David Fenner, M.S., NCC, ACS

Dave brings nearly two decades of "in the field" experience to the Community Counseling faculty.  Dave worked as a Master's level counselor and trainer for 16 years at Adapt, which is Douglas County's primary provider of chemical dependency/mental health services.  During that time, Dave received well-rounded training and experience in both mental health and addictions disciplines.  Dave was one of three family therapists at the agency who received extensive training in FFT, Functional Family Therapy, at Indiana University. 

He worked extensively with adolescents and families in Douglas County school districts as a prevention practitioner, parent educator, and family therapist.  Dave also provided mental health services, including assessment and treatment, as part of an agency grant to a local medical clinic, and provided alcohol/drug and gambling treatment services to various adult populations at his agency. 

His passion for working with families dealing with addiction led him to develop both a multi-family psycho-educational/process group model, which was used in the adolescent outpatient program at his agency, and a parent education program designed specifically for chemically dependent parents engaged in residential treatment, which he taught on site. 

When Dave was asked to teach a substance abuse issues class to graduate students at NCU a few years ago, he discovered that translating his "field experience" into the classroom was a wonderful fit.  Now as a member of the faculty, he especially enjoys teaching the "practical" counseling courses, such as Skills and Procedures, Family Systems, Substance Abuse Issues, and Strategies and Treatment.