May 14, 2009
St. Mary’s University’s Counselor Education & Family Life Center has recently moved “off campus” to a larger facility in order to meet the growing needs of its community customers.
The Family Life Center provides valuable counseling services not only to the neighborhoods surrounding St. Mary’s, but also to the entire San Antonio community. Under the supervision of faculty from the Department of Counseling and Human Services, graduate students work as clinicians-in-training providing the highest quality of counseling services to clients.
Common Issues Addressed:
|
For Adults:
Couple relationship problems Premarital counseling Communication skills Divorce recovery Depression Anxiety Career planning Managing stress Grief Managing life transitions |
For Children and Adolescents:
Challenges with parents Family conflict Behavior problems Depression Anxiety Peer relationships School challenges Attention deficit and hyperactivity Career and education planning |
Other specialized services that the Center offers include play therapy and neurofeedback therapy. Play is a natural way for children both to learn from and communicate with adults. It can also be used as a way to get children to open up to their counselors and as a way to engage them in the therapeutic process and help them with a wide variety of issues.
Neurofeedback training (NFB) uses leading-edge technology to treat adults and children with a wide variety of issues, such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders. Similar to a video or computer game, NFB alters the client’s brainwaves by rewarding the client with points, sounds or visual images on the computer screen when “healthy” brainwaves are produced. Research has found NFB to be an effective treatment for many issues, especially when utilized along with psychotherapy.
A $200,000 grant from the Albert & Margaret Alkek Foundation helped purchase the Center’s advanced technology. Since the Foundation was created, the Alkek Foundation has given more than $2 million to St. Mary’s University.
Fees for all the Center’s counseling services are based on a sliding scale that varies according to each client’s household income and personal financial situation. Fees are determined when a client’s first therapy session is scheduled. Spanish-speaking clinicians are available upon request, and clinicians speaking other languages also may be available.
The Center also provides free counseling services for military members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families, thanks to a two-year grant from the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment (TRIAD) Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation. Service men and woman and their families have access to all of the services listed above along with specialized counseling for returning veterans and their families. For information about the free services to the military, please call 438-6410.
By offering quality counseling services at an affordable rate, the Center is a vital part of St. Mary’s University’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program, which helps form a more healthy community.
The new location of the Family Life Center is 251 W. Ligustrum, near St. Mary’s campus. The new location features 14 counseling rooms, which include rooms for play therapy and neurofeedback therapy.
Hours of operation are six days a week; day and evening appointments are available. Appointments are taken:
Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
*Closed on holidays.
Call for an appointment at (210) 438-6411
Counseling is provided by advanced graduate students from the Department of Counseling and Human Services in the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and Counseling programs. Students and faculty strictly adhere to HIPAA laws and professional ethical standards. Patient privacy is protected within the scope of the law and professional ethics.
The MFT masters and doctoral degree programs at St. Mary’s are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE), and the Counseling masters and doctoral degree programs are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP).