Counseling Services

Family Services

The clinic's family counseling services are appropriate for families, couples, step and/or blended families, parent/child, sibling issues, and other relationship concerns as well. Instead of working on issues individually, families work together to become healthier and happier as a unit. Couples counseling can involve general relationship issues, pre-marital, or marital counseling. Families with young children will be involved in family play therapy, whereby counseling is modified to the youngest family member’s development so that every member can fully participate in the counseling process.

Individual Counseling

The clinic provides personal, social, and career-related counseling on a one-on-one basis for individuals 18 years of age and older. Geriatric counseling is available.

Adolescent Counseling

Adolescent counseling includes talk and activity based counseling and expressive arts for ages 13-17 to assist with behavior, social, school, peer, and life transition difficulties. Activity therapy entails providing various activities for individuals to engage in for the purposes of facilitating the expression and working through of issues. Activity Therapy is also used for pre-adolescent children ages 9-12.

Parents/caregivers are involved in the process through parent/caregiver consultations. Parent/caregiver consultations are used to inform caregivers of general themes or concerns that arise in the teen’s/child’s therapy sessions. Parent/caregiver consultations also provide valuable information to the counselor about how the teen/child is behaving at home and at school, as well as how the caregiver typically responds to the teen’s/child’s needs. Additionally, a parent/caregiver consultation is a time when concerns can be discussed with the counselor about the teen’s/child’s mental health well-being. This also provides the counselor an opportunity to assist parents/caregivers in learning new skills and techniques to help their teen/child.

Play Therapy for Children

Play Therapy is used for children two years and older. Research supports the use of play therapy with children in this age range as an effective and developmentally appropriate therapeutic approach. Play therapy is utilized to provide children with concrete means of expressing and communicating experiences, thoughts, feelings, and concerns. Play is a child’s language, as words can be too abstract for young children to use to process difficult situations (Landreth, 2002). Through the play therapy approach, a consistent, safe, and autonomous environment is established for children to facilitate problem solving, a greater self-concept, development of responsibility, an increase in self-control, and the expression feelings.

Group Counseling

The clinic's Group Counseling services include parent education groups (e.g., Filial Therapy, Positive Discipline), teen groups, activity groups (i.e., for children between the ages of 9-12), and play therapy groups (i.e., for children ages 3-8) for varied concerns and topics.

Groups do not run on a set schedule, please call to inquire about availability.

Career Counseling 

The clinic's career counseling services are for adolescents who are considering first time career decisions and major decision-making, young adults who are navigating the school-to-work transition, adults who are experiencing planned or unplanned career transitions, and individuals who are considering retirement. A variety of career assessments are available to support the career counseling process including the Strong Interest Inventory, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and YouScience assessments. Clients also receive assistance with resume writing and preparing for job interviews.

Southern Methodist University (SMU) will not discriminate in any employment practice, education program, education activity, or admissions on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status. SMU's commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.