ETSU’s graduate program in counseling has been awarded the Robert Frank Outstanding Counselor Education Program Award by the Association for Counseling Education and Supervision.
“Students at ETSU pursuing a degree in counseling are being trained in a nationally recognized program that has been honored by the profession’s premier organization,” said Rebekah Byrd, program coordinator and associate professor of Counseling and Human Services in the ETSU Clemmer College.
Every year, the association presents one award to a master’s program and one award to a doctoral program.
Members of the association include counselors, supervisors, graduate students and faculty members across the country who all share one common goal: improving the education and supervision of counselors in training and in practice. They, along with their regional counterparts, host conferences, highlight research and best practices and publish a quarterly journal, Counselor Education and Supervision, which provides relevant topics in today’s world of counseling.
The judging criteria for the Robert Frank Outstanding Counselor Education Program Award includes a program’s dedication to exemplifying the importance of excellence through standards and innovation, faculty member’s commitment and contributions to the program, program commitment to improvement and development, mentorship and relationship building with students, the university and the region and development of unique and innovative ways of providing the service of a higher education in the counseling profession.
“We continue to receive feedback from internship supervisors and employers on the exceptional clinical skills of our students and graduates, and we feel that it is our students who make us outstanding,” Byrd said.
One of the things that sets ETSU’s Department of Counseling and Human Services apart is that graduate students at ETSU have the unique opportunity to gain experience in the department’s Community Counseling Clinic, which offers free counseling services to ETSU students and members of the community. Individual counseling for adults, teens and children is available, as well as couples counseling and family therapy.
Graduate students can join the association to find opportunities to work with and learn from current members involved in the profession, network and present research.
