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CARE's Story

​Christine E. Agaibi's journey into the science of resilience began when she was just 13 years old.  During a family vacation, Christine  lost her beloved dad unexpectedly to natural causes.  The next few years were challenging as Christine tried to navigate her teen years without her wonderful father to guide and support her.  Despite these challenges, Christine was deeply inspired by her father's legacy and his own journey of resilience.  Christine, went on to college and eventually graduate training to deeply study the science of resilience so that she can help others rise from difficulty, adapt, chart a path forward, and turn tragedy to triumph.

 

Christine E. Agaibi received her Masters (MA) and Doctorate (PhD) graduate training in Counseling Psychology in Ohio.

She is the current Chair of the Special Interest Group on Religious and Spiritual Issues in Counseling Psychology in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Counseling Psychology Division (Division 17).

For over 24 years, her professional, research, and clinical interests have been in the areas of resilience and positive psychology, religion and spirituality, women's issues, and diversity.

She has presented on these topics professionally at over 70 regional, state, national, and international psychology conferences and invited professional presentations. Additionally, she has presented on these topics over 320 times at various invited community presentations and to Coptic Orthodox Churches across the United States and Canada.

She has also been invited to speak about these topics to the Eritrean Orthodox Community and the Jewish Community in the United States and to humanitarian organizations in Nigeria, Namibia, and Egypt. She also spoke about resilience and grit at Koç University, a prestigious research university in Istanbul, Turkey.

Between professional national and international presentations, community presentations, and publications, she has given over 400 presentations and her work has reached 16 countries, 16 US states, and 4 Canadian provinces. She has also taught at 7 universities and colleges.

She has published over 16 journal articles (national and international), book chapters, and APA Division and State Psychological Associations newsletter articles on these topics. She completed her APA Accredited Pre-Doctoral Internship at the Ohio Psychology Internship, a consortium, where she had comprehensive and diverse didactic and practical training with children and adolescents, families, couples, and adults, in assessment, forensics, substance use issues, and individual and group therapy.

Her most recent publication is an October 2023 international article and collaborative effort. This international publication is in a journal out of Poland and has contributors/collaborators from the USA (Christine), the UAE, and Qatar.

 

​She is the Past-President of Ohio Women in Psychology (OWP) and Past OWP liaison to the Ohio Psychological Association (OPA) Board of Directors. She has also had several leadership and committee roles within the OPA and the OPA Board of Directors.

She has served on several committees in the New Jersey Psychological Association, the South Jersey Psychological Association, the Ohio Psychological Association, and is the Past-Vice President of the Akron Area Professional Psychologists. She has also been the Practice Representative for the Section on Positive Psychology within APA’s Division 17. Internationally, she has served on the Board of Directors for the Students of the International Positive Psychology Association.

She has advocated for the profession of psychology and for clients of psychology at State Leadership Conferences in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and at the federal level on Capitol Hill. She has attended APA’s National State Leadership Conference, a prestigious invitation-only advocacy conference, four times and has twice served as the Diversity Delegate from Ohio. She has served on two Task Forces within The Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality within APA’s Division 36, and she also sits on the Community Engagement Committee of APA's Division 17.

She also sits on two Mental Health and Education Committees within the Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America.

She has also contributed to programs for CMANA (The Coptic Medical Association of North America) and CYC (Coptic Youth Channel) that both reach and serve within and outside the United States.

In 2024, she was invited to be the inaugural speaker at a 1st Annual Women’s Retreat in Ontario, Canada on Resilience, Spiritual Issues, and Empowering Women to Thrive. 

Additionally, she was a panelist representing the Coptic Orthodox Church at the EMERGE Empowering Oriental Orthodox Women's Conference that was organized by the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches.

She has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate psychology courses at six universities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and NJ. She currently teaches at Rowan College at Burlington County and CCC, both in NJ. She has also been invited to speak to students in a Capstone Professional Development course at Valparaiso University in Indiana.

Currently, she conducts evaluations and provides therapy in a large community mental health clinic/practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has also previously provided therapy and evaluations at a university counseling center, adolescent drug and alcohol center, and a consortium (private practice, community mental health, elementary school evaluations, and crisis evaluations) in Ohio, a practice in New Jersey, a partial care in NJ, and at a leading national child and adolescent behavioral and mental health clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

When not working in resilience with clients and students, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, and taking strolls on the beach or nature walks.

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