Jan Holden

I grew up in, taught high school psychology for 11 years in, and served as a high school counselor for one year in the Chicago suburbs. My bachelor's degree is in psychology with honors from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana. Both my master's and doctoral degrees are in counselor education from Northern Illinois University.

Since completing my master's in 1979 until 2007, I maintained a part-time private practice in counseling. Upon completing my doctorate in the spring of 1988, I came to Texas to join the UNT Counseling Program faculty that fall, and have worked here ever since; it would take an exceptional job to persuade me to move back north of the Mason-Dixon line! I discontinued private practice when I became Department Chair because of workload; I look forward to resuming when I either return to faculty or retire.

My primary professional interest is the transpersonal perspective in counseling – "transpersonal" referring most basically to experiences and stages of development that involve transcendence of the usual personal limits of space and/or time. My single most meaningful professional experience so far has been serving for three years as president of the International Association for Near-Death Studies. My greatest professional fantasy is to find a donor to fund a Center for the Study of Transpersonal Experiences Surrounding Death (C-STED) at the University of North Texas.

I'm married with no children and enjoy watching movies on our home-theater-like setup, maintaining the landscaping around my house, attending arts-related events in the DFW area, and taking vacations focused on hiking and photography.

I am extremely proud of the UNT Counseling Program: I believe we nurture the development of outstanding counseling associates and professionals.