Hennessey Lustica

Biography

Hennessey Lustica joined the Warner School as a part-time clinical assistant professor in counseling and human development in 2023. Before that, she was a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Graduate Counseling and Psychology at Medaille University for four years. Lustica has permanent certification as a school counselor and is licensed as a mental health counselor in New York State. She is an approved clinical supervisor (ACS) by the National Board of Certified Counselors.

Lustica has 20 years of experience in K-12 public schools, including 17 years as a school counselor. She serves as the community schools mental health director at the Seneca Falls Central School District. Lustica's expertise in mental health, combined with her expertise in educational systems, allows for both individual and systemic change. To accomplish this work, she partners with stakeholders nationwide to develop leading theory and practice around supporting kids and families.

She has presented at state, regional, and national conferences on counseling topics, such as the use of child-centered play therapy in elementary school settings, understanding adolescent anger, early childhood trauma, attendance in school, crossing the bridge of integrated care for school and mental health counselors, restorative practices, and crisis counseling in supervision. Additionally, she has authored works on expressive arts therapy, group counseling for middle school students, the intersection of mental health and attendance, and constructivist supervision. Her dissertation research utilized a mixed-method design to develop and validate a measure for district administrators to evaluate school counselors on their important work as part of the annual professional performance review (APPR) required in school districts nationwide. The results of this work, the Lustica School Counselor Evaluation Tool (L-SCET), is available for school districts across New York State.

In addition to supervision, research, and teaching, Lustica is dedicated to service within the counseling community. She has served as the Western Region Event Chair for the American Counseling Association of New York (ACA-NY) and the Graduate Chair and Representative to the Executive Council of the North Atlantic Region of Counselor Educators and Supervisors (NARACES). She received the 2019 Leadership Award from the New York State School Counselor Association (NYSSCA), where she serves as vice president for counselor educators. She was a 2021-22 School Ambassador Fellow with the United States Department of Education. Lustica is also an experienced grant writer who has been awarded more than $16 million for programs for school-based mental health practitioners across New York State.