Counseling clinic, in its 25th year, serves community, provides reality training for students

By Gary Robertson

The downturn in the economy, and the stress and anxiety that accompany it, has caused more area residents to seek out the VCU Center for Psychological Services and Development.

In any given year, 100 to 120 members of the community become part of the center’s case load, receiving treatment or counseling for issues ranging from career change to anxiety attacks to Internet addiction.

Upward of 200 more people come in only a few times, before their issues are resolved or they are referred elsewhere.

“We see all manner of individuals,” said the center’s director, Dr. Leticia Flores, Ph.D. “Some are homeless or near homeless, some are middle-class.”

The center, at 612 N. Lombardy St., does not accept insurance. It operates on a sliding fee scale based on clients’ ability to pay.

The staff consists primarily of doctoral students in VCU’s acclaimed clinical psychology and counseling psychology programs, which were ranked in the top five nationwide in an index published in 2007 by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The students are supervised by licensed clinical and counseling professionals.

“We try not to turn anyone away as long as they’re a good training case for our students. That’s the key right there,” Flores said. “If we think we have the resources to handle the case, then we’ll work with the individual.”

Skye Ochsner Margolies, a doctoral student in clinical psychology, said she can’t imagine graduating from her program of study without the experiences she has had at the center.

“It’s been incredible training, applying what I’ve learned in classes,” she said. “It’s a very real world setting, and the learning curve is tremendous.”

Margolies said it also has been both humbling and an honor to work with clients suffering from disorders ranging from chronic depression to post-traumatic stress.

Recently, the center received a grant of $65,726 from the Virginia Department of Veterans Services to assist returning veterans, as part of the department’s “Wounded Warrior Program.” VCU and the College of William & Mary are collaborating in the effort.
 
William & Mary’s law school assists veterans in filing, adjudicating and appealing service-related disability compensation claims, while VCU’s Center for Psychological Services and Development provides assessment, counseling and referrals to veterans.

During the academic year, upward of 55 or more students rotate through the center, as they become immersed in their professions.
   
“I tell the students this is not just a classroom experience – it’s where the rubber meets the road,” Flores said. “They’re fully functioning semi-professionals; they conduct therapy, they conduct testing.”

Flores added that the dual missions of the clinic – training students and being a community clinic – intersect nicely. Besides the doctoral candidates in clinical and counseling psychology, the center has a cadre of providers that includes master’s level students from the School of Social Work, and psychiatric nursing students from the VCU School of Nursing.

This fall, rehabilitation counseling students from the School of Allied Health Professionals will become part of the mix.
   
Flores’ vision, a vision also shared by the center’s previous director, is to develop a more integrated care system for clients, within a framework of interdisciplinary teams.

Everett L. Worthington, Ph.D., a professor of psychology, remembers when the center, which in 2009 is celebrating its 25th anniversary, was in much smaller quarters on Franklin Street.
   
“We had outgrown the space we had available,” said Worthington, who is internationally known for his writings and research on forgiveness. The university was looking for a larger venue for the center when the former home of the Richmond Ballet became available.
   
After extensive renovations, the center moved from the main campus and reopened on Lombardy in early 2006, more than doubling its space to 10,000 square feet and increasing the number of treatment offices from eight to 15.

“It’s in a much better location in terms of where you would place a psychological clinic. It borders on the footprint of VCU, it sits in the community and there’s a bus stop out in front,” Worthington said.

The center is a great benefit to the community, he said, because of its sliding fee scale, and the cutting edge research advances that flow from VCU’s faculty through the students and then to the clients.

Both Worthingon and Flores believe the VCU Center for Psychological Services and Development may be needed now more than at any time in its history, as the nation struggles with a sour economy, returning veterans and the increasing complexity of modern life.

“The center is a real strength for the community,” Worthington said.

“People find us online, they find us by word of mouth…they find us when they need us,” Flores said.