Geri Barber, MS, NCC, LPC, CRC
Counselor Training Center Director
441 McGurrin Hall
(570) 941-7635
Email: barberg2@scranton.edu

The Counselor Training Center provides facilities for clinical instruction of students in graduate counseling and undergraduate human services programs.  This vital resource establishes an emphasis on experiential learning, which allows University of Scranton students the meaningful opportunity to steadily grow in a place where theory and practice intersect.

The Counselor Training Center is located on the fourth floor of McGurrin Hall and the facility includes: two group counseling rooms, five individual counseling rooms, two individual supervision rooms, a group supervision room, a workroom that serves as an office area for graduate students enrolled in counseling practicum, and a state-of-the-art audio/visual system for videotaping and direct observation of counseling and supervision sessions.

The Counselor Training Center is routinely used for the following graduate level classes:
COUN 501: Counseling and Interviewing Skills, COUN 503: Group Process and Practice, COUN 590, 591, 592, and 593: Practicum courses in Community, Rehabilitation, and School Counseling; and undergraduate classes including CHS 241: Case Management and Interviewing, and CHS 341: Group Dynamics.  Along with this, The Counselor Training Center facilitates a variety of other learning experiences for both the graduate and undergraduate programs.
 
Graduate students enrolled in the Community, Rehabilitation, or School Counseling programs who are completing their practicum experiences are given the opportunity to work with different client populations drawn from within the University and in some cases from the Scranton community.  Each practicum counseling student spends a minimum of 40 hours in direct service with clients and students, the majority of this time is in the Counselor Training Center. Practicum has been described as a profound educational experience with an emphasis on the development of a professional identity and on skill enhancement and refinement.  This is an important time for graduate students, who experience what “being men and women for others” truly means.  Practicum is where the transformative power of a helping/counseling relationship is realized.  The Counselor Training Center is a unique resource which allows all students the opportunity to strive for professional growth and development. 

In the Fall of 2004, The University of Scranton, the J.A. Panuksa, S.J. College of Professional Studies and the Department of Counseling and Human Service dedicated the Counselor Training Program in honor of the late Dr. David W. Hall.  In his living and in his dying, Dr. Hall inspired us to reach for excellence.  It is the department’s mission and intent to continue this tradition in and through the David W. Hall Counselor Training Program.