The mission of The University of Texas at San Antonio's Counseling Program is to prepare multiculturally competent professional counselors and counselor educators who demonstrate the necessary counseling knowledge, skills, identity, and scholarship. For those seeking advanced studies, additional competencies to enrich the quality of all peoples' lives include supervision, teaching, research and scholarship, leadership and advocacy. The program emphasizes creativity and diversity, as well as developmental and relational processes.
The Department of Counseling is committed to providing you with cutting-edge clinical and educational experiences. Faculty members are involved in all levels of leadership and are well represented locally, across the state, nation, and internationally.
Our counseling programs continue to be fully accredited since 2008 by the Council for Accreditation for Counseling and Related Programs (CACREP). Our programs emphasize and model creativity, diversity, and relational development.
Graduates of the UTSA counseling program will have a basic knowledge foundation in the areas of legal, ethical, and professional issues in counseling; social and cultural foundations; human growth and development; career development; helping relationships; group work; appraisal; and research and program evaluation. In accordance with UTSA counseling department's mission and goals, graduates will also have a strong understanding of diversity issues and be able to address the needs of an increasingly diverse society.
We regularly update our website to include information on policies, standards, important dates to remember, and other essential program agendas. Please consult this website regularly to access the latest news and information on our program's development and direction.
Also, we have included within this website a number of handbooks that detail the specifics of each program. These handbooks are rich in information and context for students involved in School Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Ph.D. in Counselor Education, and Clinical (Practice and Internship) experiences.
Objectives of the Counseling Program
Department Mission-Based Student Learning Objectives (MBO)
At the completion of the counseling program, students will be able to:
- Articulate a conceptualization of client/student presenting concerns from a strength-based perspective founded on contextual factors (e.g., developmental, relational, and multicultural).
- Describe how relational and diverse contextual factors may contribute to presenting problems.
- Discuss how relational competencies (i.e. authenticity, mutuality, honesty, empathy) affect counselor/client/student development.
- Describe how to creatively and effectively integrate contextual resources and client/student strengths during the counseling process.
- Demonstrate inclusive communication when describing clients/students (e.g., understanding and appropriately using people/person-first language or identity-first language, avoiding labeling clients/students).
- Demonstrate the ability to convey to the client/student their counseling progress.
- Demonstrate multicultural and social justice counseling competencies in the counseling process.
Clinical Mental Health Counseling Objectives
In addition to the basic objectives listed above, those completing the program with an emphasis in clinical mental health counseling will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the foundations of clinical mental health counseling, including roles, functions, credentialing, licensure, and professional identity of mental health counselors;
- Demonstrate knowledge of policies, laws, legislation, reimbursement, right-to-practice, and other issues relevant to clinical mental health counselors in a culturally diverse society;
- Demonstrate knowledge of the roles of the counselor in various community settings; organizational and legal dimensions of those settings; and general principles of community intervention, consultation, education, and outreach
- Demonstrate knowledge of principles for diagnosis and the use of current diagnostic tools;
- Demonstrate knowledge of principles and models of biopsychosocial assessment and case conceptualization in a culturally diverse society;
- Demonstrate knowledge of program development and delivery to diverse populations, including prevention, support groups, parent education, career/occupational information and counseling, and self-help;
- Demonstrate knowledge of effective strategies for promoting client understanding of and access to community resources; modalities for initiating, maintaining, and terminating counseling services with diverse populations.
School Counseling Objectives
In addition to the basic objectives previously listed, those completing the program with an emphasis in school counseling will:
- Demonstrate the competencies required to work with all students in K-12 individually or in groups to address their personal, social, academic, and career concerns;
- Demonstrate consultative and coordinating competencies required to work collaboratively with parents, educators, other professionals, and community stakeholders to address the developmental needs of all students;
- Demonstrate knowledge of the role and function of the professional school counselor, including professional standards and behaviors as described in Texas Education Agency's A Model Comprehensive, Developmental Guidance, and Counseling Program and the American School Counselor Association's National Standards for School Counselors;
- Demonstrate the competencies necessary to conduct research and use assessment data in order to develop, implement, and maintain a data-driven comprehensive and developmental guidance program
How Do Our Programs Rate?
The Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Education Programs (CACREP) collects information from universities and colleges with accredited programs and publishes the CACREP Vital Statistics. Individual programs, rather than the university or college, receive accreditation from CACREP, and the Vital Statistics can be used by potential students to gauge the health of a particular program. The number of graduates, completion rate, pass rate on credentialing exams, and placement rate data can be used to judge how each program prepares and progresses its students toward the ultimate goal of gaining employment as a licensed counselor.
M.S. Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Last year, 101 students graduated from the Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) program. The pass rate for the National Counselor Examination (NCE) was 88%. Based on available data, an estimated 78% of graduates seeking jobs were able to secure employment in a counseling-related position within 180 days of graduation. The estimated completion time for full-time students enrolled in the CMHC program is 2.5-3.5 years; 79% of students admitted in Fall 2019 graduated on this schedule.
M.Ed. School Counseling
In 2021-2022, 22 students graduated from the School Counseling (SC) program. Of these students, 99% of graduates seeking jobs were able to secure employment in a counseling-related position within 180 days of graduation. The average certification passing rate was also 100%. Further, 99% of full-time and part-time SC students admitted in Fall 2019 completed the program within the estimated program completion time of 3 years.
Ph.D. Counselor Education and Supervision
Nine students earned their doctorates in Counselor Education and Supervision in 2021-2022, with 100% of graduates obtaining employment in a related field within 180 days of completing their programs. The estimated completion time for our doctoral students is 2-3 years; 96% of students admitted to our 2019- 20 cohort met this completion rate. No certification or licensure exam is required for doctoral students beyond the entry-level requirements.
The Sarabia Family Counseling Center
The Sarabia Family Counseling Center is located on UTSA's Downtown Campus in the Durango Building, Room 3.304. The SFCC offers free counseling services to the community for individuals, couples, and families. Services are provided by master's and doctoral-level counseling students and are supervised by university faculty. To make an appointment, please call (210) 458-2055. The SFCC's physical address is 501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78207.
We envision the UTSA SFCC as a national leader in clinical service, education, and research. Our mission is to promote healthy social, emotional, and relational functioning, reflecting the needs of a diverse and dynamic society. The SFCC is organized and oriented towards three simple goals:
- Promoting the highest quality of counseling service and care.
- Promoting excellence in counseling through supervised clinical training.
- Promoting counseling service and care through clinical research.
Located on UTSA’s Downtown Campus, the SFCC was created with the primary purpose of serving San Antonio's urban downtown area and its surrounding communities. We have an extensive resource center, equipped with counseling-related texts, assessments, technology, and other tools that promote active community service, clinical training, and clinical research.
Community Services
Currently, the UTSA Sarabia Family Counseling Center (SFCC) and the Department of Counseling provide free counseling and psycho-educational services to the community through university-sponsored clinics and community partnerships. UTSA students have the opportunity to use the SFCC for both practicum and internship hours. SFCC also offers a variety of neurofeedback services.
Partnerships
Juvenile Justice Partnership
The SFCC works closely with the caseworkers and judges at the municipal courthouse to provide counseling services to adjudicated youth. These services include individual and family counseling at the SFCC and psychoeducational groups offered at the municipal courthouse. These groups service at-risk youth and their parents and focus on parenting skills, healthy communication, and character building.
AVANCE Partnership
The SFCC also works in collaboration with AVANCE, a community agency that strengthens families in at-risk communities through effective parent education and support programs. Staff and students from the SFCC provide educational outreach programs on parenting, mental health, and wellness in addition to providing counseling services to referred families.
Juror Counseling Program
The SFCC partners with district courts to offer free counseling services to community members after serving on jury duty. After trials, some jurors experience sleep problems, stress, guilt, hopelessness, or frustration with the legal system. The UTSA Sarabia Family Counseling Center offers a safe and supportive environment where individuals can discuss their experiences related to jury duty and collaborate with their counselors to identify and implement solutions for optimal health and wellness.
Harlandale ISD Partnership
The counseling department also collaborates with Harlandale Independent School District. Counseling services are provided to at-risk youth and their families as a part of the Harlendale ISD first-time offenders program. UTSA counseling students and professors provide group counseling on a weekly basis to middle school students, high school students, and their families.
UTSA Sarabia Family Counseling Center
501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd.
San Antonio, TX 78207
Telephone: 210.458.2055
Download Parking Map and Directions
Clinical Director
Dr. Ashley Cuevas, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Practice
Counseling
Training in Neurofeedback
The UTSA neurofeedback program is the only training program in the nation accredited by the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) housed within a CACREP-accredited graduate counseling department. It is also one of 4 accredited university-based programs and the only public university-based program.
Curriculum
The curriculum for the neurofeedback program is based on the certification guidelines of the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (bcia.org) and includes both didactic coursework and practicum experience. The introduction course covers the BCIA "blueprint of knowledge" components and also introduces students to hands-on experience of doing neurofeedback. Additional practicums through the Sarabia Family Counseling Center on the Downtown Campus provide opportunities to complete the required hours of clinical practice. Practicum experience can be incorporated into counseling internship courses. Additional advanced courses cover more sophisticated forms of Neurotherapy, such as Quantitative EEG (QEEG), QEEG-guided NFB, Z-score NFB, Z-score LORETA NFB, Slow Cortical Potential (SCP) training, and the use of Event-Related Potentials (ERP) in assessment. In addition, training incorporates various modalities of biofeedback into Neurotherapy, such as skin temperature, skin conductance, respiration, heart-rate variability, and electromyogram (EMG).
A constantly growing body of research is showing that neurofeedback (NFB) provides clinical benefit for several mental health issues, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD), anxiety, trauma, depression, emotional regulation, addiction, and stress. The neurofeedback training program at UTSA is designed to prepare clinicians to provide competent and effective treatment for a wide variety of issues using many of the most popular systems available on the market today. The UTSA Neurofeedback Program is unique as it is one of only four BCIA accredited university-based programs in the world. To learn more about the specific neurofeedback courses offered, select the URL below!
https://catalog.utsa.edu/graduate/coursedescriptions/cou/
Costs
When compared to the fees for vendor-based training, the tuition-based program at UTSA is very competitive and offers far greater depth and more personalized supervision.
Research and Achievements
Our faculty and students are actively involved in presenting and publishing neurofeedback research! We are currently studying the ways that NFB helps with anxiety-related disorders and PTSD. In addition, doctoral dissertation projects are researching ways that neurofeedback may be integrated efficiently into counseling graduate programs, attending to counselor burnout, and reducing alcohol cravings. The addition of a 38-channel EEG system, using Event-Related Potential assessments, will bolster our research capacities going forward.
Publications:
Gregory, J. C., Romero, D. E., & Jones, M. S. (2020). Predictors of neurofeedback outcomes following qEEG individualized protocols for anxiety. NeuroRegulation, 7(1), 18-25. https://doi.org/10.15540/nr.7.1.18
Romero, D. E., Anderson, A., Gregory, J. C., Potts, C. A., Jackson, A., Spears, J. R., Jones, M. S., & Speedlin, S. (2020). Using neurofeedback to lower PTSD symptoms. NeuroRegulation, 7(3), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.15540/nr.7.3.99
Awards
Genie B. Davis Award, Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA)
(2022) Whitney Rich, MS; Ross Spears, MS, LPC; Emily Surratt, MS, LPC-Associate
(2019) Claire Gregory, PhD, LPC, LCDC, NCC, Cerise Edmonds, MS
International Society of Neuroregulation and Research (ISNR), In Memoriam Award:
(2022) Ross Spears, MS, LPC
(2021) Cerise Edmonds, MS
(2020) Claire Gregory, PhD, LPC, LCDC, NCC
(2018) Laurel Cook, PhD, LPC
International Society of Neuroregulation and Research (ISNR) Conference, Student Content Presentation Award:
(2022) Ross Spears, MS, LPC and Whitney Rich, MS
Spears, J.R., & Rich, W. (2022, July 28). Freeze! You’re Under Too Much Stress:
Utilizing Neurofeedback for the Mitigation of Law Enforcement Stressors [Content Presentation]. International Society for Neuroregulation and Research, Orlando, Florida.
International Society of Neuroregulation and Research (ISNR) Conference, Student Poster Award:
(2022) Claire Gregory, PhD, LPC, LCDC, NCC
Gregory, J. C. (2022). qEEG individualized protocols for the treatment of alcohol use disorder [Poster presentation]. International Society for Neuroregulation and Research, Orlando, Florida.
(2021) Ross Spears, MS, LPC and Cerise Edwards, MS
Spears, J.R., & Edmonds, C. (2021, June 26). Navigating virtual neurofeedback treatment during COVID-19: A retrospective analysis [Poster presentation]. International Society for Neuroregulation and Research, Virtual.
Podcasts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zi1BT1HkaQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Q13vQoJIo
Dr. Mark S. Jones
Dr. Jones has been a neurofeedback practitioner since 2002. He is board-certified in neurofeedback by the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) and certified in Quantitative EEG (Diplomate) by the QEEG Certification Board. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor (supervisor) and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (supervisor). He has a practice that incorporates neurofeedback treatment, the Well Mind Center (wellmindsa.com). He has served on the board of the International Society for Neuroregulation and Research (isnr.org), as past president of the Biofeedback Society of Texas, and is a Full Member of the Rice University/Texas Medical Center Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.
PITCH Expanded Providers (PEP) program
Learn more about this program for the integrated training of counselors in behavioral health.
Forms & Helpful Links
A comprehensive list of counseling-related forms and resource links.
Counseling Degree Programs
The Department of Counseling offers programs and certificates designed to work with particular populations or in particular settings. All of our graduate degree programs offer a robust combination of coursework, practicum, and internship experience, which involves our advanced students providing psychological and behavioral services to local schools and clinics.
