WHO IS NORM?
NORMAN WRIGHT, MFCC, CTS - July 25, 1937 - Nov 12, 2023
H. Norman Wright was a grief and trauma therapist. He was the former director of the Graduate Department of Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling at Biola University, as well as an Associate Professor of Psychology. He was also Associate Professor of Christian Education and Director of the Graduate Department of Christian Education at the Talbot School of Theology. He was in private practice for over thirty years. Dr. Wright graduated from Westmont College, Fuller Theological Seminary (M.R.E.), and Pepperdine University (M.A.). He received two honorary doctorates, D.D. and D.LIT, from the Western Conservative Baptist Seminary and Biola University respectively. In 2015 he graduated with his D.Min. from Primus School of Theology.
He authored over one hundred books including Experiencing Grief, The New Guide to Crisis and Trauma Counseling, Recovering From the Losses of Life, Quiet Times for Couples, and Before You Say I Do. Dr. Wright pioneered Premarital Counseling programs throughout the country. He conducted seminars on Parenting, Recovering from the Losses of Life, Trauma and Crisis Counseling, and Marriage Enrichment.
He focused on grief and trauma counseling and critical incident debriefings. He helped to develop curriculum in loss, crisis, and trauma as well as community-wide Grief Recovery seminars. He was a Certified Trauma Specialist and a Certified Traumatologist and an ICISF trainer for the course, Trauma After Grief.
He belonged to the following professional organizations:
Academy of Bereavement
Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists
Clinical Member of American Association of Christian Counselors
Clinical Member of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapist
Victim Chaplain Association of America
He conducted workshops and trainings for various Health Departments, The Victim Chaplain and Counselor Association of America, Child Abuse Social Work Departments, Hospitals, and Nursing organizations. Sudden death debriefings have been conducted at various facilities as well as Police and Fire Departments. He was a clinical coordinator for the debriefing teams for the Bakersfield Fire Department. He traveled to New York five times after 9/11 conducting area-wide Grief Recovery seminars as well as debriefings. Part of his specialty was working with parents of children or teenagers who have died or have been killed. He also assisted in training seminars for Critical Incident Debriefings for the American Association of Christian Counselors.
He was a chaplain and counselor for The Victim Chaplain Association and worked in the aftermath of Katrina in Louisiana. He worked in the aftermath of the shooting in Colorado Springs in December 2007, the shooting at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, the Taft High School shooting in California, the Space Ship 2 Shuttle in the Mojave Desert. In 2015 he ministered in Roseburg, OR after the shooting at Umpqua College, and at the Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA after the terrorist shooting in December. He went to Las Vegas after the shooting in October 2017 and continued helping families and individuals from Kern County who attended the concert.
In Memoriam
Sheryl Wright Macauley (June 25, 1961 – May 29, 2015)
William Clayton Macauley (June 11, 1961 - May 6, 2018
