Published: November 04, 2009 09:42 am      

SHSU professor receives state award

Dr. Richard Henriksen, an associate professor of education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Sam Houston State University, will be awarded the 2009 Professional Writing Award by the Texas Counseling Association.

The TCA will recognize Henriksen during an awards banquet on Nov. 12 at the 53rd annual Professional Growth Conference in Dallas.

Coining the term “multiple heritage” in counseling literature, Henriksen has published many journal articles and book chapters that address the unique counseling needs of multiple heritage individuals, couples and families.

Recently, Henriksen published the first book on working with this often misunderstood and underserved population.

The book, “Counseling Multiple Heritage Individuals, Couples and Families,” explains the impact of multiple heritages on ethnic and racial identity development, and offers best practices to use when working with the multiple heritage population.

“Richard’s literary contributions to the counseling profession help us enrich the services we provide to multiple heritage populations nationwide,” said Judy Nelson, president of TCA, said. “I’m proud to honor him with the 2009 Outstanding Writing Award for giving this growing population a voice of its own.”

TCA, formed in 1947, is a non-profit association that represents more than 6,000 professional counselors in a variety of specialties across Texas.