Teaching Portfolio • Counselor Education & Supervision
Dr. Andrea M. Stiles,
Ph.D., LCPC, NCC
Counselor Educator • Clinical Supervisor • Scholar-Practitioner
Northwestern University • Adler University • Klutch & Well, PLLC
10+Years Teaching
15+Courses Taught
5.75Avg. Instruction Rating /6
5.94Avg. DEI/SJ Score /6
2University Appointments
01
Teaching Philosophy
"Education is the practice of freedom. Teaching is an opportunity to build community, to transgress against hegemonic influences, and to ignite a passion for learning that extends beyond the classroom."
— Dr. Andrea M. Stiles, in the tradition of bell hooks (1994, 2003, 2009)Teaching to Transgress
Grounded in bell hooks's vision, every course is designed as a site of transgression against hegemonic knowledge structures. Disrupting business-as-usual in the classroom is not an act of rebellion — it is the pedagogy. Students are invited into critical consciousness, not passive reception.
Teaching to Build Community
The classroom is a community before it is a curriculum. Every pedagogical choice — from discussion structure to assignment design — is made in service of building a shared learning community in which all students feel witnessed, valued, and accountable to one another's growth.
Teaching Critical Thinking
In the tradition of Paulo Freire, students are not vessels to be filled but thinkers to be challenged. Critical thinking is taught as a liberatory practice — the capacity to interrogate assumptions, hold complexity, and generate knowledge from one's own standpoint and experience.
The Erotic as Pedagogy
Drawing on Audre Lorde's conception of the erotic as a source of knowledge, power, and deep feeling, teaching is understood as an act of love — bringing the full self into the pedagogical relationship, modeling what it means to be moved by ideas and committed to liberation.
Embodied & Integrative Practice
As a practitioner-scholar who actively sees clients, teaching is never abstracted from clinical reality. Theory is always in dialogue with practice, and the body — as a site of knowing — is honored through somatic, narrative, and relational approaches to learning and meaning-making.
02
Courses Taught
Graduate-level counseling courses taught across online, hybrid, and campus-based modalities at Northwestern University (The Family Institute) and Adler University. Subject Matter Expert roles included original curriculum design.
Theories of Counseling & Psychology
COUN 416 • Northwestern University
Northwestern
Graduate survey of foundational and contemporary counseling theories, from psychoanalytic and Adlerian through existential, humanistic, CBT, DBT, ACT, feminist, and multicultural frameworks. Uses case conceptualization and media analysis to integrate theory with practice.
Multicultural & Social Justice Counseling
COUN 483 • Northwestern University
Northwestern
Comprehensive exploration of multicultural competence, intersectionality, social justice advocacy, and anti-oppressive practice. Centers lived experience, cultural immersion, and critical self-reflection as primary pedagogical methods alongside scholarly literature.
Human Sexuality in Counseling
COUN 429 • Northwestern University
Northwestern
Sex-positive, intersectional exploration of human sexuality as a domain of clinical practice. Covers sexual identity development, trauma and sexuality, sexual health across the lifespan, non-traditional relationships, and ethical dimensions of sexuality counseling.
Counseling Methods 3: Advocacy, Outreach & Prevention
COUN 480 • Northwestern University
Northwestern
Advanced methods course integrating social justice counseling, community outreach, program development, and advocacy work. Situates counselors-in-training as agents of systemic change and community healing.
Group Counseling
Adler University • Northwestern University
Both Institutions
Theory and practice of group counseling, including group dynamics, therapeutic factors, facilitation skills, and supervision of group process. Served as Subject Matter Expert and curriculum designer for Adler's online group counseling course sequence.
Cultural Diversity & Multicultural Counseling
Adler University
Adler
Online graduate course covering cultural identity development, systemic privilege and oppression, CACREP multicultural competencies, and advocacy in counseling practice.
Treatment Planning & Interventions
Adler University
Adler
Evidence-based and culturally responsive treatment planning, diagnosis, goal setting, and intervention selection across clinical populations. Emphasizes integration of intersectional client identity into treatment conceptualization.
Crisis Interventions & Trauma Counseling
Adler University
Adler
Trauma-informed frameworks, crisis intervention models, and evidence-based trauma treatment approaches. Integrates somatic, narrative, and relational perspectives on trauma and recovery with multicultural sensitivity.
Adlerian Theory & Counseling
Adler University
Adler
In-depth exploration of Individual Psychology, Adlerian concepts including social interest, lifestyle analysis, and encouragement, and their application to contemporary counseling practice with diverse populations.
03
Teaching Effectiveness
Data drawn from Northwestern University CTEC evaluations, Winter 2025–Winter 2026 (13 sections, 5 courses). Means calculated from sections with ≥ 4 respondents (n = 11). All scores on a 6-point scale. See Appendix A for the full internal summary document.
Overall Instruction
5.75
Mean across 11 qualifying sections
DEI & Social Justice
5.94
Perfect 6.00 in 9 of 11 sections
Interest Stimulation
5.76
Mean across qualifying sections
Estimated Learning
5.61
Student-reported learning gain
Sections Rated 6.00/6.00
4
Perfect instruction score sections
Sections Evaluated
13
Across 4 terms, 5 courses
| Course | Term | n / Enrolled | Course Rating | Instruction | Interest | DEI/SJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theories of Counseling & PsychologyCOUN 416-66 | Winter 2025 | 8/14 | 5.75 | 5.88 | 5.88 | 5.88 |
| Human Sexuality in CounselingCOUN 429-61 | Winter 2025 | 7/11 | 5.71 | 6.00 | 6.00 | 6.00 |
| Theories of Counseling & PsychologyCOUN 416-64 | Spring 2025 | 7/13 | 5.57 | 5.71 | 6.00 | 6.00 |
| Multicultural CounselingCOUN 483-75 | Spring 2025 | 9/13 | 5.56 | 5.78 | 5.89 | 6.00 |
| Counseling Methods 3COUN 480-83 | Spring 2025 | 5/8 | 5.80 | 5.80 | 5.80 | 6.00 |
| Theories of Counseling & PsychologyCOUN 416-61 | Summer 2025 | 6/11 | 4.83 | 5.33 | 5.50 | 5.83 |
| Theories of Counseling & PsychologyCOUN 416-63 | Fall 2025 | 5/15 | 4.80 | 4.40 | 4.60 | 5.40 |
| Multicultural CounselingCOUN 483-77 | Fall 2025 | 5/13 | 5.60 | 5.60 | 5.60 | 6.00 |
| Theories of Counseling & PsychologyCOUN 416-68 | Winter 2026 | 6/12 | 5.33 | 5.50 | 5.50 | 6.00 |
Score guide: ≥ 5.50 Strong • 4.50–5.49 Moderate • < 4.50 Growth Area • Sections with < 4 respondents omitted from this table per statistical interpretation guidelines.
Recurring Themes in Student Feedback
Psychological Safety & Reflective Space
Students consistently described the classroom as a grounded, held environment where vulnerability and intellectual risk-taking were both welcomed. Personal transformation was frequently named as an unexpected outcome.
Students in multiple sections described meaningful conversations continuing outside of class, speaking to the depth of the learning community Dr. Stiles cultivates.
Embodied Modeling of Counselor Identity
Students named Dr. Stiles's presence as a lived demonstration of counselor values — empathy, active listening, ethical attunement — enacted in real time, not merely described in course content.
"She not only deepened our understanding of the material but also provided a lived example of what it means to show up ethically and compassionately as a clinician."
Scholarly Depth & Clinical Integration
Students across all courses valued the integration of Dr. Stiles's active clinical practice into theoretical instruction. Her command of multiple frameworks and ability to apply them contextually was repeatedly named as distinctive.
Students described her as approaching teaching "with an experienced and genuine demeanor that fosters both understanding and trust."
Discussion Facilitation & Critical Engagement
Named in every section as a primary strength, Dr. Stiles's facilitation skill — drawing out quieter students, holding multiple perspectives, transforming incomplete thoughts into learning moments — was described as masterful.
"She guides discussion so expertly that students are constantly learning from each other."
DEI, Social Justice & Intersectional Praxis
A perfect 6.00/6.00 DEI/SJ score in 9 of 11 evaluated sections, with a mean of 5.94. Students named her centering of intersectionality as substantive and non-performative — modeled as a methodological orientation, not a module.
"I entered this profession as a move of social justice... Still, I learned so much and feel so reignited."
Feedback Quality & Scholarly Investment
Detailed, growth-oriented feedback was cited as a distinguishing strength across nearly every section. Students described feedback as validating and rigorous, helping them improve meaningfully rather than merely comply.
Repeat students consistently identified her feedback as a strength across multiple courses and terms.
Affirmed Strengths & Areas for Growth
Affirmed Strengths
- Embodied modeling of counselor presence, empathy, and ethical attunement within teaching practice
- Masterful facilitation of Socratic, critical discussion across diverse student perspectives
- Deep integration of active clinical practice into all theoretical course content
- Centering DEI, intersectionality, and social justice as methodology — not module
- Detailed, timely, and growth-oriented feedback cited as among the most valuable learning components
- Creation of psychologically safe, reflective learning communities
- Strong student loyalty and repeat enrollment across 3+ courses
Areas for Continued Growth
- Grading turnaround time and responsiveness to student communications, particularly for work affecting subsequent assignments
- Providing more explicit scaffolding for students who thrive with structured guidance, especially in asynchronous formats
- Updating LGBTQ+ course materials in Human Sexuality and Multicultural to reflect current scholarship and lived realities
- Redirecting synchronous discussions back to core content when conversations extend into tangential examples
- Establishing clearer standards for student presentation formats to ensure active engagement rather than reading from scripts
04
Scholarship & Contributions to Knowledge
Dissertation
Doctoral Dissertation
Stiles, A. M. (2026). Narratives on becoming sexually liberated Black-Womxn: Exploring the intersections of herstory using a sex-positive Black Feminist Womxnist lens. Doctoral dissertation, Adler University. Defended April 2026.
Methodology: Narrative Inquiry & Storytelling • Frameworks: Black Feminist Thought, Womanism, Intersectionality
Committee Chair: Dr. Monica Boyd-Layne, Ph.D., LCPC • Members: Dr. Lauren Melamed, Ph.D., LCPC; Dr. Fred Hanna, Ph.D.
Methodology: Narrative Inquiry & Storytelling • Frameworks: Black Feminist Thought, Womanism, Intersectionality
Committee Chair: Dr. Monica Boyd-Layne, Ph.D., LCPC • Members: Dr. Lauren Melamed, Ph.D., LCPC; Dr. Fred Hanna, Ph.D.
Manuscripts in Preparation
Journal Article
Stiles, A. M. (in preparation). Sex-positive sexual liberation narratives of Black-Womxn: Exploring the intersections through a Black Feminist Womxnist lens. Target: Journal of Counseling & Development or Counselor Education and Supervision.
In Preparation
Journal Article
Stiles, A. M., & Hanna, F. J. (in preparation). Extending Hanna's Freedom Paradigm: A Black-Feminist-Womxnist intersectional application to counseling Black-Womxn navigating sexual liberation. Target: Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development or The Journal of Humanistic Counseling.
In Preparation
Journal Article
Stiles, A. M., & Sullivan, D. J. (in preparation). A process model of sexual liberation: Pathways to embodied sex-positive identity among Black-Womxn. Target: Women & Therapy or Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships.
In Preparation
Book Manuscript
Stiles, A. M., & Survillion, D. (in preparation). Liberation in our own words: An autoethnography of Black-Womxn's sexual freedom.
In Preparation
Book Manuscript
Stiles, A. M. (in preparation). Storytelling as an intersectional feminist methodology: A guide to narrative inquiry for counseling, education, and liberatory research.
In Preparation
Presentations & Professional Trainings
2026
Rooted in the Erotic: Black-Womxn's Counternarratives of Sexual Liberation and Queer Possibility in CounselingProposal submitted, SAIGE 2026 Annual Academic Conference, "Rooted & Rising: Resilience, Liberation, and Queer Possibility," Seattle, WA.
2023
Unlocking the Potential of Relationship Anarchy (RA) in Counseling, Education, and SupervisionConference Presentation, SAIGE 2023 Virtual Conference.
2021
Sexuality & IntersectionalityGuest Lecture, MSMFT 429: Sex Therapy, The Family Institute @ Northwestern University, Spring 2021.
2020
Enhancing Multicultural Competency Among Clinicians and SupervisorsProfessional Training, Urban Balance, Chicago, IL. July/August 2020.
2019
Equity in Counseling and Leadership: Sex and Gender DiversityKeynote Address, Adler University, Chicago, IL.
2017
Gestalt: The Unified WholeConference Presentation, Louisiana Counseling Association (LCA) Annual Conference, Baton Rouge, LA. | Therapeutic Photography — Poster Presentation, Illinois Counseling Association Annual Conference, Lisle, IL.
05
Credentials & Affiliations
Doctoral Degree
Ph.D. in Counselor Education & Supervision
Adler University, Chicago, IL
Defended April 2026
Master's Degree
M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Adler University, Chicago, IL
December 2015
Licensure
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC)
State of Illinois • License #180.011971
National Certification
National Certified Counselor (NCC)
National Board for Certified Counselors
Sexuality Education
AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator
Under supervision toward certification • Supervisor: Dr. Bianca I. Laureano, PhD, CSES
Certification Pending
Additional Certifications
EFT-Tapping • Laughter Yoga • Reiki (Levels 1 & 2)
Gottman Method Couples Therapy — Level 1
Awards & Honors
- Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois (DFI) Fellowship — FY 2018–2021
- Sexual Health Alliance (SHA) Diversity Scholarship — Awarded 2020
- Chi Sigma Iota Honor Society, Adler University Chapter — 2015–2026
Professional Affiliations
- American Counseling Association (ACA) — Member since 2015; Divisions: ACES, AMCD, ASGW, CSJ, SAIGE, AHC, ACC, IAMFC, ACSSW
- Illinois Counseling Association (ICA) — Member since 2016
- American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) — Member since 2019
- Founding President, Doctoral Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (DACES), Adler University — 2018–2020
06
Reflective Teaching Narrative
Teaching has never been separable from formation. Every course section represented in this portfolio is, at its core, a site of becoming — for students and for me. The evaluative data here matter, but what they measure is the residue of something relational: what happens when a classroom is held with intention, accountability, and love. bell hooks called it teaching to transgress, and that is the aspiration that orients every pedagogical choice I make.
My theoretical home is existential humanism — grounded in the belief that meaning-making is the central human task, and that the counselor's most important capacity is the courage to be fully present with another person's becoming. That commitment does not disappear when I enter a classroom. It shapes how I listen, how I facilitate, how I hold disagreement, and how I respond to a student who is struggling. The consistent scores on the DEI and social justice framework — a perfect 6.00/6.00 across nine of eleven sections — reflect not just a political commitment but an epistemological one. Intersectionality, in my classroom, is not content. It is method.
The areas named for growth in this portfolio are ones I take seriously and without defensiveness. Timeliness in feedback and communication is a structural challenge I am actively addressing as I navigate appointments at two institutions alongside a clinical practice and a research agenda. The LGBTQ+ content concerns raised in Human Sexuality and Multicultural Counseling are legitimate and have prompted curriculum revision. I believe in naming my own limitations clearly, because that too is pedagogy.
The students who return for a second or third course, who write to say they are reconsidering what it means to be a counselor, who describe leaving class and continuing the conversation for hours — these are the data points that matter most to me. Audre Lorde wrote that the erotic is a source of knowledge, power, and deep feeling. I teach from that place. Not from behind the podium, but from inside the circle.
✍ Space for additional reflections, contextual notes, or responses to specific feedback — add before finalizing for portfolio submission.
07
Appendix A — Attribution Statement
Data Source & Ethical Use Statement: Teaching evaluation data cited in Section 3 of this portfolio is drawn from Northwestern University's Course and Teacher Evaluation Center (CTEC) Individual Reports for Academic Years 2024–2026 (Winter 2025 through Winter 2026). In accordance with institutional data use guidelines prohibiting reproduction or redistribution of CTEC report content, aggregate quantitative scores and synthesized qualitative themes are presented in lieu of reproduced documents. Original CTEC reports remain internal institutional records and are not distributed as portfolio exhibits. All quantitative means are computed from section-level statistics as reported in individual CTEC documents. Qualitative themes represent the author's own synthesis of patterns in student feedback; no verbatim student comments are reproduced. A full internal summary document (Teaching Effectiveness Evaluation Summary, 2026) is available upon request for formal review purposes.
Suggested citation: Stiles, A. M. (2026). Teaching portfolio. Northwestern University & Adler University. See also: Stiles, A. M. (2026). Teaching effectiveness evaluation summary: Northwestern University CTEC reports, 2024–2026 [Internal document, Appendix A].
Suggested citation: Stiles, A. M. (2026). Teaching portfolio. Northwestern University & Adler University. See also: Stiles, A. M. (2026). Teaching effectiveness evaluation summary: Northwestern University CTEC reports, 2024–2026 [Internal document, Appendix A].