Counseling Department Chair  

 

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Biography

Thelma Duffey, Ph.D. is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Counseling at the University of Texas at San Antonio and Past President of the American Counseling Association. Dr. Duffey is currently Treasurer-Elect of the American Counseling Association. She co-directs the Academy for Crisis and Trauma Counseling within the Department of Counseling and is co-editing a new book entitled, Crisis and Trauma Counseling: Strategies for Effective Practice, published by the American Counseling Association Press. In 2016, Dr. Duffey led a team of UTSA faculty who provided services and consultation to the Sandy Hook Elementary School and Newtown community.






Thelma Duffey, Ph.D.
Professor and Department Chair
Email | CV

Counseling Faculty

 

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Biography

Dr. Claudia G. Interiano-Shiverdecker is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Antonio. She received her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (supervised by Scott Peters, Ph.D., LPC-S) specialized in providing bilingual counseling services to Spanish-speaking populations. Previously, she was a licensed psychologist in Honduras and worked with Spanish-speaking adolescents. Her research primarily focuses on (a) social justice and multicultural considerations for marginalized communities, particularly the Latinx community; (b) counseling competencies to work with trauma and specific populations vulnerable to trauma; (c) advocating for underrepresented populations in higher education and (d) bilingual counseling and supervision. Since 2015, she has been involved in some capacity with both large externally funded or institutionally funded projects focused on advocating for refugees, sex trafficking victims, and bilingual counselors. She has been published in several peer-reviewed professional journals, has co-authored several book chapters, and has presented numerous presentations at international, national, regional, state, and local conferences.

Claudia Interiano-Shiverdecker, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

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Biography

Dr. John J. S. Harrichand, LPC-S, LMHC, NCC, CCMHC, ACS is a Canadian of Chinese and East Indian ancestry, who was born and raised in Guyana, South America. He joined the Department of Counseling faculty in Fall 2021. Prior to coming to UTSA, he served as an assistant professor at SUNY Brockport. Dr. Harrichand is actively involved in several professional counseling organizations including ACA, ACES, ASERVIC, AMCD, NBCC, CACREP, and Chi Sigma Iota. He was recognized with the AMCD Young Emerging Leader Award and the AADA President’s Outstanding Service Award. Dr. Harrichand’s scholarship centers on counselor education leadership, development, and burnout; cross-cultural counseling and minority populations (i.e., LGBTQ+, immigrants, refugees, international students); clinical supervision and gatekeeping; and ethical, professional, and social justice advocacy using qualitative and quantitative methodologies. His clinical experience as a mental health counselor and supervisor involves working with community and college student populations.

 


John Harrichand, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

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Biography

Barbara Herlihy, Ph.D., NCC, is a Professor in Practice and Counselor Education and Supervision Doctoral Program Director at the University of Texas at San Antonio.  She also holds the title of Professor Emerita in the Counselor Education Program, College of Education and Human Development at the University of New Orleans. She is a Fellow of the American Counseling Association and is a past recipient of the SACES Courtland Lee Social Justice Award and the ACES Distinguished Mentor Award.. 

A prolific writer, she is co-author (with Dr. Gerald Corey and with Dr. Theodore Remley) of three current books on counselor ethics and co-editor (with Dr. Cassie Storlie) of a new book, Counseling Leaders & Advocates (2021).  She has authored or co-authored approximately 100 journal articles and book chapters, primarily on ethics, social justice, and feminist therapy. She currently serves as Associate Editor for Ethics for Counseling and Values. She has served twice as Chair of the ACA Ethics Committee and currently serves as Chair of the ACA Ethics Appeals Panel. In recent years, she has become passionate about furthering the globalization of the counseling profession and has presented seminars and workshops across the U.S. and in other countries.  She currently serves as Co-Director of Global Issues for the International Institute for the Advancement of Counseling Theory.


Barbara Herlihy
Professor of Practice

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Brenda Jones’s educational experience in the public school system spans over 30 years with nine years of high school teaching experience, over 13 years of high school professional school counseling experience, and eight years of clinical and head counseling experience. She is a Ph.D., National Certificated Counselor, and a Certified School Counselor. She earned a Ph.D. in Counseling Education and Supervision. This year completes her thirteenth year as a Clinical Assistant Professor and her third year as School Counseling Coordinator at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She teaches Child and Adolescent Counseling in a System Context; Counseling in a Multicultural Setting, School Counseling Internship, and Clinical Mental Health Internship. She serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, the Journal of School Counseling, and is the past president for Texas Association of Counselor Education and Supervision representing school counseling and clinical mental health issues.She is the recipient of the Texas Counseling Association, 2017 Professional Writing Award for the co-edited book, Child and Adolescent Counseling Case Studies: Developmental, Relational, Multicultural, and Systemic Perspectives. In 2018, she, along with three other authors, became the recipient of a national award from the Association of Counselor Education and Supervision Outstanding Article Award for writing the article, Faith, Race, and LGB Affirmation: Experiences of African American Counselors-In-Training, published in the Journal of Counselor Education and Supervision. She is also the co-editor for the textbook, Child and Adolescent Counseling: An Integrated Approach (2021).

Brenda Jones, Ph.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor

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Dr. Juhnke is a professor in the Department of Counseling and founding Doctoral Program Director. Jerry has authored 13 academic books, more than 60 refereed journal articles, 17 assessment instruments, and presented over 130 refereed conference presentations. Jerry is an American Counseling Association (ACA) Fellow and Past President of eight professional associations. He is a former Associate Editor for the Journal of Counseling and Development, former Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Addictions and Offender Counseling, and former Co-Chair of the ACA's Council of Journal Editors. He has received numerous counseling and teaching awards including the ACA's David Brooks' Distinguished Mentor Award, the ACA's Berdie Research Award, the International Association for Addictions and Offender Counseling Addictions Educator Excellence Award, the Journal of Addictions and Offender Counseling Research Award, the North Carolina Counseling Association's Professional Research Award, and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro's School of Education's Teaching Excellence Award.



Gerald Juhnke, Ph.D.
Professor
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Biography

Dr. Jessica Lloyd-Hazlett joined the Department of Counseling faculty in Fall 2014. Prior to coming to UTSA, she served as co-director of a university-based family counseling clinic providing free services to more than 300 clients per year. She is actively involved in a number of professional organizations including ACA, ACES, SACES, NBCC, CACREP, and Chi Sigma Iota. Dr. Lloyd-Hazlett is Co-PI on a 4-year $807,000 Health Resources & Services Administration Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Grant. She was recognized in 2019 with UTSA Presidential Awards for Teaching Excellence and Innovation and Impact (I2). She is also a recipient of the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Outstanding Teaching and Pine-Biggs ASERVIC Journal Article of the Year Awards. Dr. Lloyd-Hazlett’s research interests include cognitive development, pedagogy in counselor education and supervision, professional ethics, and integrated healthcare.



Jessica Lloyd-Hazlett, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
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Biography

Dr. Priscilla Rose Prasath (Ph.D, LPC, MBA, MSc, GCSC) is an Assistant Professor of Counseling in the Department of Counseling at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Prasath graduated with a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Dr. Prasath’s research focuses on studying factors that promote mental health and well-being from a positive psychological and strengths-based lens in the areas of (1). group counseling; (2). college student development; (3). creativity in teaching and counseling; (4). underserved minority and foreign-born populations; (5). leadership and career development; and (6). training curriculum and program development. The long-term goal of my research is to impact and empower diverse communities with empirically-tested, creative, culturally responsive strengths-based practices and programs that promote overall well-being and mental health. She has written/co-written numerous articles and book chapters and has presented at international, national, and regional professional conferences on these topics. At UTSA since 2021, Dr. Prasath directs the Strengths and Wellbeing Research Lab for graduate students in the Counseling Department. As a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas, she offers clinical mental health counseling to individuals, couples, and in groups. She is also a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. Dr. Prasath currently serves as the Secretary of ASGW-the Association for Specialists in Group Work, which is a national professional division of the American Counselors Association.



Priscilla Prasath, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor

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Biography

Dr. Derek Robertson, LPC-S joined UTSA in the fall of 2013. He obtained his master’s degree from Texas Tech University and was a practitioner for many years before returning for his PhD in Counselor Education from The College of William and Mary. As a counselor, he worked with children in the foster care system who survived abuse and neglect, people with HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ+ populations, and military families. Those experiences inform his teaching and research. His research interests include: 1) examining the relational strains and discrimination that can result from exposure to social media and unvetted news sources, 2) promoting cognitive complexity and cultural humility through cultural immersion experiences, and 3) best practices in bilingual counselor education. Dr. Robertson, along with his colleagues, coordinates the Bilingual Counseling Certificate and leads a yearly study abroad to Oaxaca, Mexico. He served as a co-principal investigator for a $2,500,000 Victims of Crime Act grant to support the communities affected by the 2017 mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. He also serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health.  

Derek Robertson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

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Biography

Dr. Devon E. Romero joined the Department of Counseling Faculty in Fall 2018. Dr. Romero serves as the Chapter Faculty Advisor of the Sigma Alpha Chi chapter of Chi Sigma Iota and as Co-faculty Advisor of the Neurofeedback Society of UTSA. She received her undergraduate, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees from the University of Alabama. Her Master’s degree is in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in marriage and family counseling. She is a National Certified Counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor Intern under the supervision of Dr. Mark Jones, and has a graduate certificate in Quantitative Educational Research.

 

 

 

 

Devon Romero, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
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Biography

Dr. Minerva Rosales is a Lecturer at the University of Texas at Antonio since 2006. She received her master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas, and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas in 2005. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor with Supervision status. Her Texas teaching certificates are in the following areas: Elementary Bilingual/ESL-Spanish, Elementary Self-Contained, and School Counselor. She has been employed as a Texas educator since 2000. Concurrently, she is a practicing professional school counselor since 2004. Her primary focus is to provide counseling services to children and adolescents in the school district and teaching UTSA graduate-level students pursuing a degree in counseling.  




Minerva Rosales, Ph.D.
Lecturer

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Biography

Dr. Catherine Somody, Association Professor of Practice, has over 40 years of experience in education and counseling. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, a certified school counselor, and a certified special education counselor. She served as a school counselor and supervisor for 29 years, and she has over 10 years of experience teaching and supervising counseling students at UTSA. Dr. Somody serves as the Graduate Advisor of Record for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program, and as the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program Coordinator. She is very passionate about teaching clinical courses including Practicum, Internship, Group Theory and Process, as well as doctoral-level courses in University Teaching and Consultation and Leadership. Dr. Somody is the Associate Editor for the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health (JCMH). She has always incorporated creativity into her counseling and enjoys being instrumental in the publication of a peer-reviewed journal devoted to creativity in mental health.

Catherine Somody, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Practice
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Biography

Dr. Heather Trepal is a Professor and Coordinator of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program in the Department of Counseling. She is a licensed professional counselor and board-approved supervisor in the state of Texas. Research & publications focus on professional advocacy, bilingual counselor training and supervision, relational-cultural theory, gender issues and sexual trauma, supervision in integrated behavioral healthcare settings, and non-suicidal self-injury. She currently serves as the project director for the Program for the Integrated Training of Counselors in Behavioral Healthcare. She has also served as President of the American Counseling Association, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, and the Association for Creativity in Counseling, both divisions of the American Counseling Association. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Professional Leadership Award, The Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Advocacy Award, the American Counseling Association Presidential Award, and the Dwight D. Arnold Outstanding Alumnus Award from Kent State University's Department of Counseling and Human Development Service Program.
 
Heather Trepal, Ph.D.
Professor

College of Education and Human Development
Main Building | One UTSA Circle | San Antonio, TX 78249
Phone: 210-458-4370 | education@utsa.edu