School News

Last Updated on Saturday, 30 September 2017 15:41

Counselor at California University of Pennsylvania Helped to Develop Prevention Awareness Recovery Center On Campus

Dr. John D. Massella, an associate professor at California University of Pennsylvania and a licensed professional counselor, will receive the 2017 NAADAC Addiction Educator of the Year Award Sept. 25 at the organization’s annual conference in Denver, Colo.

John Massella

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, represents the professional interests of more than 95,000 addiction counselors, educators and other addiction-focused healthcare professionals worldwide.

Massella, a resident of Venetia, joined Cal U’s Counseling Center in 2010 after working for 30 years at Gateway Rehabilitation in Monroeville.
At the start of the fall semester, he became director of the Office for Students with Disabilities at California University, where he continues to teach two graduate courses in counselor education during the winter and summer terms.

Massella operates a private practice in McMurray and also works with health care professionals who struggle with addiction.

“I am very honored and can’t imagine being considered, let alone winning a national award,” Massella says. “I can think of a thousand people who deserve this … who have done, and are still doing, great work.”

Mary Van Osdol, a licensed professional counselor and certified Masters Addiction counselor who has her own practice in Wexford, nominated him for the award. She and Massella were colleagues at Gateway Rehabilitation.

“John is completely approachable, genuinely concerned for people and one of the most highly regarded therapists and educators in the state,” she says. “He has impacted so many people’s careers.”

At Cal U, Massella has played a key role in developing the Prevention Awareness Recovery Center, or PARC. Cal U is the first university in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education and one of only 250 nationwide to have a designated recovery center that provides support, services, and resources for students who are struggling with the use of alcohol and other drugs, as well as students who support the recovery of others.