Dr. Abbigail Rinard-Goodnack has a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision. She has over 5 years of experience in the counseling field both as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and as a professor. She has worked in multiple levels of care within the counseling profession including; Inpatient, Partial Hospitalization, and Outpatient care. Dr. Rinard-Goodnack’s areas of research include clinical practices of providing trauma informed care with the neurodivergent population, Adlerian concepts, professional advocacy and overall counselor wellness.  

Education 

PhD – Counselor Education and Supervision, Duquesne University (PA) 
MS – Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Lynn University (FL) 
BA – Psychology, Westminster College (PA) 

Professional Memberships 

American Counseling Association
North Americal Society of Adlerian Psychology   

Research 

Rinard, A. (2022). Adlerian Perspective: Trauma Informed Care and Autism Spectrum Disorder. North American Society of Adlerian Psychology. New Alexandria. Virginia.  

Rinard, A., Casteleiro, G., Miller, J., Hayden, A., & Sperry, J. (2020). Does drumming affect mood, stress, and social interest in college students? Poster presented virtually at North American Society of Adlerian Psychology Annual Conference. 

Rinard, A. (2019). Sorting out Mood, Stress and Social Interest one Rhythm at Time. Lynn University. College of Arts and Science Research Symposium. Boca Raton, Florida. 

Rinard, A. (2019). Immediate effects of therapeutic group drumming of stress, social interest and affective mood states college students. Poster presented at North American Society of  Adlerian Psychology Annual Conference. Tucson, Arizona. 

Sperry, J., Rinard, A. (2019). Group Drumming and Social Interest. North American Society of Adlerian Psychology Annual Conference. Tucson, Arizona. 

Rinard, A. (2018). Sorting out mood, stress and social interest one rhythm at a time. International Committee of Adlerian Summer School and Institutes. Bonn, Germany.  

Rinard, A., Sperry, J., & Baker, A. (2018). Group drumming on affective states of inpatient substance abuses. Poster presented at North American Society of Adlerian Psychology Annual Conference. Toronto, Canada.            

Sperry, J., Castillo, G., Rinard, A. & Baker, A. (2018). Group Drumming in Individual Psychology. North American Society of Adlerian Psychology Annual Conference. Toronto, Canada. 

Rinard, A., & Medvin, M. (2017). Influence of stress induced cortisol, gender and emotional arousal on memory consolidation. Poster presented at Midwestern Psychology Association Annual Conference. Chicago, Illinois.    

Publications 

Rinard, A. (2025). A COUNSELOR’S EXPERIENCE: TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE WHEN WORKING WITH CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/2319 

Sperry, J., Castelerio, G., Rinard, A. and Cooper, P. (2020). Drumming Up Social Interest: Immediate Effects of and Adlerian-based Group Drumming Intervention on Mood and Social Interest Among College Students. Journal of Individual Psychology. 

Awards & Recognition 

Lynn University. College of Arts and Science Research Symposium. Outstanding Research Award