Setting

Overview of the University of San Francisco

The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Jesuit Catholic urban university pursuing academic excellence and social justice while building a diverse community in San Francisco. It is an independent, private, nonprofit institution of higher education and one of 27 Jesuit Catholic colleges and universities in the United States. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is located on our beautiful 55-acre hilltop campus, which sits next to Golden Gate Park, overlooking downtown San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean.

Classified as a Doctoral/Moderate Research and Community Engaged University under the Carnegie Foundation classification system, the University of San Francisco is characterized as balancing arts, sciences, and the professions at the undergraduate level; with some graduate coexistence; including doctoral research in education. The University is classified as more selective, with a high level of transfer-in students and as a four-year, full-time, large-sized, and primarily residential institution.

The University of San Francisco is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and in 2019, WSCUC reaffirmed USF’s accreditation for 10 years. The University is also accredited by several professional accrediting bodies, including, but not limited to, the American Bar Association (ABA),the American Psychological Association (APA), the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), AACSB International–The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), and the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). Undergraduate majors are offered in the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, the School of Management, and the School of Nursing and Health Professions. Graduate degrees are offered in the School of Law in addition to the aforementioned schools.

The University of San Francisco typically enrolls approximately 10,000 students from year to year in its five schools and colleges and is one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the nation. In the 2023 U.S. News & World Report, the University was rated 2nd in the nation among national universities for campus ethnic diversity.

 

Vision, Mission, and Values of the University of San Francisco

“Since 1855, the University of San Francisco has dedicated itself to offering a daring and dynamic liberal arts education in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition. As a community, we empower and hold accountable our students, faculty, librarians, staff, administrators, alumni, and community partners to be persons for and with others, to care for our common home, including the native lands on which our campuses reside, and to promote the common good by critically, thoughtfully, and innovatively addressing inequities to create a more humane and just world.

We seek to live USF’s Mission by nurturing a diverse, ever-expanding community where persons of all races and ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, genders, generations, abilities, nationalities, occupations, and socioeconomic backgrounds are honored and accompanied. We are committed to educating hearts and minds to cultivate the full, integral development of each person and all persons; pursuing learning as a lifelong humanizing and liberating social activity; and advancing excellence as the standard for teaching, scholarship, creative expression, and service. Inspired by a faith that does justice, we strive to humbly and responsibly engage with, and contribute to, the cultural, intellectual, economic and spiritual gifts and talents of the San Francisco Bay Area and the global communities to which we belong.”

 

Student Life Mission Statement

Counseling and Psychological Service is housed under the Division of Student Life. While each office within Student Life holds a specialized focus, consistent with the overall University mission, the mission of Student Life is “to support the holistic wellbeing, cocurricular development, and academic and professional success of all students within a culture of equity and justice that prepares them to be caring, socially and environmentally responsible citizens of our global and interdependent world.” Student Life fosters a community based upon the ethics of equity and care, with a commitment to:

• Promoting a common good that includes the needs of all students.
• Creating an anti-racist environment that supports an equitable and socially responsible way of being together in community.
• Engaging differences in a manner that allows people to learn from the diversity of perspectives, experiences and traditions that exist within the University community.
• Providing experiences that challenge students to develop spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, physically, socially, culturally, creatively, professionally, and morally in order to prepare them to contribute to the University and extended communities.
• Drawing out the leadership qualities inherent in every individual, and providing opportunities for students to develop and apply knowledge, values, and skills.
• Recognizing and celebrating the identities, achievements, and contributions of all students.

CAPS Mission Statement

“The mission of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is to provide students with mental health services that allow them to improve and maintain their mental well-being and to meet their educational, personal, emotional and spiritual goals. We aim to assist students’ learning by helping manage psychological symptoms and stressors and difficult life events and manage mental health crises. CAPS accomplishes this with high-quality assessment, counseling, referral, consultation, outreach, and training to assist students in reaching their full potential.”

Goals Guiding Our Work

• Provide professional psychological services to enrolled students, including: individual, couples and group counseling, crisis response, consultation, brief assessment, and referrals
• Provide referrals for students who may have concerns that are not within CAPS scope of practice or problems that may be chronic or severe in nature and require comprehensive services
• Encourage reflection, self-awareness, personal and social responsibility, and healthy interpersonal relationships
• Ensure confidentiality and privacy as mandated by state and federal laws
• Provide prevention programming and consultation to students, faculty, staff, and families
• Ensure that all services are consistent with evidence informed practice and relevant professional organizations
• Maintain collaborative relationships with campus stakeholders, key community partners, and the surrounding community
• Provide continued professional development support allowing staff psychologists to maintain California State Licensure and to stay abreast of cutting-edge research related to the evolving needs of college students
• Train future psychologists in a brief, evidence-informed, interculturally focused treatment model that is directly applicable to diverse college counseling
• Maintain commitment to a post-doctoral fellowship program and an American Psychological Association accredited internship program in Health Service Psychology
• Promote self-care and the maintenance of a work-life balance

CAPS Anti-bias Statement and Commitment to Diversity

At Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), we believe in the diversity of thoughts, ideas and experiences, inclusive of race/ethnicity, color, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, language, national origin, religion, age, and intersecting identities. We affirm our commitment to recognize and address bias and oppression. We assist students by providing culturally affirming mental health services and educational outreach that challenges oppressive and unjust forces, and work to reduce injustice both within the university and the broader community. In addition to supporting these principles of diversity and inclusion, we recognize structural inequalities in society result in the differential access and distribution of power (economic, political, social, and cultural). We believe in the elimination of structural inequities and the establishment of policies that ensure equity and accountability for all.

We acknowledge that regardless of one’s own identities, individuals are at various points along a cultural awareness journey. We also understand that bias can be unconscious or unintentional and that inequity is the combination of social and institutional power plus prejudice. Oppression does not automatically mean that those involved intended negative impact, but having these conversations is necessary and requires courage, respect, compassion, and a willingness to tolerate discomfort.

As we aim to become an unbiased center and culturally inclusive, we:

• Aim to identify, discuss, and challenge issues of injustice and the impact it has upon each of us
• Challenge ourselves to understand and correct inequities in order to be more purposeful in this process
• Explicitly and Publicly affirm our identity as an anti-bias university entity
• Develop and Work to implement strategies that dismantle bias within all aspects of our department, university, and society

CAPS Training Diversity Statement

Respect for diversity is a central value of both the University of San Francisco and CAPS and is consistent with the profession of psychology as outlined by the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct (2002; 2017) and discussed in the Standards of Accreditation in Health Service Psychology (APA, 2015).

CAPS is committed to the values of respect for diversity, inclusion, equity, and self-examination in a training environment of mutual respect. CAPS senior staff and trainees are encouraged to examine their attitudes, assumptions, behaviors, and values, and to develop understanding of and sensitivity to individual and cultural diversity, while integrating such understanding into all forms of service delivery. CAPS staff members have a commitment to ongoing learning that continues to enhance our work with “cultural, individual, and role differences including those based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status” (APA Ethics Code, 2002; 2017 Principle E).

Training staff will engage trainees in a manner respectful of their multiple cultural identities and provide equal access, opportunity, and encouragement inclusive of these identities. Training staff will examine their own biases and prejudices in the course of their interactions with trainees so as to model and facilitate this process.

In summary, CAPS training staff and trainees are committed to a training process that facilitates the development of professionally relevant knowledge and skills focused on working effectively with all individuals inclusive of demographics, beliefs, attitudes, and values. Consistent with the University’s Mission, we welcome, expect, and encourage the pursuit of “a more inclusive community, which celebrates diversity and works toward justice”.

Adapted from the Counseling Psychology Model Training Values Statement Addressing Diversity, Mintz, L. B., & Bieschke, K. J. (2009). Counseling psychology model training values statement addressing diversity. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 634-640; endorsed by the Association of Counseling Center Training Agencies (ACCTA), the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs (CCPTP), and the Society for Counseling Psychology (SCP) in August of 2006.

 

Preparing Psychologists to Work With a Diverse Public

Striving for multicultural competence is a central tenet in the services provided and clinical practice at CAPS. In support of the values and aims of our training program, we have adopted the American Psychological Association's guidelines related to preparing trainees to effectively provide services to diverse populations: See Preparing Professional Psychologists to Serve a Diverse Public. APA’s statement was developed by the Education Directorate’s Working Group and approved by APA’s Board of Educational Affairs (BEA). In accordance with this position, we expect that our Interns will develop and demonstrate effectiveness when working with diverse populations, including clients whose cultural identities, characteristics, and beliefs differ from those of their own. While we respect the right of trainees to maintain their personal belief systems, the training of professional psychologists who can serve a diverse public necessitates “personal introspection, exploration of personal beliefs, attitudes, and values, and the development of cognitive flexibility required to serve a wide diversity of clients”.

 

CAPS Staff

Our senior staff members are generalists who approach their work with students from an integrationist perspective. Some areas of interest include supervision and training, multicultural development, identity formation, LGBTQ support, brief therapy, feminist therapy, bilingual counseling, community education, mindfulness, client resilience, and supporting the growth of intersecting identities. Some of our clinical interests include trauma, mood and anxiety disorders, eating disorders, alcohol and other drug intervention, grief and bereavement, and healthy relationships.

Staff Psychologists

Nancy Glenn, Ph.D	Training Director California Licensed Psychologist, PSY10097 Counseling Psychology, Colorado State University
Molly Zook, Psy.D.	Senior Director California Licensed Psychologist PSY19072 Clinical Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies
Benjamin Molland, Psy.D.	Associate Director of Clinical Services; Staff Psychologist California Licensed Psychologist PSY 26753 Clinical Psychology, University of Denver
Yuqi Chen, Ph.D.	Assistant Director for Outreach and Group Therapy; Staff Psychologist California Licensed Psychologist, PSY34450 Counseling Psychology, University of Miami
Stephanie McGrath, Psy.D.	Crisis Manager; Staff Psychologist California Licensed Psychologist PSY28029 Clinical Psychology, Alliant International University-SF Bay
Caitlin Merrill, Ph.D.	Staff Psychologist, LGBTQIA+ Focus California Licensed Psychologist PSY 33868 Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Jevon Rice, Psy.D.	Staff Psychotherapist, Black Student Focus Clinical Psychology, Alliant International University-SF Bay
Yvette Rico, Psy.D.	Staff Psychologist, Latino/a/e Focus California Licensed Psychologist PSY 33627 Clinical Psychology, PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium

Administrative Staff

Roxanne Lucas, B.S.

Program Assistant Interior Design,, San Francisco State University

Accreditation

Counseling and Psychological Service is accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS) and the Internship and Post Doctoral Fellowship Programs are members of the Association of Psychology Post Doctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC). The Doctoral Internship in Clinical Psychology training program was awarded full APA accreditation and reaccredited in November 2022 (for a period of 10 years). Questions related to the program's accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation at:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation

American Psychological Association

750 1st Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (202) 336-5979 or (202) 336-6123 TDD/ E-mail: apaaccred@apa.org

Web: www.apa.org/ed/accreditation