Community partnerships help Roanoke-based counselor education program bridge mental health care gaps
Master’s degree students at the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center increase access to mental health services while also getting a “heavy dose of reality” through experiences with at-risk youth, underserved communities, and local schools.
Associate Professor Matthew Fullen knows that meeting clients where they are is key to effective mental health care. It’s also critical, he said, when training the next generation of mental health counselors.
That’s why the School of Education based its master’s degree in counselor education program at the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center, a strategy that Fullen, who leads the program, said has diversified student experiences by allowing them to work with a wide range of clients. In turn, community partners such as the Rescue Mission of Roanoke and Roanoke City Public Schools say that the program’s students have strengthened the mental health teams serving the Roanoke Valley.
These partnerships give students a “heavy dose of reality,” Fullen said. Whether by working with at-risk youth, providing support to underserved communities, or addressing mental health needs in local schools, the graduate students serve real people looking for real support for a wide variety of issues.
Graduates say such experiential learning opportunities help shape not only technical skills but also the ability to navigate the complexities and nuances of human experience.
“A core part of Virginia Tech’s counselor education program is fostering an environment that helps students stretch into the gray areas of life, so they are able to help their clients do the same,” said Bethany Lackey, who earned her master’s degree in 2013 and her doctorate in 2020 before founding the Roanoke Refugee Partnership and A Tree Planted Collective. “Every client brings their own unique stories, cultures, perspectives, needs, identities, and strengths. That is incredibly important in counselor development and provides an experience you cannot simulate.”
Community connection built in
The counselor education program offers two master’s degree tracks in Roanoke — one in clinical mental health counseling and one in school counseling. The versatile space of the Roanoke Center, located on the seventh floor of the Roanoke Higher Education Center, allows the program to actively support hands-on learning.
That includes a mental health clinic built especially for counselors in training. It’s there that students get their feet wet serving clients from organizations such as the Rescue Mission of Roanoke, which supports people without housing, and the Roanoke Diversity Center, which supports the region’s LGBTQ+ community.
“The counselor education master’s program not only prepares outstanding counselors for our schools and our communities, but the partnerships formed with the community also help lift up the well-being of the region’s residents and speak to the very heart of the Roanoke Center’s work,” said Scott Weimer, who leads the Roanoke Center, part of Outreach and International Affairs.
By offering counseling services to the public, the clinic provides students with the opportunity to work directly with a diverse range of clients, said Joanna Collins, assistant professor of practice in the School of Education and the clinic director. “This engagement not only enriches students’ professional development but also strengthens ties with the community as they address real-world needs in mental health.”
The clinic’s therapy rooms include cameras that, with client permission, allow faculty and doctoral students to observe sessions and offer real-time guidance and feedback to the counselors in training. Another room filled with colorful children’s toys and furniture is used for therapy sessions with kids.
Collins said students gain experience in essential areas such as client assessment, treatment planning, and evidence-based interventions under the supervision of licensed professionals.
“This practical experience is a cornerstone of counselor training, allowing students to develop clinical skills, ethical decision-making, and cultural humility — foundational elements that prepare them to be effective, compassionate counselors upon graduation,” she said.
The community benefits too, as the students help boost access to high-quality mental health care in the city and surrounding region not only at the clinic but also through the required 700 service hours of internship experiences in regional mental health organizations and schools.
“The public is increasingly interested in counseling. There is more mental health literacy and more people who are looking for services. In many cases, this is a way Virginia Tech is able to provide some support and help make services much more accessible,” Fullen said.
Learning to "think on their toes"
Roanoke City Public Schools is one of several school divisions that host counselor education students in elementary, middle, and high schools.
Laurie Seidel, coordinator for mindfulness education at Roanoke City Public Schools, said working in a local school provides the master’s degree students a taste of an urban school district, requires them to “think on their toes,” and pushes them be creative in their counseling practices.
“They experience the magnitude of mental health needs that present on a daily basis in the school division, helping them to become trauma informed and more prepared for the challenges within the school counseling profession,” she said. “The students bring diverse perspectives and new ideas based on the latest training, which enriches our school counseling practices and services.”
School counselors play a vital role in promoting the mental, emotional, and social well-being of students by helping them navigate personal issues, manage stress, and develop coping strategies. However, in Virginia, the number of counselors falls well short of the 250:1 recommendation from the American School Counselor Association.
Seidel said the counselor education students strengthen the schools’ mental health teams while also providing possible counselor education candidates for future employment.
Gerard Lawson, interim director of the School of Education, said school counselors are often the first layer in the safety net around kids’ mental health.
“School counselors are ideally positioned to observe the challenges that students face and are highly trained mental health professionals who have the skills to support a wide range of mental health needs while helping to keep kids on a path toward success in school and beyond,” he said. “We need more skilled school counselors in nearly every corner of the commonwealth, and the research shows that when schools have successful counseling programs, kids benefit in multiple domains.”
Fullen emphasized that work as a mental health counselor can be difficult, but his students really feel called to make a difference in the world.
“They want to serve their communities, and they want to serve their clients well. Making an impact is what reenergizes them and becomes the touchstone of every class,” Fullen said.
