2018 Rising Alumni: Chris Gonzalez

Please list any professional accomplishments you wish to mention.

• Served on two trips to Ghana working with an organization called, "Touch A Life," to serve children who were rescued from slavery, forced labor, and human trafficking.
• Served as trainer on trip to Kenya for staff at an organization called, "Made In The Streets," that rescues abandoned street children in the slums in and around Nairobi.
• Served on two trip to Baja Mexico in Vicinte Guerrero at an after school development program called "Oasis" and an organization serving children with special needs called, "Eternal Anchor."
• Served as on site mental health professional at Otter Creek Christian Camp.

What professor(s) or course(s) were most influential during your time in CEHD?

• Dr. William Doherty: Endless "learnings" about family formation, amazing research experience, wise mentoring that invited me to be courageous.
• Dr. Liz Wieling: Compassionate and challenging - all at the same time. Helped me explore privilege through self-reflection and collegial conversation.
• Dr. Cathy Solheim: Welcoming and kind. Helped me imagine my potential far beyond what I was able to imagine all on my own. Reminded me I was intelligent when I felt otherwise.
• Dr. William Turner: Inspiring. Widened dramatically the scope of what I imagined could be accomplished with a Ph.D. Stretched my views of race and ethnicity with compassion.
• Dr. Hal Grotevant: Taught me to celebrate the little things, like making a decision on a research topic. Was certain I would be a leader when such things were not even on my radar.
• Dr. Tai Mendenhall: Believed in me as a teacher.

What was the impact and benefit of your educational experience in CEHD?

My experience in the Department of FSOS in the CEHD has been the launchpad for every single professional accomplishment since graduating in 2010. The training I was able to engage while doing doctoral work laid the groundwork for me to excel professionally and to become a valuable colleague at Lipscomb University as well as make meaningful contributions to the National Council on Family Relations as well as the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. I gained tremendous skills, developed significant confidence in my abilities, and gained a community of scholars (and friends) from the relationships that formed with classmates and professors. They are all with me wherever I go. I carry these treasures with me all the time.

What is your favorite memory from the University of Minnesota?

One morning I was running late (as usual) to a research meeting for Dr. William Doherty's Family Formation Project. As I raced up the south stairwell of McNeal Hall, huffing and puffing, trying to imagine some plausible excuse for my tardiness, I had an unforgettable experience. In that anxious and hurried moment, I felt an unexpected sensation and had an extremely intense feeling and thought, which was this: "The purpose of your life is to heal and to heal." What I understood this message to mean was that I was to go about my life continually healing my own wounds while I participate in the lives of other people helping them heal their wounds. Never before and never since have I had such a message. It was so intense and impactful that now 10 years since that moment, I have not forgotten it. That message drives my work every day. It has shaped my leadership in the MFT program I direct, my teaching, my therapy, my supervision, my faith, and my life in general.

Who has inspired you the most during your career?

I want to say this is an unfair question. So many are so inspiring. Of all of the inspiring people I have had the privilege to be with, learn from, and gained valuable mentoring from, the words of Hal Grotevant have come back to me time and time again.