The Counseling Center works to ensure a supportive and encouraging learning environment for all through the recruitment and retention of staff and trainees who are committed to diversity, inclusion, and training. We recognize that to fully commit to this mission, it is important to infuse multicultural practice in all aspects of our work and training. Additionally, we strongly believe that to be competent, mental health professionals must have a strong understanding of multicultural principles and a commitment to embracing and working with individuals of all identities. This is consistent with mandates in our ethics codes as psychologists, social workers, and professional counselors as well as in accordance with APA accreditation standards for our doctoral internship.
Current Counseling Center Initiatives
The MU Counseling Center is housed within a large public institution with students who hold many diverse backgrounds. At Mizzou, we are heavily involved in reaching these students not only in our center but by collaborating with campus partners and initiatives.
Nurturing My Wellness
Nurturing My Wellness (NMW) is an outreach program that was developed for students in 2021. It is comprised of a program coordinator and a committee with student consultants and staff. NMW provides workshops, events, and trainings for Mizzou students, staff, and faculty. Interns have the opportunity to participate in these workshops and engage with campus partners at various events across campus. Examples of recent events include Crafting Empowerment with Care, Imposter Syndrome as a First Gen Student, and Setting Boundaries as a Student of Color.
Campus Partners
We have strong working relationships and work in close contact with many campus departments including the following:
- MU Disability Center
- Multicultural Center
- Women’s Center
- LGBTQ Resource Center
- Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center)
- Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP) Center
- Office of First Generation Initiatives
- MU International Center
- Academic Retention Services
- Fraternity and Sorority Life
- Wellness Resource Center
- Residential Life
- Campus Dining Services
- Student Health Center
- Missouri Student Association/Graduate-Professional Council (MSA-GPC)
MUCC Staff Professional Development and Training
We understand that multicultural competence and humility are a work in progress and are always striving to understand ourselves and others with nuance and compassion. To maintain this ethically necessary professional development, we provide several opportunities for cultural learning.
Multicultural Case Consultation
Hosted monthly, this optional gathering is led by the Diversity Committee to facilitate conversation around clinical issues pertaining to working with a diverse student body.
Diversity Committee
The Diversity Committee is comprised of staff across the Counseling Center who are focused on professional development and advocacy for the Counseling Center and campus. Their main activities are developing the Multicultural Case Consultation, facilitating trainings, hosting staff development opportunities, and responding to campus and community concerns.
Multicultural Potluck
One of the Counseling Center’s most delicious traditions! Every December, we all take the time to come together and share our cultural backgrounds through food and storytelling.
Professional Development Trainings
The Counseling Center highly values and supports the continued education of staff on all topics including those that pertain to work with underserved and diverse students. We regularly invite campus and community partners to share their resources, encourage staff and trainees to attend trainings and conferences, as well as invest in lasting resources for staff.
Intern Specific Training Opportunities
The overarching goal of the internship program is to train ethically responsible psychologists who have the necessary knowledge, skills, and awareness that are the foundation of competent practice of professional psychology. As with all accredited internship programs in health service psychology, the MUCC trains and evaluates interns on the profession-wide competency of Individual and Cultural Diversity which includes raising “awareness, sensitivity and skills in working professionally with diverse individuals, groups and communities who represent various cultural and personal background and characteristics defined broadly and consistent with APA policy.” As such, we have not only embedded multiculturalism in all our intern requirements, but have created specific opportunities for interns to hone their competence in working with diverse populations.
Year long intern multicultural integration seminar
Part of the requirement of the internship program is to complete a year long multicultural seminar. This biweekly seminar is facilitated by two psychologists and is intended to be a non-evaluative space for interns to explore their multicultural understandings of themselves and their clinical work. A focus of the seminar is on integrating and applying learning attained in other seminars, supervisions, and through applied work.
Diversity based trainings
Although all training seminars are provided with a multicultural lens, many of the intern topical trainings are specifically focused on working with diverse clinical populations. Examples include Working with Trans Students; Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Therapy; Men’s Issues in Therapy; and Outreach as Social Justice.
Identity Based Focus Areas
As discussed elsewhere, interns have the opportunity to choose a clinical focus area for the academic year. In addition to focus areas based on presenting concerns, the Counseling Center also offers numerous focus areas based on identity for interns to build their competence in working with diverse student populations. The current identity based focus areas are: Men and Masculinity, Working with BIPOC students, Working with LGBTQ+ students, and Social Class Considerations in Therapy.
Contact Us
MU Counseling Center
Strickland Hall, 4th floor
573-882-6601
Open 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday