The American Counseling Association Foundation provides grants twice a year to ACA members who are licensed professional counselors, counselor educators, or graduate students. The grants are awarded to individuals who are expanding their clinical services, reaching out to culturally diverse populations, or creating resources for those in need of counseling support.
Five American Counseling Association members received $500 grants from the American Counseling Association Foundation to fund counseling-related projects designed to help clients and communities. The projects selected for support in this round of grants focus on the mental health of youth during COVID-19, students, and families.
The grant recipients and their projects include:
- Brianna Angèle, Hometown: Inglewood, CA
Women’s Empowerment
This project will focus on students who have been feeling isolated and anxious amidst school closures due to COVID-19, as well as those struggling with body image issues due to the increase use of media and their own stage of development.
- Dr. Sumedha Therthani and Rakesh Maurya, Hometown: New Delhi, India
Survey of Counselors’ Tele-Mental Health Practices, Job Satisfaction, and Burnout during COVID-19
This study will examine Tele-Mental Health (TMH) services, adoption, and utilization; job satisfaction; and counselors' burnout during COVID-19 using the Technology Acceptance Model. A web-based, self-administered, cross-sectional survey will be administered to counselors currently providing TMH services in the USA. Results obtained will help identify factors affecting counselors' satisfaction with TMH services.
- Judith Ziment, San Diego, CA
Preparing Low Income, 8th Grade Students for High School
This project will focus on working with 8th grade students from Our Lady's School, an inner city, parochial school in San Diego that serves low income Hispanic students and immigrant families, to prepare them for high school entrance tests and scholarship applications.
- Chanale Propst, Salisbury, NC
We Gather – A Phenomenological Approach to Black College Women’s Healing and Well-Being
This project will prioritize and address the needs of Black college women at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) by creating therapeutic spaces where their stories and narratives are told and heard for the sake of their healing, well-being, and restoration.
- Lisa Dykes-Harrell, Child Counseling Center and Play Therapy Institute of New Mexico
Specialized Alternatives for Families & Youth of Ohio's Youth Drop-In Center
The project will examine the best way to provide Play Therapy online. The agency's goal is to provide clients with the tools to help them heal, using telehealth. The agency has created Play Therapy/Expressive art kits for clients that are similar to playrooms on a smaller scale.
The American Counseling Association Foundation provides grants twice a year to ACA members who are licensed professional counselors, counselor educators, or graduate students. The grants are awarded to individuals who are expanding their clinical services, reaching out to culturally diverse populations, or creating resources for those in need of counseling support. Grant applications are available online during each application period.
Additional information about the American Counseling Association Foundation, including donation opportunities, is available on the foundation’s website. The American Counseling Association Foundation receives no financial support from American Counseling Association member dues.