Community clinic provides counseling services on sliding scale
SMU’s Center for Family Counseling has opened a new clinic located in the heart of Dallas near the SMU campus. The clinic, associated with SMU’s Master’s in Counseling program, is open to anyone on a sliding scale fee from $5 to $45 per session.
Counselors are graduate students in the Master’s in Counseling program offered by SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. They have completed most of their coursework as well as clinical skills classes to prepare to work with clients under faculty supervision. The program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.
The clinic is located in Expressway Tower, 6116 N. Central Expressway, Suite 410. It’s open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. To schedule an appointment, call 214-768-6789 for a phone assessment. If the Family Counseling Center can’t meet your needs, you will be referred to another provider.
A variety of counseling services are provided to adults, adolescents, children, groups, couples and families struggling with personal, developmental, relational, social or career-related concerns.
The clinic, formerly located in Plano, helps address the national shortage of mental health professionals by training counselors and providing affordable services. According to a spring 2019 report by Mental Health Dallas, the state of Texas has the second-highest number of areas in the United States with a mental health professional shortage.
“The Center for Family Counseling offers an opportunity for members of our community to have access to counseling services,” says Terra Wagner, director of the center. “We know that lack of financial resources prevents many from seeking services and experiencing the benefits of regular counseling. SMU’s Center for Family Counseling helps fill that gap, as well as provides training for our graduate students.”
SMU first offered a Master’s degree in counseling in 2006, when the Department of Dispute Resolution and Counseling was created. Its two community clinics, the Family Counseling Center in Plano and the Resource Center in Oak Lawn, opened in 2008. The Counseling Center also provides counseling services to families in the Frisco ISD and Plano ISD school districts.
