Shippensburg University's Growing Edges Community Counseling Clinic has expanded its outreach, both in number of clients served and programs offered, since opening in Spring 2008.

According to Dr. Bill McHenry, assistant professor of counseling and college student personnel and director of the clinic, the facility has helped more than 175 clients.

The clinic also collaborated with other college departments to launch a new program this month called Survive & Thrive, which is designed to give adults practical skills in both money matters and ways to deal with stress.

McHenry attributes the success of the clinic to "the collaboration across SU counseling students, SU faculty and our partner organizations. It has become quite clear that the connection between the university and the local community can foster tremendously successful programs and initiatives."

The community counseling center is the only one of its kind offered on a campus of one of the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. It was the subject of a presentation recently at the national meeting of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision in San Diego, Calif.

McHenry attended the conference along with Dr. Kathryn Newton and Dr. Marcy Douglass, both assistant professors of counseling and college student personnel. He said some of the educators at the conference expressed an interest in developing comparable programs using their own clinics.

The SU clinic in Shippen Hall is based on similar college or university centers nationwide, but includes a connection with the graduate student coursework that makes it unique.

Graduate students, near the end of their coursework in counseling, provide the counseling services under the supervision of a faculty member and with a faculty member nearby during all counseling sessions.

Marjorie Wingert, a graduate student from Carlisle who started working at the clinic last year, said it has been "a wonderfully growing experience. I've gotten a greater understanding of the community and of people in general. It's really rewarding to feel you are able to give back."

She said the fact that counseling services are offered free is part of the success, but the devotion of the staff is also impressive. "I think we have wonderful people who support the clinic, top quality caring individuals," Wingert said. "Everyone has a wonderful love for what they're doing."

According to McHenry, a third session of Drew's Hope, a grief support group, is offered through the clinic this semester and a fourth session is expected to begin in January.

McHenry said individual and group counseling for persons with visual disabilities, a collaborative effort with ForSight Vision Inc., continues at the clinic, which has seen an increase in phone counseling for those individuals.

He described the clinic's program with the Harrisburg School District for children with incarcerated parents as "very successful," and hopes to receive some grant funding for that program.