Close Menu

Whitworth to open Marriage and Family Therapy Wellness Center

September 30, 2013

An opening ceremony will take place for Whitworth’s new Marriage and Family Therapy Wellness Center on Oct. 9 at 4 p.m. Members of the Whitworth and Spokane communities are invited to attend. Refreshments will be served.

The center, located at 205 W. Hawthorne, will provide low-cost counseling for Spokane-area families and individuals and will be staffed by graduate students in Whitworth’s marriage and family therapy program.

“The center is an example of Whitworth’s mind and heart education in action, offering counseling assistance for the community, and providing training opportunities for graduate students in the marriage and family therapy program,” says Barbara Sanders, interim dean of Whitworth’s School of Education.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Education Doug Jones will oversee the day-to-day operations of the center, providing live supervision to student therapists. The center will serve as an extension of the classroom by allowing students to hone their counseling skills while serving the community. “Resolving individual pain, strengthening marriages, and restoring families—what could be more in line with the Whitworth mission?” Jones says.

Over the past several years, state funding has significantly reduced options for low-cost counseling in the Spokane area. Jones says that the opening of the clinic is one step toward an attempt to reverse that trend. Jones, a retired Air Force officer, is also a licensed marriage and family therapy therapist and mental health counselor.

Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of 3,000 students, offers 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Contacts:

Sarah Kelly, program assistant, graduate studies in education, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4360 or skelly@whitworth.edu.

Lucas Beechinor, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or lbeechinor@whitworth.edu.