The Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation & Counseling Professions launched a new clinic in January, providing free counseling services to all Rutgers students and New Jersey residents while giving graduate students in the department opportunities to train in their field.

Clinic director Dr. Aubrey Daniels, assistant professor, has experience as a clinic supervisor and came to Rutgers with an eye towards using that skillset to open a clinic for the School of Health Professions (SHP).

Clinic Director Dr. Aubrey Daniels

“I had a lot of drive and passion for getting this up and running at Rutgers, so it’s been an expedited process,” she said. Daniels shared that she spent one year of brainstorming and “dreaming”, followed by another year of meeting with other Rutgers and community partners while setting up the background details.

Daniels worked with Dr. Anthony Zazzarino, associate professor, relying on his ten plus years of experience at Rutgers to identify the school’s barriers and needs for mental health care. They started by surveying SHP students and found a clear preference for more long-term services than were available through other campus resources.

Dr. Anthony Zazzarino, associate professor

The clinic saw its first telehealth patient in mid-January and officially opened its doors on the eighth floor of the Research Tower in Piscataway for in-person services on Jan. 28. Staffed by master’s degree students in counseling and counselor education and supervision, with faculty supervising and seeing clients, they offer both individual and group counseling services.

Counseling groups are still accepting students and include We R Resilient: Resiliency and support for trauma survivors, Belonging togetheR: A group for members with various LGBTQIA+ identities, Coping in StRength: Depression & Anxiety Skills Counseling Group and Skills foR Emotional and Social Success.

“I’m open for other groups and mental health initiatives to be conducted through the clinic,” continued Daniels. “I want this to be a major learning space and a place to be creative as we learn the needs of the community.”

Mental health was a missing piece of the spectrum of services offered by SHP’s pro-bono clinics. Daniels joins a group of clinic directors from the speech language, physical therapy, physician assistant and occupational therapy programs for a monthly meeting to share learnings and updates from their clinics.

Said Daniels, “We are all working together towards one goal, sharing referrals and collaborating to help the whole person, whatever their health care needs.”

This extends beyond the Rutgers student body, as well. Although the clinic’s 30 some initial patients are primarily students, Daniels hopes to work towards a 50/50 split with community patients. She is building relationships with the New Jersey Medical School and other community providers to get the word out.

“There are a lot of entities in mental health that are doing great work and the more we come together, the better clients can be served,” Daniels concluded. “Our volunteers, colleagues from Rutgers and community partners have all provided feedback and resources to make us better. It’s great to see how excited people are for this clinic.”