admission. 他是, 然而, given provisional admittance under a probationary period, 他说这个机会改变了他的一生.

哈林顿 decided to major in Human Resource Development (HRD) with a minor in labor relations, 最终于2002年以公开大学的奖学金获得者的身份毕业 人际关系奖. 他是 so satisfied with the education he received that he began pursuing a master’s degree in counseling with a community focus that same year, 这是他在2004年完成的.

“The rigor built into my assignments encouraged me to challenge the existing standards in the field  so that I could develop my own original thoughts and theories, 进而成为我职业生涯中的创新者,他说. “Oakland truly provided a learning atmosphere that challenged me to stretch beyond restrictive schools of thought and learn the value of critical thinking and applying the things we learned.”

In 2008, 哈林顿 — now known as the “Courage Counselor” — founded 大使咨询和资源小组, an organization devoted to providing mental health services for individuals, youth and families. He has since been inducted as a member of the fifth class of the “Elite 40 Under 40 of Oakland County” by then-County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and as president of the 28th class of 领导奥克兰这是一个国家认可的领导力项目. 此外，他现在是 公开大学研究生学习咨询委员会.

哈林顿 credits much of his professional success to the experiences he had in his time at OU, which included leadership roles in the Association of Black Students, Men of Umoja (Unity) and Apostolic Lighthouse Campus Ministries.

在奥克兰的时候, I was able to learn leadership skills and develop a greater sense of purpose by getting engaged in opportunities at the campus level and surrounding community,他说. “I grew both personally and professionally by leaps and bounds by getting involved in a variety of programming dedicated to improving race relations and multicultural understanding.”

In 2016, 哈林顿 was appointed president of the 密歇根 Mental Health Counselors Association (MMHCA), 这个角色他做了四年. 在那个位置上, he played a vital role in passing a historic piece of legislation that enabled licensed professional counselors (LPCs) to continue their practice, which was threatened by a proposal from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). 

LARA’s proposed changes would have essentially limited counselors’ scope of practice by moving their ability to diagnose and treat mental illness into an educational category. 在哈林顿的领导下, MMHCA提出了众议院4325号法案, which would “codify diagnosis and other elements within the scope of practice into law.”

“We realized that if LARA was able to make the rule changes before the bill was passed, 我们的职业将受到严重限制,他说.

After a rigorous campaign to publicize the issue — including a 改变.org的请愿书 获得了超过54个,000 signatures in less than a month — the bill received unanimous approval from the House of Representatives and the Senate, 并 正式签署成为法律 密歇根州政府. 格雷琴·惠特默(Gretchen Whitmer) 10月11日说. 29, 2019.

As far as 哈林顿 is concerned, though, this is only the beginning of his story. 现在和妻子费思住在奥本山, his most recent role is that of father to their newborn twin daughters, 伊莎贝拉和伊玛尼. 

另外, 哈林顿 is pursuing a doctorate in behavioral health, 预计他将在2021年1月完成. 现年41岁, 哈林顿认为, without the support he received from OU in his undergraduate years, 他就不会有今天的成就.

“365英国上市官网 offered me an opportunity to prove that the investment they were making, by admitting me to the university on a conditional basis, 从长远来看会有回报吗,他说. “It proved to be the best opportunity of my lifetime.”

For additional information on the counseling programs available at OU, visit 奥克兰.edu/counseling.