My Boooks
Official Website of Psychologist, Teacher and Author
Books
In the late 1960s the brothers Vidoni reconnect as wild and crazy twenty and thirty-somethings guys. In the course of their hard partying they conjure up the idea to go on a survival trip into the Canadian wilderness. One of the brothers is an army veteran with some experience in the wild, the other is a willing but naive accomplice. The not quite prepared for the wild duo set out on a three week adventure with a fishing rod, a pellet gun, a tent and a two-day store of food. They encounter the rain, drizzle, snow and biting cold of late May in Canada. Their mettle is tested. Their ingenuity is spurred on by myriad obstacles and difficulties. It is a story of young men, survival, misstep, misery and accomplishment.
White Shirts In The Wilderness: A Brothers Short Story is an Ebook that can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Amazon, Apple, Page Foundry, Baker & Taylor, txtr, Library Direct, OverDrive, Flipkar, Oyster and Scrbd ($1.99). It is also available as an audiobook through Audible and Amazon audio and iTunes.
The First Book; Canoeing the Kaskaskia: A Father and Son Short Story
CANOEING THE KASKASKIA is the real-life account of a father
and son as they explore the length of the 275-mile long Kaskaskia
River of Illinois. The voyageurs take one day per year over 23 years
to complete the navigation. The story begins with Eric as a dutiful 10
year-old son and traces his life through turbulent adolescence, young
adulthood, to maturity. The tale recounts the adversity, adventure, and
the educational experiences the two encountered as they persevered to
the mouth of the river at the Mississippi. Along the way, the relationship
is tested as they are impeded by fallen trees, barbed wire, high water,
low water, cows, irascible old men, the county sheriff, wind, waves,
Asian Carp, and the U.S. Corps of Engineers.
Dr. Vidoni is a psychologist and an ardent outdoors person. This openair
penchant creates the underpinning for this adventure down the river’s
length. The unanticipated amalgam of his expertise in developmental
psychology and the multi-decade expedition down the Kaskaskia
present an unusual opportunity to share adventure, family dynamics, and
personality development.
Canoeing The Kaskaskia A Father and Son Short Story is published by
Dog Ear Press of Indianapolis and can be purchased online at Amazon [amazon.com], Barnes and Noble, eBay and others. Or you can order it at any fine neighborhood bookstore. The ISBN number is 9781457521508.
My Books
About The Author
Dennis O. Vidoni was born in Chicago in 1945. He was raised in Chicago’s blue collar suburbs of Cicero and Berwyn. Upon graduation from Eastern Illinois University he taught High School Social Science and was a baseball and basketball coach. He then earned a masters degree in counseling from Roosevelt University and then a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Marquette University. His twenty-six years in the field of psychology included work as clinical counselor, Counseling Center Assistant Director and Director, Assistant Professor and most prominently as Coordinator of Paraprofessional Training and Services. The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Kansas Benedictine College, Regis College and the University of Illinois were among the the places of his professional employment. He retired in 2001. He is a avid sports enthusiast both as a fan and participant. He is married to Mary Van Dyke Vidoni and they have one son, the central figure in one of the stories.
Dr. Vidoni is an ardent outdoors person. He lives his open air predilections as an avid bicyclist, regular jogger, camper, canoeist, occasional hunter and fisherman. This open-air penchant was the underpinning for these adventures i.e. down the length of the Kaskaskia River and surviving in Canada. The unanticipated amalgam of his expertise in developmental psychology and the multi-decade expedition down the Kaskaskia presented an unusual opportunity to share both adventure, family dynamics and personality development.
Curriculum Vita
Dennis Vidoni
502 W. Michigan
Urbana,, Illinois 61801
217-367-7053
(Retired)
Education and Certification
Ph.d. 1975 Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin Counseling Psychology
M.A. 1972 Roosevelt University Chicago, Illinois Guidance and Counseling
B.S. 1968 Eastern Illinois University Charleston, Illinois Social Science
Licensed Psychologist, State of Colorado #770 (inactive)
Licensed Psychologist, State of Illinois #071-003438 (inactive)
Administrative Experience
Assistant Director, Counseling Center, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign —1997-2001
Assisted the director in the administration of a large multifaceted university counseling center. Specific duties included contract development for personnel and management consultation.
Coordinator of Paraprofessional Training and Services, Counseling Center, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign — 1984-1997
Responsible for planning, development, implementation and maintenance of a large multifaceted counseling center paraprofessional program. Activities included providing direction, management of budget, policy implementation, recruitment, training, program planning and facilitating staff/student interface
Director, Counseling Center and Career Center, Regis College, Denver, Colorado— 1979-1984
This administrative experience included the areas and functions of counseling, testing, budgeting, programming, job placement, health services and recruitment of staff personnel. Supervised Counseling and Placement and Health Center personnel numbering 13 full and part-time psychologists, career counselors, nurses, paraprofessionals and secretaries. Significant committee membership included Student Life and the Commission on the Future of Regis
Director, Counseling Center, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas-1976-1979
Administration of all facets of Counseling Center services including, counseling, testing, budget, programming, and management of 4 staff members. Committee membership included Administrative Council, North Central Evaluation Steering Committee, Campus Life, Scholarship, and Long Range Planning.
Graduate Assistant in Education, Roosevelt University, Chicago, 1971-1972
Performed various administrative and quasi-administrative duties, e.g., assisted in programming and scheduling of graduate courses.
Chair, Social Science Department, Athens High School, Athens, Illinois 1968-1970
Counseling and clinical Experience
Clinical Counselor, Counseling Center, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign— 1984-2001
A generalist position providing individual and group counseling, therapy, consultation and psychological/educational workshops to students, faculty and staff.
Director, Counseling and Career Center, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Regis College, Denver, Colorado-1979-1984
Circumstance included all facets of college counseling services and functions. Individual counseling for the full range of personal-emotional concerns. Special interests in behavioral change through cognitive/behavior therapy including cognitive restructuring, anxiety reduction through progressive relaxation and biofeedback training. Individual counseling for career and life planning. Outreach experience centered on psychological/educational programming in small structured groups. Among the topics covered in these groups were stress reduction, anger control and communication skills in marriage. Consultant to administration, faculty and staff on various topics dealing with human services and human behavior.
Director, Counseling Center, Assistant Professor Psychology, Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas-1976-1979
Experience included all facets of Counseling Center services. Individual counseling for the full range of personal-emotional problems. Special interests included the self-concept in individual counseling, anxiety reduction through progressive relaxation and biofeedback training, individual counseling for career and life planning. Outreach experience centered on structured small groups, especially assertiveness training and study skills. Other duties included personality, interest, and ability testing and interpretation (Strong Campbell Interest Inventory, 16 PF and MMPI.)
Counseling Psychologist, Counseling Center, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin-1975-1976
Experience included individual counseling for the full range of personal-emotional problems. Special interest included the self-concept in individual counseling and anxiety reduction through progressive relaxation. Individual counseling for career and life planning. Group experience included three human relations groups and career-life planning.
Counseling Psychologist Intern, Counseling Center, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin-1974-1975
A paid internship experience (1600 hours) included individual counseling for the full range of personal-emotional problems with special interest in Rogerian counseling. Other duties included individual counseling for career and life-planning and co-leading a Personal Adjustment Group. This placement included extensive training in the theory and practice of biofeedback, as well extensive use of videotape in counseling. Supervised by licensed psychologists.
Counseling Trainee, Harper College, Palatine, Illinois-1972
Training and practice in individual counseling. Experience included extensive orientation to community college programs and services.
Graduate Assistant, College of Education, Assistant Graduate Advisor, Roosevelt University, Chicago-1971-1972
Individual academic and career counseling to graduate students in the College of Education, Roosevelt University.
TEACHING AND CLINICAL SUPERVISION EXPERIENCE
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign-1988-2001
Providing individual supervision for Counseling Psychology graduate students’ individual counseling practicum.
Coordinator of Paraprofessional Training and Services, Counseling Center, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign-1984-1997
Instructor for three courses per year (through UIUC Psychology Department) which provided fundamental counseling communication skills and psychological/educational workshop presentation skill for undergraduate counseling center paraprofessionals.
Clinical Affiliate, School of Professional Psychology, Denver University, Denver, Colorado-1980-1984
Supervised clinical field experience for Doctor of Psychology candidates. Case consultation and case presentation included in this individual supervision.
Assistant Professor, Psychology, Regis College, Denver, Colorado-1979-1984
Instructor for a course on peer counseling for Resident Assistants which included theoretical concepts drawn from developmental and personality psychology, as well as practical skills and techniques involved in peer counseling (two semester sequence).
Assistant Professor, Psychology, Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas-1976-1979
Instructor for courses on General Psychology, Adolescent Development, and Adult Life Span Development Psychology. Other activities included presentations on assertiveness training to various community groups. Teaching load was generally six hours per semester (Tenure Track).
Counseling Psychologist, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin-1975-1976
Masters Guidance and Counseling practicum instructor which included individual supervision of practicum students.
Teaching Assistant, School of Education, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin-1972-1974
Developed and presented lectures in various courses of Masters Guidance and Counseling sequences including practicum. Experience included assisting professors in research.
Teacher, Farragut High School, Chicago, Illinois-1970-1971
History instructor in large inner-city high school, and baseball coach.
Teacher, Athens High School, Athens, Illinois-1968-1970
Instructed various social science courses and was baseball and basketball coach in rural H.S.
PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH
Vidoni, Dennis O. ; Scholl, Kerri; Vojak, Colleen. A Survey of Peer/ Paraprofessional Activities on Campus, ICA Quarterly, 1994, 135,
Trimble, Ralph W. ; Allen, Deborah; Vidoni, Dennis O. ; Student Personnel Administration: Is It For You?NASPA Journal, 1991, 28. 2, 156-162.
Vidoni, Dennis O. ; Smith, Lizette; Bushway, Deborah; Powell, John. The Mentor-Protege Relationship in a University Setting, College Student Journal, 1988, 22, 4, 404-408.
Vidoni, Dennis O. ; Personal Reflections on Counselor Training, Counseling and Values, 1977, 20 4, 262-263.
Vidoni, Dennis O, ; Factor Analytic Scales of the Adjective Check List (ACL) Replicated Across Samples: Implications for Validity, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1977, 37, 535-539.
Vidoni, Dennis O. ; Nine-Year Cross-Sectional Study of Change in Self-Concept of College Freshmen, Psychological Reports, 1976, 38, 675-678.
Dennis O Vidoni, Urbana, Illinois