Sophia Cortez 
Karla Hernandez/THE RIDER
The Counseling and Training Clinic provides enhancing experiences, preventative and early treatment for emotional difficulties. Services are offered completely free to the Rio Grande Valley community by graduate counseling students under the supervision of licensed professional counselors.
The clinic offers services for the community, from 1 to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday in the North Office Building on the Brownsville campus and in Education Complex Room 1.270 on the Edinburg campus.
Patricia Fernandez, supervising clinical therapist for the Counseling and Training Clinic, explained its two main purposes.
Fernandez said graduate students acquire an opportunity to do their hours that they require to obtain their license as therapists such as a professional counselor or as a school counselor.
“The other purpose is the community since access to services is limited in certain situations,” she added. “Some places can only admit clients with certain issues, and other places the same.”
The clinical therapist told The Rider the clinic offers services from age 6 and above, offering plans for needs such as anxiety, depression and other mental-health-related concerns.
“It’s a whole variety nowadays,” Fernandez said. “We have even more issues, and a lot of the counseling we do is family and elderly care. So, our goal is to help as much as possible at no cost.”
She acknowledged even though the services offered are entirely free, some people remain hesitant to seek counseling.
“I think that we have to help whatever part of the community we can, ensuring that they can live their lives at the fullest level, and that is especially urgent to me in young people,” Fernandez said.
Brianna Garcia, administrative assistant at the Brownsville clinic, said interested clients can first sign up through the clinic’s website.
Garcia mentioned the most common mental-health concerns seen at the clinic include anxiety, depression, anger management, and family or couples counseling.
“One main way we differentiate from other counseling services in the area is that we are free to the public,” she said. “We get seen once a week for about 50 minutes. I do believe that we are the only free clinic here in the Valley in Brownsville.”
The administrative assistant added while the clinic is free and accessible, there are limits to ensure the patients safety.
“We don’t accept everyone—anyone who is suicidal, homicidal or psychotic is referred to another clinic,” Garcia said.
For more information, visit the Counseling and Training Clinic website.
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