{"id":4432,"date":"2023-05-10T17:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T21:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=4432"},"modified":"2025-01-28T09:18:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:18:12","slug":"the-counselor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2023\/05\/the-counselor\/","title":{"rendered":"The Counselor"},"content":{"rendered":"
Rich Liebler \u201967\/M.A. \u201919\/Ed.S. \u201920 helps young people and
\nincarcerated veterans discover a new path.<\/div><\/div>\n

By Harris Fleming<\/p>\n

Some people have a gift for drawing motivation from hardship, and they often have a great capacity for sharing that gift with others.<\/p>\n

Rich Liebler \u201967\/M.A. \u201919\/Ed.S. \u201920 is the unassuming sort, and he might not strike you as one of those people. Talk to someone whose life has been touched by this former member of the Board of Regents, however, and you\u2019ll get the picture.<\/p>\n

Esperanza Maldonado met Liebler in a life-skills class he was teaching at a Ford training center while she was residing in a halfway house, and she calls it a \u201clife-changing\u201d moment. \u201cHe is a rare find. There\u2019s not that many people out there who would take their time, their energy and put it into people,\u201d she says. \u201cHe put his time and his energy into me, and the only thing he was looking for in return was for me to become successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she did, becoming a top Nissan salesperson for Sansone Auto Group, where Liebler is a vice president.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Liebler has focused on counseling incarcerated veterans, who account for approximately 8 percent of inmates in U.S. state prisons, according to the Preliminary Assessment of Veterans in the Criminal Justice System<\/p>\n

Liebler\u2019s penchant for helping others may be all the more inspiring considering the challenges he has faced.<\/p>\n

Take his military experience as a Marine jet pilot in Vietnam. Having already been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism during a hazardous mission along the Ho Chi Minh trail, Liebler cracked his spine, shattered both wrists and sustained a traumatic brain injury in a rocket attack as he was doing a preflight inspection of his aircraft.<\/p>\n

For weeks he was given intravenous Demerol to manage his pain, but on the day he was released he knew he had become dependent. \u201cI started shaking and getting these horrendous headaches, all kinds of weird things happening to my body,\u201d he recalls. A course of methadone helped, but what really motivated him to get clean was the desire to fly again.<\/p>\n

The experience provided empathy and credibility later in life when it came to counseling addicts. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things I teach when dealing with substance abuse: you have to have a goal, a vision,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

And then in 1989 he experienced the death of his 17-year-old son in a car accident. Liebler started an auto technician training program for at-risk youth and adults in his son\u2019s honor. The boy\u2019s photo still hangs there. \u201cIt focuses me \u2014 this is one of the reasons I do this,\u201d he notes. \u201cWorking to help at-risk populations change their lives became my mission in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liebler\u2019s Seton Hall background has figured prominently at every turn. His introduction to the military came as an ROTC student and member of the Pershing Rifles while pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in sociology. And when he wanted to follow his passion for counseling, it made sense to return to the University, calling the professional counseling program \u201cone of the best in the country.\u201d He earned master\u2019s degrees in professional counseling and school counseling.<\/p>\n

Seton Hall is also playing a role in helping veterans and others re-enter society after prison.<\/p>\n

Through the support of Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., the Seton Hall University School of Law secured a $632,000 grant to develop a community-based re-entry and support services program. According to Lori Outzs Borgen, associate clinical professor and director of the Center for Social Justice where the program is based, services like those provided by Liebler are essential in helping the incarcerated transition back into the free world \u2014 and helping them stay there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people get good supportive services, it really can have a big impact on recidivism,\u201d she explains. \u201cTo have somebody like Rich to help you with that counseling is just crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris Fleming is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rich Liebler \u201967\/M.A. \u201919\/Ed.S. \u201920 helps young people and incarcerated veterans discover a new path.<\/p>\n

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