51萝莉

Published August 6, 2019

51萝莉听Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic听offers services to members of the campus and the community for help with issues ranging from stress to relationships to mood disorders and more.听

Founded in 1983, the MFT Clinic is a teaching facility where graduate student interns pursuing a master鈥檚 or Ph.D. work with clients while under direct supervision from a licensed, an听American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy-approved supervisor or supervisor candidate.

The MFT Clinic is under the direction of Dr. Van Frusha, Instructor and Interim Clinical Director, and Dr. David Hale, Assistant Professor and Interim Director of听Marriage and Family Therapy听programs.

What鈥檚 in a name?

听Frusha and Hale agree the name of the clinic limits common perception of the services that are provided.

鈥淭hat term (marriage and family therapy) came out a long time ago when they didn鈥檛 know where to put folks thinking like us because we don鈥檛 see just a problem within an individual,鈥� Frusha explained. 鈥淲e see the larger context that the human being lives in. There鈥檚 relationships and there鈥檚 interaction and we take that into account.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e not marriage counselors. We don鈥檛 go in with two people and say we鈥檙e going to do marriage counseling. We do everything that anyone with any other mental health degree does other than prescribe medication. And we wouldn鈥檛 want to. Quite often we鈥檙e the ones they send them to when the medication stops working. Because what鈥檚 going on is not a medication thing, it鈥檚 a human relations thing,鈥� Frusha said.

鈥淚n my 31 years of experience, I have seen more individuals than I鈥檝e seen couples or seen families,鈥� Hale added.

A training clinic

There are approximately 72 agencies in the immediate area which provide mental health services. Many of the mental health professionals at these public and private agencies trained at 51萝莉, which has the only on-campus MFT Clinic in the state.听听

鈥淭hey have to have 500 direct client contact hours to graduate. That鈥檚 actually in the room for an hour, face to face,鈥� Hale said. 鈥淲e are the only MFT accredited program of this kind in the state of Louisiana. One of only a few of its kind in the South like this.鈥�

鈥淥ne of the things that really sets us apart is because we are a training institute. We鈥檝e got one person doing therapy and three students and a supervisor behind the (one-way) mirror,鈥� Hale said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 literally a team effort as opposed to an individual one-on-one.鈥�

A variety of issues are treated at the clinic, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, infidelity, grief and loss, family conflicts, communication problems, abuse issues, school-related problems, and other concerns.听

All client information is confidential in accordance with Louisiana law and the ethical standards of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the American Counseling Association. HIPAA guidelines are in place, as well.听听

I need to talk 鈥�

Yet, people are often reluctant to see a therapist.

鈥淚 think it has something to do with the fact that going to a therapist is still not acceptable.听Still, people have to feel comfortable taking that step and saying 鈥業 need to go see a therapist.鈥櫶齌hat鈥檚 not an easy decision,鈥� Hale said.

听鈥淨uite often people don鈥檛 understand therapy,鈥� Frusha said. 鈥淲e change lives through conversation, through talk. We鈥檙e trained very intensely on what we do in there. We鈥檙e not just having a little chat.鈥�

鈥淲hen our students graduate, they feel competent and confident that they will succeed,鈥� said Dr. Jana Sutton, Interim Dean of the College of Health Sciences.听

听鈥淲e are the best kept secret on the bayou 鈥� at the university that鈥檚 the best kept secret on the bayou. I think the reason is 鈥� maybe because people say, 鈥極h you鈥檙e a training institute and I鈥檓 getting somebody who doesn鈥檛 have any experience.鈥� But the thing is, you鈥檙e getting a ton of experience because there鈥檚 a supervisor behind the mirror and there鈥檚 a supervisor that meets every night with students throughout the week.鈥�

The MFT Clinic is free to 51萝莉 and Delta Community College students, faculty and staff. Clinic services to all military and veterans and their families are also free.

The clinic is also available to the community. The standard fee is $25 for the first session and $20 for the following sessions. Adjustments can be made on an individual basis. Each session lasts approximately 50 minutes.听

The MFT clinic is located in Strauss Hall, room 112. Regular fall/spring hours are 12鈥�8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.鈥�12 p.m. Friday. The clinic reopens for Fall 2019 on Monday, Aug. 19.

For more information about the Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic, visit听/chs/mftcs/clinic.html听or call 318-342-5678 to make an appointment.