Clinic Staff
Whitney Mathison, PhD, LPC, NCC - Director
Dr. Whitney Mathison PhD, LPC, NCC. received her doctorate in Family Therapy from St. Louis University in the Medical Family Therapy Department. She received her master’s degree from the University of Missouri St. Louis in Counseling. Her years of human services have been spent working with underserved populations who have experienced trauma, substance abuse issues, and chronic illnesses. She has worked in integrated health care settings, private practice, and agencies with adults, adolescents, children, groups, and families. She also has worked in several universities and colleges as faculty and as staff in different capacities.
Her leadership experiences include leading a multidisciplinary team of licensed and unlicensed qualified mental health professionals. She supervised for licensure. Additionally, Dr. Mathison led a team of individuals from diverse ethnicities, nationalities, geographic locations, and political affiliations during her tenure. Her most recent work prior to coming to TWU included working as a clinic director in the capacity of a ‘CAPS like’ office.
Dr. Mathison has conducted presentations on a variety of topics locally, regionally, and nationally. Some topics that she has presented on intersectionality, social justice, feminism, privilege, microaggressions, ASIST Suicide Prevention, microaggressions experienced in the workplace, spirituality and counseling, marginalized groups and counseling, immigrants/and refugees, and African American families.
Her research is consistent with her clinical experience. She has added to the research in family sciences, family therapy, psychology, and African Americans in higher education about the experiences of marriage and family therapy doctoral students; and most recently reviewing literature related to relationship sciences through the Psych Critiques, American Psychological Association peer-reviewed journal.
Counseling and Supervision Framework
Dr. Mathison views individuals through the biopsychosocial, critical theory, multisystemic, trauma informed, and multicultural lens. She provides supervision from a systemic, social constructivist, and developmental framework . She practices from an integrative approach of Brainspotting, EMDR, Brainspotting, Feminist Family Therapy, and Narrative therapies.
Clinic Managers
Sarah Massey
Sarah Massey is currently obtaining a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Texas at Austin. Through experiential learning in her undergraduate studies, along with training and knowledge from her program, she is equipped to work with children and adolescents, young adults, adults, families, and groups.
Her primary focus is to provide a safe and open space for all individuals to feel welcome to work through the therapeutic process. Her goal, with the help of her training, is to develop strong relationships with clients, interns, and staff, grounded in trust, mutual respect, and acceptance.
When not in the clinic, in class, studying for the National Counseling Exam, or doing homework, she enjoys watching TV series like the House of the Dragon and Abbott Elementary and spending quality time with her fur baby Bentley.
Kiarra Watts
Kiarra Watts is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate. She provides supervision to students in the clinic under guidance of the MFT faculty.
Watts has a passion for working with various presenting problems such as anxiety, trauma, relationship issues, and self esteem. She is trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and believes in utilizing a collaborative, strengths-based approach.
When she is not providing therapy services, Watts is pursuing her PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy at Texas Woman’s University where she also supervises master's students in the program.
Watts loves providing guidance and mentorship to student therapists, and desires to be a resource to students during the early stages of their training. In her spare time, she likes to read, binge Netflix shows, and spend time in her garden.
Clinic staff roles
Supervisors
Student therapists are supervised by the clinical faculty from Counseling and Development and Marriage and Family Therapy or students in the Marriage and Family Therapy Doctoral program. Many are licensed or associates in the state of Texas. Our supervisors who are students are under the supervision of the clinical faculty in the MFT program. Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty
At times, our supervisors provide live supervision, and all supervisors meet with their students on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to discuss clients. All sessions are recorded for research or training purposes only.
Clinic Assistants
Clinic assistants are students from the Counseling and Development and Marriage and Family Therapy Programs. They work tirelessly to provide excellent customer service. They are the first contact a client has with the clinic, as they answer the telephone, return messages, and have other supportive duties to help the clinic run effectively.
Student Therapists
Master’s students from Counseling and Development and master’s or doctoral students from Family Therapy provide services in the TWU Counseling and Family Therapy Clinic. Many of the doctoral Family Therapy students are licensed as either LPC or LMFT..
Page last updated 3:42 PM, October 20, 2022