NC State Students Awarded $20,000 Counseling Fellowship

The NBCC Foundation, an affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), recently selected four NC State counseling students for the National Board for Certified Counselors Minority Fellowship Program (NBCC MFP). Katrina Y. Billingsley, Regina Gavin Williams, Tabitha R. Haynes and Linwood Webster will receive funding and training to support their education and facilitate their contributions to underserved minority populations.

Katrina Y. Billingsley, doctoral student in counseling and counselor education:

“The NBCC MFP will help me complete my dissertation, which is focused on understanding the concept of black romantic love by interviewing diverse couples within African-American communities. I want to continue to serve minority populations by conducting research related to strong love relationships. Love relationships are at the foundation of healthy and strong communities. It is my goal to empower individuals and couples with the necessary tools that will lead to an increase in successful relationships.”

Regina Gavin Williams, doctoral student in counseling
and counselor education:

“My doctoral research interests include assisting adolescents aging out of the foster care system with becoming successful and self-sufficient adults. As an NBCC MFP fellow, I plan to continue my advocacy efforts on behalf of adolescents in the foster care system by providing skills building and primary prevention programming to these youth. I also hope to educate therapeutic foster caregivers on how to best facilitate the needs of children and adolescents in foster care. I will also continue to engage in scholarly research related to the implications of counseling children and adolescents involved in the foster care system, with a specific focus on youth who are aging out of foster care.”

Tabitha R. Haynes, doctoral student in counseling and counselor education:

“As an NBCC MFP fellow, I hope to gain additional supervision, consultation and expert instruction from professionals in the program that can guide my clinical practice. The fellowship will provide monetary support for my research opportunities and give me the potential to study abroad. Furthermore, being a NBCC MFP fellow is important to me as an agent and informant for change where I can be a representative at local and national conferences, events, schools and within the community. As a NBCC MFP fellow, I will be committed to and diligent in my efforts to increase my community-based practices to bring awareness to mental health disparities and seek to develop programs that are both evidenced based and culturally sound.”

Linwood Webster, master’s student in clinical mental health counseling:

“The NBCC MFP fellowship will assist me in providing mental health counseling services to racially and ethnically diverse transition-age youth (ages 16–25), and through BIG Steps Toward Educational Prosperity and Success Under Pressure (BIG S.T.E.P.S. U.P.) BIG S.T.E.P.S. U.P. is a comprehensive educational and mentoring program designed to improve academic success and outcomes, specializing in pre-college, college, and post-college awareness, preparedness, and readiness for youth and students. The NBCC MFP fellowship will help me create collaborations between BIG S.T.E.P.S. U.P. and the surrounding public school systems (Durham, Wake, Orange, and Sampson counties). The program offers more than 19 years of higher education experiences, STEM field knowledge, and clinical counseling competencies for youth and students.”

The NBCC Foundation is the nonprofit affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), based in Greensboro, North Carolina. NBCC is the nation’s premier professional certification board devoted to credentialing counselors who meet standards for the general and specialty practices of professional counseling. Currently, there are more than 60,000 National Certified Counselors in the United States and in more than 50 countries. The Foundation’s mission is to leverage the power of counseling by strategically focusing resources for positive change.

Click to learn more about the College of Education’s counselor education program.