1. PILAR ALFARO-PALACIOS
4907 Asbury Lane
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
(301) 397-9741
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Guest presenterbrown bag lunch presentations at World Bank, Inter American Development Bank,
International Monetary Fund, Pan American Health Organization. Topics: cultural diversity, acculturation,
cross cultural issues,raising of bicultural children, bullying across the lifespan, among others.
- Guest presenterfor various public agencies: Substance Abuse,Quality Education for Minorities,
Hispanic Culture Training, Counseling the New Immigrant.
- Guest on “Our Schools Today”, “Ten Minutes”,MCPS television: “Parenting Skills, Communicating with
our Children, What is Mental Health, Bullying”; “Educalos: Es el Momento” MCPS/Univision Wash D.C.
- Co-founder of the Hispanic Mental Health Network, a voluntary organization offering Hispanic mental
health professionals a community wide networking resource (Today known as the Greater Washington
Area Mental Health Network online)
- Worked as the sole representative schoolcounselorin a team of schoolpsychologists disseminating a
problem- solving model in Montgomery County Public Schools from a psycho-educationalperspective.
- As trainer and consultant,acquired depth of knowledge in the areas of ins tructional consultation,use of
data to drive problem solving and decision-making.
- Extensive professionalgrowth acquired in working across disciplines in educational settings in
elementary, middle, and high schools.
- Clinician on contract,Montgomery County (Maryland) Government, DWI Program, Department of
Addiction, Victim and Mental Health
- Video Production Consultant,"Child Abuse and Neglect," produced by the Montgomery County
Department of Social Services and "Alcohol, what parents need to know,” produced by the Montgomery
County Public Schools, Drug Free Schools Program
EDUCATION
MasterSchool Counseling-Education, Loyola University, Maryland and
Maryland State Dept. of Education 2000
M.S. Psychology,1983, Loyola University, Maryland 1983
B.A. Psychology,1981, George Washington University, Washington,D.C. 1981
RECENT TRAININGS
Irritability, Bipolar Disorder and Disrruptive Mood Disregularion in Children, NIH 2014
Diagnosis & Treatment Using the DSM-5 2013
Annual Bilingual Special Educaiton Conference, G.W. University, Wash.DC 2011
Legal Issues in Education. Trinity Washington University, Wash.DC 2011
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS
State of Maryland Dept. of Education Pupil Personnel Worker 2014
National Board for Certified Counselors: National Certified School Counselor 2001
State of Maryland Board of Professional Counselors: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor 2000
Board for Certified Counselors: Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor 1995
State of Maryland Board of Professional Counselors: Certified Professional Counselor 1991
National Board for Certified Counselors: National Certified Counselor 1989
Family Therapy Practice Center, Washington,D.C.: Certified Marriage and Family Therapist 1985

2. -2-
EXPERIENCE
1994-Present PRIVATE PRACTICE in child, adult, and family therapy,Chevy Chase, MD
2014-Present MCPS- PUPIL PERSONNEL WORKER Office of Student Services
2010-2014 MCPS-SCHOOL BASED ESOL COUNSELOR, ESOL Bilingual Programs
2007- 2010 MCPS-MIDDLE SCHOOL COUNSELOR, Westland Middle School, Bethesda, MD
2005-2007 MCPS-CONSULTANT AND TRAINER IN THE COLLABORATIVE ACTION
PROCESS (CAP), Department of Student Services
- Consultant to elementary and secondary schools implementing CAP
- Consultant to diverse teams of professionals teaching and modeling the elements of
CAP (accountability, strategic analysis, problem solving, infra-structure, school-wide
supports,and staff development)
- Trainer to small and large groups of schoolstaff on a regular basis, both at
schools and at-large, as part of on-going staff development offered by CAP
Training Committee
- Member of CAP Evaluation Committee, Office of Shared
Accountability
- Liaison to the Office of School Counseling for training purposes
2000-2005 MCPS-ESOL/BILINGUAL SCHOOL COUNSELOR
Itinerant schoolcounselorserving ESOL students K-12.
- Consultant to schooladministrators, teachers,and counselors regarding ESOL students.
- Contributed to the development of strategies and interventions to help remove
academic, personal, and social barriers to learning
- Provided individual, group counseling,and classroomguidance to ESOL students
grades K-12 from a cross-cultural perspective in order to promote acculturation and
academic achievement.
-Served as a resource for public agencies (Montgomery County Department of Social
Services; Children, Youth and Families; Police Department)
- Offered cultural diversity training to various groups within and outside MCPS
1989-2000 MCPS-BILINGUAL THERAPEUTIC COUNSELOR, Division of ESOL/Bilingual
Programs. Itinerant schoolcounselor serving ESOL students K-12.
Responsibilities same as in above position
1987-1989 Montgomery County, MD-THERAPIST II, Division of Addiction, Victim and Mental
Health. Case management, drug and alcohol assessment ofadolescents,assessment of
children families in need of counseling services. Provided short term interventions and
referral
1983-1986 Andromeda Hispano Mental Health
Center,Washington,D.C.COORDINATOR/SUPERVISOR, Drug Abuse Division
SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR
LANGUAGES
Fluent Spanish, Proficient French
REFERENCES
Upon request