Edith Gonzalez awarded fellowship
Edith Gonzalez, a second-year Marriage and Family Counseling master’s student at the College of William and Mary (W&M), was recently awarded a fellowship through the National Board for Certified Counselors Minority Fellowship Program. This is a national award funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for which recipients were required to demonstrate knowledge of and experience with racially and ethnically diverse populations.
Originally from Texas, Edith graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Houston in 2011. As a second-year master’s student at W&M, her current counseling population interests include immigrant families, low-income Hispanic families, and families with adolescents. In response to what she loves about W&M, she said, “…the strong sense of community and support I receive from peers to faculty. I have never encountered someone who was not willing to guide me personally and professionally.”
Outside of the classroom, Edith is involved with the American Counseling Association, the Virginia Counseling Association, and the Texas Counseling Association. She is also a graduate intern at the New Horizons Family Counseling Center, where she is the only intern currently serving Hispanic families using the Spanish language to communicate. In addition, she plans to present on current research with two other cohort members at both the W&M School of Education Research Symposium and the Virginia Career Development Association Conference in 2015.
Regarding her future career goals, Edith plans to continue to serve the low-income Hispanic immigrant population. Ideally, she would like to work at an agency which provides low-cost or free services to this population to guarantee that they continue to receive counseling services. Edith also has plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Counselor Education in order to “better advocate for this population by providing the counseling field with research and providing multicultural awareness.”
