The Counseling Training Clinic began the discussion of charging a small fee in January of 2025, as the CTC previously did not support student fees. Now, this September, the clinic has implemented this new change.
The CTC is a mental health resource that provides outpatient services through the Department of Counseling, Human Development and Family Science, which strives to strengthen student wellness and support graduate students in their future careers.
According to Britney Irion, the assistant coordinator for CTC, the facility introduced these fee adjustments due to funding issues.
“So any existing clients at that time have a lower fee than new clients,” Irion said.
Given this may raise concerns for students who struggle with financial stability, according to Irion, the cost for CTC could still be generally less expensive than most insurance co-pays at other services.
“We know that the need is always probably going to be greater than our capacity just because of the number of clinicians we have and the space we have to actually do the counseling . . . so, even if a student was able to find a counselor outside of campus, using their insurance, it might still be more expensive than coming to see us at our clinic,” Irion said.
Deanna Pliagas, a co-coordinator at the CTC, states that the CTC’s main clients are UT students who experience several mental health patterns such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, suicidal ideation and academic and life adjustment concerns.
“Because most everyone who’s attending university is in that kind of bracket of emerging adulthood, a lot of what we see are concerns related to transitions like, Deanna was saying, like homesickness, or maybe it’s transitioning, like into graduate school,” Irion said.
Although the Student Health Center and the CTC cooperate in referring students, the CTC differs in its ability to offer long-term care to patients.
“I know that clinicians at the Student Counseling Center will have maybe some clients that they see on a longer term basis, but for the most part, in order to meet the needs of such a large campus, they are not able to offer as many sessions as we are,” Irion said. “So we don’t have a limit on the number of sessions we’re able to offer as long as you are willing to keep coming and we have the capacity to see you, then we’re willing to do that.”
In terms of the staff who provide care, the CTC is primarily run by interns and students. Considering that other on-campus mental health services are typically staffed by professionals, a common hesitation among potential patients is whether an intern can accurately support a patient.
Pliagas addresses this misconception, stating that CTC employees are well-equipped with knowledge and have completed the required coursework by the time interns see clients.
Because the staff are in their beginning stages of their career, there is plenty of oversight and supervision — a patient may have more hands on their case than if you were to see an individual professional, according to Irion.
“Our students have a site supervisor, and at our site, that would be our director. They also have a faculty supervisor, they’re in an internship class where they receive supervision from a faculty member. And then our doctoral students also provide individual and sometimes triadic, which is a group of two with a supervisor . . . Weekly, our clinicians are getting three types of supervision from people at three different levels of expertise,” Irion said.
According to Pliagas, the CTC student staff can foster a deeper connection with student patients as they have similar connections to the university and student body. Pliagas believes “that can do some really transformational things in the healing space.”
“I also think because our students are still learning, they’re still going through coursework as they’re working with their clients — they’re getting the most up to date information on what’s going out in the fields, like theoretical frameworks and techniques and evidence-based practice that I think not everybody, but a lot of professionals in the field aren’t getting those updates . . . They just think of it by experience, but actually our students here are really well experienced and probably very set up to provide the most up to date quality of care that you can get right now,” Pliagas said.
While some of the CTC staff supports patients in counseling sessions, another obligation is to work with students interested in pursuing a health career. Counseling 480 is an introduction to counseling skills and a vol core class where Pliagas and other staff are able to collaborate with students all over campus.
“Just to be able to see up close and personal, that growth of your client, in such a growing period of time, emerging into adulthood is really empowering to me,” Pliagas said. “Knowing that just sitting in a room with somebody and leaning into that together really does create sufficient change, and it’s really beautiful to see that. And I’ve never walked away from a session here at the CTC not feeling as personally empowered as a clinician, myself, and it’s really beautiful.”
According to Pliagas, in light of the fact that CTC staff are also human with their own emotional health, it can be difficult for the staff to not bring other patients’ baggage home.
Irion and Pliagas both believe supervision and consultation is vital in a health care space for staff to be honest about any concerns they may have.
“So if there’s a specific client issue that I know one of my colleagues has more expertise in than myself, I might consult with them very generally . . . We have so many faculty members and so many other students and doc students in the program that there are a lot of people and a strong base of knowledge for you to reach out to. And for the most part, I would say, we’re pretty open and that kind of connection and community is really important to us, and we like to mentor people in that way,” Irion said.
Irion stated how she attends to her own personal wellness as she is a third-year doctoral student and a doctoral candidate in the Counselor Education program.
“I’ll just speak for myself, personally. It is always seeking my own therapy to make sure that I have a space that’s just for me so that I don’t bring any of that into the room with my clients.”
Pliagas is a first year doctoral student who finished her master’s at UT and worked with the CTC during her internship in her practicum. To help her relieve stress from her occupation, she also seeks her own therapy.
“For me, personally, I am very intentional about doing at least one thing per day that’s just for me,” Pliagas said. “Usually at the end of every day, is to help me transition from work here at the CTC or being at schools. I’ll go on a walk almost every afternoon for about an hour just to shift, get moving, help me process some things, and then I can shift into being at home mode.”
