Rate My Professor Zach Bloom

Zachary D. Bloom, Ph.D., serves as Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Counselor Education within the College of Education at Northeastern Illinois University. He earned his Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of Central Florida, M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy from Rollins College, M.A.T. in Secondary Education with endorsements in English and middle school from National-Louis University, and M.A. in Philosophy from Bradley University. A Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Bloom has clinical experience working with diverse clients presenting issues related to trauma, anger management, anxiety, and depression. He joined Northeastern Illinois University as an Assistant Professor, was awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2022, and currently serves as Chair of the department and graduate program advisor for the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

Bloom's research specializations include instrumentation in research, empathy and the objectification of others, the influence of technology on interpersonal and romantic relationships, and human sexuality. His scholarship focuses on the counseling implications of technology use, levels of empathy, objectification, and quality of interpersonal relationships, with expansions into instrument development and validation. He has co-authored the textbook Counseling and Therapy for Couples: An Integrative Model (Pearson, 2021) and numerous peer-reviewed publications, including 'Standards of Care for Research in Group Work' (Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 2021), 'Standards of Care for Assessment in Group Work' (Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 2021), 'The Adolescent Measure of Empathy and Sympathy in a Sample of Emerging Adults' (Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 2020), 'The Online Dating Intensity Scale: Exploratory Factor Analysis in a Sample of Emerging Adults' (Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 2020), 'A Comparison of Empathy and Sympathy Between Counselors-in-Training and Their Non-Counseling Academic Peers' (The Professional Counselor, 2018), and 'Counselors’ Comfort with Sexuality, Attitudes Towards Pornography, and Propensity to Assess for Issues Related to Client Pornography Use' (Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 2016). Bloom's contributions advance standards in group work research, assessment, and counseling practices related to sexuality and technology.