"The practice of mental health by its very nature is a process of change," says HuddlestonBerry, director of the program and chair of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Department. "Change for the individual brings about change for the society at large. Change is not isolated to the individual: Change always has far-reaching implications. Working with one person to change in turn changes others."

I entered to learn and departed to serve.

—Barry Daly, M.A. in Counseling '95
Orlando campus

And it's the job of Webster counseling faculty at 28 campuses—across the United States and in Geneva, where graduates often counsel humanitarian and refugee aid workers—to prepare students to help others meet these life challenges. With more than 4,000 counseling students and alumni to date, it's safe to say the counseling faculty have been up to the task these past 30 years. The program, the largest in the country, is a leader in mental health education, and its graduates are making a difference in a variety of work settings, such as hospitals, social action groups, private clinics, and public services.

"The success of any educational program is always measured by the accomplishments of its graduates," HuddlestonBerry says. "We are exceptionally proud of our graduates. Their successes continue to have a powerful impact on the lives of others."

An important part of empowering students for this professional success is the guidance they receive from faculty who live what they teach. Webster faculty are real-world mental health professionals who bring proven counseling strategies into the classroom.

"Our faculty work in all sorts of situations where people are in need," says HuddlestonBerry. "And this enriches our students' experience, because the faculty bring to them the day-to-day knowledge of what it's like to be a therapist."

Elizabeth Smith, an English instructor and program coordinator at the University of South Carolina, chose Webster's Counseling program despite the availability of classes at USC. "The classes I took at Webster," Smith says, "the material I read and was exposed to, and the invaluable anecdotal information provided by the best teachers I had ever encountered, encouraged me to commute to Webster's Charleston campus and complete my M.A."

Though also a USC alumna, Smith says, "I am a devoted and loyal advocate of the pedagogical approach offered by Webster," where she says she received "some of the best instruction and instructors I have encountered in nearly 25 years of exposure to academia."

Webster counseling faculty take as much satisfaction from their teaching as from their professional field experience. Perhaps the "help others" ethos inherent in counseling's mission makes teaching the craft a natural impulse for its practitioners.

"I remind my students that counseling is a way of life," says Glen Martin, adjunct professor at Pope AFB in North Carolina and at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "The joy of counseling and training counselors at Webster is to see diamonds in the rough grow into professional jewels. Our curriculum prepares skilled clinicians for specialization, for career change and advancement."

"Counselors recognize 'good fit' as a factor contributing to life satisfaction," says April Smith, faculty and academic advisor at the Crystal Lake campus near Chicago. "There is no greater satisfaction than helping students find their good fit."

The tactics for helping counseling students find their fit have evolved over the past 30 years. The program was a St. Louis-only offering when it started in 1975. But in 1979, Albuquerque's site director Randy Wright, now associate vice president of Academic Affairs, helped establish the program's first extended campus offering. That set the stage for further expansion with the adoption of counseling licensure laws throughout much of the United States in the 1980s.

As individual states created their own licensure laws, the program adapted to meet state-by-state regulations and local needs. Strong support from Academic Affairs and from all of the extended campuses has been critical to this successful expansion. Each campus monitors admissions tightly so as not to flood the market. And while HuddlestonBerry sees further expansion ahead, he notes that the program's "growth potential is carefully monitored, so we stay alert to what the general social needs are. That's part of the counseling program's philosophy."

Likewise, HuddlestonBerry sees continued growth in the acceptance of counseling as a normal part of personal health.

"Still today in this country there is a stigma about people going to someone for mental health counseling," he says. "But I think that Webster, with its large and popular program, is fostering change in the general public's idea about seeking therapy. Mental health is just as much a part of a person's overall health as seeing a doctor, a dentist, or any other specialist."

HuddlestonBerry points to a growing recognition by society that people affected by 9/11 or recent wars may experience post-traumatic stress syndrome and may need help. "It certainly has changed the idea that therapy is only for individuals who cannot take care of their own," he says. "We're having much more societal support, and I think that's reflected in our students, and it's part of their action plan... action means change."

The extended campuses each make sure students know this important role coming in, HuddlestonBerry says. "Our campuses do a great job making sure students understand the ramifications of our profession: the laws, the responsibilities, and the strong ethical considerations that are critical to the practice of therapy."

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