NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, has selected Austin Community College Professor Elizabeth Coccia, Ph.D., for the Mel Schulstad Professional of the Year Award, in recognition of outstanding and sustained contributions to the advancement of the addiction counseling profession.
“I am honored to receive such a prestigious award from my colleagues,” Coccia said. “I hope that in coming years I have the privilege of seeing one of the graduates from our program accept this award for their dedication to the profession.”
Coccia has taught at ACC since 1989. She is a professor in ACC’s Human Services Department as well as a vacation-relief counselor at local outpatient chemical dependency treatment programs.
“Her hard work in the trenches educating and training the new counselors coming into this field has been a sustained and invaluable contribution to the field of Chemical Dependency counseling, treatment, prevention, and intervention,” said Richard Greene, vice president of the Austin Chapter of the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals (TAAP).
Coccia is an active TAPP member and served as Austin chapter president from 2001 to 2004. She also serves on the Texas Certification Board of Addiction Professionals. She was involved with the Alcohol and Drug Assistance Ministries with her church and served as a dedicated addiction educator and trainer to clergy, family, and lay persons of all communities of faith.