My Story:
Loren Dittmar was born and raised in the suburbs of NYC. After moving numerous times during his childhood and attending schools in five different zones in three districts within Rockland County, he graduated from Pearl River High School, where he was involved in music, theater, and journalism. There was a time when he was considered to be one of the most at-risk students in school. Fortunately, there were a few very caring individuals who helped him get through the most challenging times and encouraged him to achieve his best. Consequently, he graduated from high school in three years, achieving rank in the top 10% of his class!
At the age of 16, he continued his education in college, first starting in NYC at the prestigious New School for Social Research, Eugene Lang College division (the New School is most well known for the divisions of Parsons School of Design and Mannes School of Music). There he studied Psychology. However, during his freshman year of college, he learned about the field of Music Therapy and after only a year at the New School, he transferred to the State University of New York, College at Fredonia. He added the major of Music Therapy. Then during his sophomore year, he decided to add yet another major: Applied Music in Percussion. As if this wasn't enough to keep him busy, he was also actively involved in the Music Therapy Club, Leadership Program, Psychology Club, and even served two years as President of the Rho Chi chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a professional, national music fraternity. Despite this crazy amount of involvement, he managed to graduate with his B.A. degrees in just 4 1/2 years.
Dr. Dittmar's professional career started in the mental health field. He worked with adults with mental health disorders (i.e. Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Depression) and then later worked for Job Corps with the most at-risk youth in our nation, who came from disadvantaged backgrounds in the NYC, Rochester, and Buffalo areas. In 2003, he continued his academic studies, and attended the accelerated graduate program at St. Bonaventure University, where he studied School Counseling. He completed his Masters in 2005, and then returned to work in the mental health field, where he provided individual and group therapy. In 2007, he began his journey towards completing his PhD in Educational Psychology from Walden University, which he completed in February of 2014, after several years of hard work, dedication, and resilience through life’s many ups and downs.
In April of 2006, Dr. Dittmar and his family moved to St. Simons Island, Georgia. Initially, he worked at the Brunswick Job Corps, but after a few months, he landed the position of Graduation Coach (similar to "at-risk counselor") at Glynn Academy. He shifted into the School Counselor role in 2009 and served the Classes of 2012, 2015, and 2018, through which he gained valuable insight into the needs of all students at each grade level, as well as comprehensive knowledge of college admissions. During his tenure at GA, he was honored to serve on the High School Advisory Board for the University of Georgia (UGA). In July 2016, he and his family made a big change in life and moved across the country from Georgia to California. His wife grew up in southern California and it was time for her to come back home, and for our children to enjoy living close to family. So Dr. Dittmar took a big leap of faith and resigned his position at GA, believing that something special was meant to be in California. And miraculously, everything came together so well and he worked for Simi Valley Unified School District for 5 wonderful years as a High School Counselor! As his daughters were approaching their graduation from high school, he and his wife felt a deep calling to return to the southeast, so he explored opportunities and landed an amazing gig with the Charleston County School District. As his daughters moved out and entered their next stage in life working and attending college, he and his wife and younger son took another leap of faith and traveled 2,500 miles across the country to begin a new chapter in their lives in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina! And truly, he has been thrilled to serve his students every single day at LBHS for the past two years. And now, after 17 years of high school counseling, Dr. Dittmar is absolutely thrilled to lead the team at R.B. Stall High School, as their new Director of School Counseling!
He is most passionate about working with youth because of the opportunity to assist them with identifying their greatest aspirations and designing a pathway for achieving their highest potential.
During the past 20 years, Dr. Dittmar has attended various professional training programs to improve his counseling and leadership skills, and he has served in several leadership positions, including the High School Advisory Council for the University of Georgia (2011-2013), and the Region 12 Chairperson (2013-2015) and the Region Chair At Large (2015-2016) for the Georgia School Counselors Association. He was also awarded the Glynn County School Counselor of the Year Award in 2015. Soon after moving to California in July 2016, Dr. Dittmar jumped right into the local school counseling organization and joined the governing board of the Ventura County School Counselors Association. Then, he attended the California Association for School Counselors conference in October 2016, got involved right away with their leadership team, and was elected to the state level position of CASC High School Vice President for a two year term (2017-2019), then served as the Chair of the Emerging Leaders Program (2019-2021) and elected to the Board of Directors (2020-2024). Now that he is in South Carolina, he has already connected with the Palmetto State School Counselors Association (PSSCA) and has accepted the role of Co-Director of Operations for the PSSCA Conference, as well as the Director of Operations for the Emerging Leaders program, which he will be instrumental in forming here in South Carolina. Dr. Dittmar is committed to continuing to advance the school counseling profession through servant leadership within the state and national organizations, which ultimately leads to better service to our students and their families. Over the past several years, Dr. Dittmar has been a sought after speaker at numerous conferences, including CASC, the California Student Mental Wellness Conference, Student Mental Health Week Virtual Conference, Ventura County Office of Education, VCSCA, and GSCA. And since coming to SC, he has already provided two workshops at the PSSCA state conference in January 2022! Dr. Dittmar’s expertise is in School Mental Health and he has presented on topics including Trauma Informed Practices in Schools, Parenting during a Pandemic, and Suicide Awareness & Prevention, bringing with him a very personal and powerful story that has impacted hundreds of participants. In fact, he was recently added to the highly selective Speakers Bureau for NCYI.
In addition to these commitments, Dr. Dittmar has been an adjunct professor for the Counselor Ed and MFT graduate schools at California Lutheran University (CLU) since 2018, and recently joined the faculty at Concordia University Irvine and The Citadel. After over 20 years of providing counseling services, he has a deep passion for teaching the next generation of School Counselors and Therapists. He also taught undergraduate courses in Psychology for the College of Coastal Georgia from 2013-2019.
Dr. Dittmar is dedicated to his students, offering genuineness, openness, unconditional positive regard, and the kind of love that he shows his own children. It takes a village to raise a child, and Dr. Dittmar is committed to being a part of that village for every child who crosses his path.
Education:
PhD - Psychology (Educational) - February 2014
Walden University, Minneapolis, MN
MSEd. - School Counseling - May 2005
St. Bonaventure University, New York
B.A. - Applied Music in Percussion - May 2001
State University of New York
College at Fredonia
(Music Therapy concentration)
B.A. - Psychology - December 2000
State University of New York
College at Fredonia