Personal Learning & Development.org 

We realize this page is text-heavy but it is here to provide details regarding our professional education and other professional development background information as well as information about our licenses and certifications for providing counseling and coaching services.  Please find photos of Paul and Lola Duffy and brief updates at our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/PersonalLearningandDevelopment/ 

Paul L. Duffy, MEd, LPC-S  

is licensed by the state of Texas to provide  psychotherapeutic and personal development counseling and certified to supervise professional counseling interns.  To learn more about this professional licensure, go to: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/counselor/lpc_scope.shtm.

Paul's Professional Education and Experience

Paul provided career-development centered educational, vocational and personal adjustment & development counseling services for over 25 years to individuals from ages 18 to 80 as Counselor - Professor at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas.   During that time he observed that, distinct from academic and professional learning and development, “personal learning and development” is learning that integrates mind, heart, body and soul and interactively enriches individual capacities for labor, leadership, leisure and love. 

A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a major in Sociology, Paul completed his professional education with a Master's of Education from Texas State University majoring in Counseling and Guidance with a minor in Psychology.  He has completed an additional 45 post-Master's graduate-hours in Professional Counseling and Education to stay in touch with best practices in counseling and teaching. 

12 Step recovery-support counseling has been a special interest area since the mid 1990s when he began working with post-treatment adults who were returning to college. 

His focus on grief recovery support counseling began in 2003 and was solidified in 2004 following his mother's succumbing to cancer.  In addition to the innumerable hours of grief-support counseling provided to student-clients while on ACC's fulltime counseling faculty, Paul has provided over 500 hours of pro bono grief-support group facilitation in the community.
In August of 2013 Paul retired from his fulltime faculty role at ACC to give more time to private practice counseling and pro bono grief support group facilitation.



Lola Pearl Duffy, AAS, LCDCi, CGRS, CCC

partnered with PLD founder Paul Duffy in 2009 to develop the nonprofit initiative of Personal Learning and Development for Grief Recovery.  She is the Director of Life-Transitions & Recovery Coaching. 

Lola's Professional Education and Experience

As a graduate of Austin Community College’s Associate of Applied Science Degree program in Human Services, Lola completed the educational and practicum requirements for the Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor intern (LCDCi) certification through the Texas Department of State Health Services.

In addition to preparing her for counseling, recovery-coaching, transitions-coaching and direct care work in the addictions field, her degree program provided intensive training in social work, psychology, as well as substance abuse/addiction treatment.  She completed internships at both Austin Recovery and Intregal Care’s Project Recovery. 

Early in her work in the addiction treatment field she recognized that unresolved grief played a critical role in addiction, so Lola combined her own personal experience in grief recovery with intensive specialized training through the Grief Recovery Institute to gain certification as a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist (CGRS). 

Additionally, recognizing that couple-relationships played a critical role in recovery, she completed certification as a Gottman “Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work Program Educator” and Levels 1 & 2 Training with a Certified Gottman Therapist to enhance her coaching with couples and individuals with relationship challenges. 

Most recently Lola successfully completed coursework and testing to certify her coaching competencies ( the CCC credential) as a Positive Psychology Coach through the International Coaching Federation approved School of Coaching Mastery.