UTSA’s department of counseling would like to congratulate assistant professor Priscilla Rose Prasath, PhD, for receiving the Texas Counseling Association’s Outstanding Writing Award and the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision’s Outstanding Teaching Award. Prasath, who moved to the US from India in 2012 and has been teaching since 2015, is in her third year of teaching at UTSA. She is a licensed professional counselor and Gallup-Certified strengths coach. She also holds an MS in applied psychology where she specialized in clinical and organizational psychology and an MBA in human resource management.
Dr. Prasath says this combination of clinical and organizational focus helped inspire her article in the Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, which won her the TCA writing award.
“Through this research,” she said, “I hoped to serve as an advocate for counselors to receive additional seats at the table typically occupied by other mental health professionals.”
While the training counselors receive imbues them with the knowledge and skills to be effective leaders both within and outside the counseling sphere, Dr. Prasath says that many people, counselors included, don’t think of counselors as leaders in organizational settings.
“My research illuminates often-overlooked opportunities [for counselors] to use their valuable consultation and leadership skills in meaningful and diverse work environments,” she said.
Dr. Prasath also received SACES’ Outstanding Teacher Award, which seeks to recognize counselor educators and supervisors who go above and beyond what the organization terms “regular teaching expectations,” and who demonstrate sustained excellence in multiple course preparations. And Dr. Prasath’s students thought she met those criteria perfectly.
“Dr. Prasath is a committed, dedicated, passionate, and deeply involved professor who strives to make a difference in the lives of each of her students,” counseling students Madelyn Duffey and Katherine McVay wrote in their letter to the awards committee.
Dr. Prasath says she is moved that her students went out of their way to nominate her for the award and appreciates the recognition for her work.
“These recognitions are yet another reminder to stay humble and grateful as we all work toward making a positive difference in this world,”
“These recognitions are yet another reminder to stay humble and grateful as we all work toward making a positive difference in this world,” she said.
But being recognized for her efforts as a teacher holds an even deeper meaning for Dr. Prasath, whose mother was also a teacher. From childhood, Dr. Prasath says her mother’s inspiration drew her to the profession. As such, this represents something of a dream come true for her.
“Being raised in such an incredibly supportive home by both my mom and dad who valued education and service, I think early on in life I dared to dream to be where I am today, so I’m really grateful for them,” she said.
She credits her successes to God, academic mentors, supportive spouse, and being raised by parents who value education and service and being married into a family who equally appreciate her work. Dr. Prasath also says she is fortunate to work with colleagues who are supportive and see the best in you.
Dr. Prasath is committed to providing personalized attention to every student, something she says is uncommon in India. Another component she identifies as part of her success is a strengths-based approach.
“When I’m playing off my strengths and I engage students at their best, that’s where excellence is created and best growth occurs,” she said.
Finally, Dr. Prasath says that she finds a collaborative, active learning environment that facilitates creativity and innovation and that she believes in offering high levels of support to her students while also having high expectations.
She believes all of these factors have contributed to her recognition by one of the largest counseling organizations in the country.
“I aspire to make my love for learning and serving as a mental health counselor and as an educator contagious through my way of teaching and engaging in the classroom,” she said.
“I aspire to make my love for learning and serving as a mental health counselor and as an educator contagious through my way of teaching and engaging in the classroom,” she said.
Going forward, Dr. Prasath says she has plans to continue developing her research into servant leadership and the counselor identity. She’s currently in the process of publishing an article exploring how psychological capital, that is the positive psychological traits such as hope, optimism, reliance, and self-efficacy, serve as an antecedent to leadership. She’s hopeful that this and her future work can be directly beneficial to her students here at UTSA.
“I would like to expand on counselor leadership scholarship more and eventually I want to see a certificate program offered to our students where they are holistically trained to be effective leaders,” she said.
Dr. Prasath officially received her award from SACES at the organization’s conference and will receive her TCA award at its conference in the near future.
-Christopher Reichert
More information about both organizations and the awards can be found at https://txca.org/tca_awards.php and http://www.saces.org/awards.
Those interested in Dr. Prasath’s article can find it at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2326716X.2021.1904460.