Esther Benoit

Profile

Dr. Benoit has worked in counselor education and clinical practice for nearly two decades and has expertise in the areas of relational counseling, trauma-informed care, clinical supervision and counselor assessment. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Virginia and Texas, a Nationally Certified Counselor and an NBCC-Approved Clinical Supervisor. Dr. Benoit currently serves as Clinical Associate Professor and Field Coordinator at William & Mary. She previously served as Associate Professor of Practice and Program Director of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Saint Joseph’s University, and held core faculty and field experience leadership roles at Southern New Hampshire University and Walden University. Dr. Benoit maintains an active solo clinical practice in Newport News, Virginia.

Dr. Benoit has contributed chapters to numerous edited volumes, including Foundations of Couples, Marriage, and Family Counseling, DSM-5 and Family Systems: An Applied Approach, and Counseling Children and Adolescents, among others. Her research has been published in the Journal of Military and Government Counseling. Dr. Benoit has presented her work nationally and internationally, including at the European-Branch American Counseling Association Conference in Heidelberg, Germany, and the International Congress of the Association for Moral Education in Utrecht, The Netherlands. She has served on the editorial board of The Family Journal since 2012 and the Virginia Counselors Journal since 2013.

Education

Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision, William & Mary, 2009
M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Marriage, Couples and Family Counseling, William & Mary, 2006
B.A. in Psychology, Pittsburg State University, 2004

Activities and Honors

Editorial Board Member, The Family Journal, 2012–present
Editorial Board Member, Virginia Counselors Journal, 2013–present
President, Virginia Association of Couples and Family Counselors (VACFC), 2009–2011

Selected Publications

Benoit, E. (2025). Strategic family therapy. In Simmons, R.L., Chamberlin, B., Sutherlin, T., & Park, C. (Eds.), Theories and models of counseling: An integrative perspective (1st ed.). Kendall Hunt.

Haight, M., & Benoit, E. N. (2023). Personality disorders and interconnectedness. In J. Russo, K. Coker, & J. King (Eds.), DSM-5 and family systems: An applied approach (2nd ed.). Springer Publishing Company.

Hermann-Turner, K. M., & Benoit, E. N. (2023). Working with families. In A. Vernon & C. Schimmel (Eds.), Counseling children and adolescents (6th ed.). Cognella Academic Publishing.

Parmanand, S., & Benoit, E. N. (2021). Structural theory: Approaches and applications. In Foundations of couples, marriage, and family counseling (2nd ed., pp. 173–190). Wiley.

Heyward, K. J., Benoit, E. N., Hermann, K. M., Holmes, C. M., & Lloyd-Hazlett, J. (2013). Conquering ambiguity with creativity: Using creative family counseling interventions with military families. Journal of Military and Government Counseling, 1(3), 177–191.