Paul De Sena

Professor Paul De Sena earned his doctorate in counselor education in 1963 from Pennsylvania State University. He began his career as an assistant professor initially at John Carroll University, moving to Loyola Marymount University in 1966, where he served a total of almost 54 years.  Professor De Sena taught a number of courses for the Counseling Program. However, during his final years, he taught coursework in "Culturally Responsive Counseling," "Counseling Theories and Techniques," "Practicum in Counseling," and "Field Work." During his many years as director of the Counselor Education program, he shepherded the program to the point where it was one of the two largest credential programs in the School of Education, second only to the teacher education program. This growth in program size was due directly to the many hours Professor De Sena devoted to working with credential candidates, collaborating with K-12 school sites, and his service to state, regional, and national level professional organizations. 

Professor De Sena’s most noteworthy university contributions included his service on the Faculty Senate and Rank and Tenure committee (including serving as chair), the Committee on Teaching Excellence, Sabbatical Review Committee, Ethnic Minority Faculty Affairs Committee, Grievance Committee, and Faculty Advisors to the President Committee. Professor De Sena’s significant service contributions across all levels earned him LMU’s highest recognition for service, the LMU Rains Award for Excellence in Service in 2014. Over the course of his career, Professor De Sena’s research and scholarship focused on a number of areas of specialization including maintaining career satisfaction in counseling and school psychology, self-exploration in the communication process, stress reduction in demanding professions, and the role of counseling in promoting students’ academic achievement. He spent much of his career sharing his work at conferences specifically supporting organizations within the field of counselor education.

Professor De Sena maintained a variety of leadership roles in the California School Counselor Association and the California Association of School Counselors. He served many of those years on the Governing Board of the California Association of School Counselors (CASC). He represented hundreds of school counselor educators in California in this position. He was a member of the California School Counselor Editorial Review Board, a peer reviewed journal, was a president of the California Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors, the former president of the California Association for Specialists in Group Work (CASGW), and served on the committee for the California Coalition for Counselor Licensure (CCCL), which was successful in bringing Licensure for Professional Counselors to California in 2009. In 1999, he was recognized for his service as an H.B. McDaniel Individual Award Winner. In 2012, he was inducted into the H.B. McDaniel Hall of Fame for his lifetime work and contributions in the field of school counseling. He was also awarded the California Association of School Counselors Advocate of the Year Award 2013 and the California Association of School Counselors Educator of the year award in 2018.