Judy Folmar

Interim Program Director & Chair of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program & Assoc Professor

Department: Clinical Mental Health Counseling - Elon

Gerald L. Francis Center, Office 154-H 2085 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244

Brief Biography

Judy Folmar, (formerly Judy Esposito) Ph.D., is an associate professor, interim program director chair of the clinical mental health counseling master's program. A licensed clinical mental health counselor and former school counselor, Dr. Folmar specializes in clinical supervision, empathy development and play therapy with children and families. For fun she enjoys spending time with her family, playing the guitar, listening to live music, dancing, and enjoying the outdoors.

News & Notes

Education

Ph.D. in Counselor Education, Virginia Tech

Dissertation topic: Group-oriented Practices of Middle School Counselors

M.A. in School Counseling, Appalachian State University

Employment History

Prior to arriving at Elon, I taught in the Counselor Education graduate program at West Virginia University, 1999-2003. Before that I was a school counselor in Catawba and Caldwell counties in North Carolina.

Courses Taught

*Human Services Practicum in Costa Rica (Developed)

*The Modernization of Fatherhood (Developed)

*Online version of The Modernization of Fatherhood (Developed)

*The Global Experience (Developed)

*Ten Thousand Joys and Ten Thousand Sorrows: Costa Rican Family Folklore, Rituals and Relationships (Developed)

*Modern Families (Honors course co-developed and with Larry Basirico from Soc/Anth)

*Counseling Individuals and Families

*The Power of Play: Play Therapy for Children and Families (Developed)

*Human Services Senior Seminar: Alternative Therapies (Developed)

*Introduction to Human Services

*Professional Communication/Culturally Competent Helping

*Human Services Internship

*Human Services Practicum

*Childhood and Human Services (Developed)

*Guatemala: Culture and Service

*Island Legends: Service and learning from the elders of Guam (Developed)

*Nation or State: In Search of Hawaiian Identity (co-taught Study USA course with Jeffrey Pugh)

Leadership Positions

Interim Program Director and Chair, Clinical Mental Health Counseling Graduate Program 2025 to present

Chair, Department of Human Service Studies, 2022 to 2025.

Chair of the Global Education Curriculum Committee 2014-15.

Elon University Department of Human Service Studies Coordinator of Continuing Education for Licensed Professional Counselors 2012-present.

Elon University Academic Council, member 2012-2014.

Task Force on Task Forces, member 2014-2015.

Task Force for the Role of the Department Chair, member 2012-2014, and 2017.

Research

PUBLICATIONS

Folmar, J. (2024). Cross-cultural empathy: The impact of an undergraduate play therapy course. Advances in Applied Sociology. in press.

Hollingsworth, H. L., Knight-McKenna, M., & Esposito, J. (2020). Family and coach responses to a

program for fostering infant language. Infants and Young Children. Volume 34, Issue 3, 204- 224. Peer

Reviewed.

Knight-McKenna, M., Hollingsworth, H. L., & Esposito, J. (2020). Infant language stimulation: A

mixed-methods study of low-income families’ preference for and use of ten strategies. Early Child

Development and Care. Volume 190, Issue 1. DOI:10.1080/03004430.2020.1763330. Peer Reviewed.

Knight-McKenna, M. Hollingsworth, H. L., & Esposito, J. (2020). Strong Beginnings for Babies:

Families’ language stimulation of infants from low-income backgrounds. Journal of Children and

Poverty. 26:2, 105-124 DOI: 10.1080/10796126.2020.1764175 Peer Reviewed.

Knight-McKenna, M., Esposito, J. & Clement, L. (2017). Mentoring for family-teacher

relationships: A new teacher’s journey, International Journal of Mentoring and

Coaching in Education, Vol. 6 (4), pp.332-349, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-01-2017-

0001. Peer Reviewed.

Crowe, A. & Esposito, J. (2017). Using the creative arts to facilitate the process. Book

chapter in Processing the process: Art, skills and applications in counseling and

counselor education. edited by James Benshoff and P. Clay Rowell. Digital e-book with

Sentia Publishing.

Esposito, J. & Williams, M. (2016). Research, parallel process and hip hop: A case of

mentoring across differences. Perspectives in Undergraduate Research and Mentoring,

5.1, Special Issue: Mentoring Undergraduate Research in the Professional Disciplines.

Peer Reviewedl.

Esposito, J. & Hattem, A. (2015-17). Introduction to family counseling: A case study

approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Vavreck, S. & Esposito, J. (2012). Peer Tutoring with Child-centered Play Therapy

Language published in the Journal of School Counseling, v. 10 (25). Peer Reviewed.Esposito, J. (2009). “Student-actors as mock clients: Authentic learning for human

services students. Human Service Education. Peer Reviewed.

Warner, B. & Esposito, J. (2009). “What’s Not in the Syllabus: Faculty Role-modeling and

Role Conflict in Immersion Service Learning Courses”, International Journal of Teaching

and Learning in Higher Education. Peer Reviewed.

Warner, D. & Esposito, J. (2008). “Island Legends: Examining the Benefits of Cross-cultural

and Cross-generational Experiences for Students and Elders”, Anthropology & Aging

Quarterly. Peer Reviewed Journal

Esposito, J. & Warner, D. (2008). “Cross-cultural Intergenerational Service Learning”,

Academic Exchange Quarterly. Vol. 12 (3). Peer Reviewed.

Jones, K. & Esposito, J. (2006).“Service-learning abroad and global citizenship”,

Academic Exchange Quarterly, Vol. 10 (1). Peer Reviewed.

Esposito, J. & Getz, H. (2005).“In-the-room supervision: Reactions of supervisors,

supervisees, and clients,” Professional Issues in Counseling, December 2005 . Peer

Reviewed.

Esposito, J., Roberti, J. & Srebalus, D. (2004).“Challenges in rural school counseling:

Establishing and Maintaining a Professional Identity. International Journal of Rural

Psychology, 23 (Jan. 2004). Peer Reviewed.

Esposito, J., Roberti, J., Srebalus, D. & Oberman, A. (2003). “Rural school counselors and

team approaches to guidance,” The Rural Educator (Spring 2003). Peer Reviewed.

Esposito, J. & Vaught, C. (2000) “Teacher Advisory Programs: Five Middle Schools Share

What Works and What Doesn’t”, The Middle School Journal, 34, (1). Peer Reviewed.

Esposito, J. (1999). “Group-oriented practices of middle school counselors,” doctoral

dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Current Projects

The majority of my current research focuses on child-centered play therapy interventions with a variety of populations, including families facing domestic violence, fathers who are estranged from their children, and undergraduates learning basic empathic communication. Additionally, I am collecting data and working with a program called Strong Beginnings for Babies, which focuses on the impact of parent-child communication on infant language development.

Publications