October 15, 2015

Sachin Jain

Sachin Jain is a true international counselor.  He completed a master’s degree in clinical psychology at VBS Purvanchal University in India.  Looking around for a next step, he realized he had to leave India to improve his skills.

“There are no doctoral level programs in Counselor Education in India.  Even the master’s level programs struggle in the counseling development skills due to the lack of trained supervisors.”

His search for a counselor education degree led him to the plains of the US – the University of Wyoming in Laramie, and a totally different environment than India.  Sachin believes in immersing oneself in the local culture and advises other students studying abroad to

“Be respectful of the culture in which you decide to study/work, try to connect with locals, exposure to the life style of different social stratums in a socially acceptable way, advocacy efforts (within the context of the culture) and above all an open mind.”

During his doctorate, Sachin became familiar with the quality that a CACREP-accredited program ensured.  He shared his vision of CACREP expanding to support programs internationally with his advisor, Dr. Mary Alice Bruce, who served as Chair of the CACREP Board at that time.  When planning the initial IRCEP Task Force, Carol Bobby and Becky Stanard immediately thought of Sachin’s enthusiastic support of international activities.

“In 2008, I received an email from Dr. Standard inviting me to serve on the committee!  One of the most memorable days for me, it was tough for me to believe that it is happening.  I responded in a few seconds.”

Sachin continues to serve on the IRCEP Steering Committee and has travelled throughout the world helping programs to learn about IRCEP, and making the important connections to move counseling forward as a global profession.  He has attended conferences and met with academic and counseling leaders in more than 20 countries.

“The biggest needs for preparing counselors on throughout the world are ethics, micro skills, social justice, and humbleness.”

These are all characteristics that Dr. Jain lives every day.  Despite his world travels, he never loses sight of why he chose the profession of counseling in his native India.  In speaking about his first inspirations he says

“The school I served has 5000 students, and after three years, I was experiencing burnout.  I had a client who was a math anxious kid.  He developed psychosomatic symptoms and could not write or move his neck for several weeks.  He was fully recovered within a year.”