Suffolk University

Suffolk University—a private research institution located in the heart of downtown Boston—is seeking an experienced mental health clinician and leader to serve as the next Director of Counseling Services. Reporting to the Executive Director of Counseling, Health & Wellness (CHW), the Director of Counseling Services will provide administrative oversight, supervision, and clinical support to a dedicated interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals and will ensure the provision of high-quality, culturally informed, inclusive, and accessible services to the University’s diverse population of undergraduate, graduate, and law students.

Competitive candidates will have direct clinical and administrative experience in a higher education setting along with excellent interpersonal skills and strong management and clinical supervisory skills. Additionally, successful candidates will bring an understanding of and appreciation for holistic and integrated care models; a commitment to deepening connections and partnerships within CHW and across the University; and experience and comfort with outreach, education, and training.

A deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is an integral part of the culture and environment of CHW, and successful candidates will demonstrate this commitment in action through their relationships with colleagues, students, and campus partners. CHW staff value cultural humility, authentic self-awareness and reflection, and the ability to engage in complex dialogues with others. Candidates should have experience applying social justice and antiracist concepts in clinical and higher education settings.

CHW prides itself on maintaining a warm, collaborative, and supportive environment with a focus on teamwork and authenticity, a commitment to staff well-being and work-life balance, and an investment in the professional growth and development of staff. Along with a yearly salary range of $130,000-$140,000, the University offers a comprehensive array of benefits and other employee perks.

About Counseling Services

Counseling Services provides timely and comprehensive short-term counseling services to students, including individual and group counseling, educational workshops, psychiatric medication management, referrals to community providers, outreach and consultation, and occasional after-hours support and crisis intervention in collaboration with ProtoCall. The center is staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of providers, including psychologists, counselors, case managers, and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, as well as doctoral trainees. Counseling Services is dedicated to preparing the next generation of practitioners and maintains both an APA-accredited doctoral internship and a practicum program for doctoral students. 

Counseling Services is part of the University’s holistic and integrated Counseling, Health & Wellness (CHW) department, led by Executive Director Stephanie Kendall. CHW believes that health is multi-faceted and requires a holistic, culturally informed approach that attends to the unique needs of each student. Their mission is to provide integrated services that support the academic success and personal development of Suffolk students. Through counseling and medical services, wellness education, consultation, education, and community referrals, CHW supports student and community well-being in a responsive, professional, and caring setting. The Director of Counseling Services will serve as an integral member of the CHW leadership team.

Primary Responsibilities

The Director is responsible for the clinical and administrative leadership and oversight of Counseling Services while also providing a limited amount of direct clinical services to students. This position oversees counseling staffing, scheduling, and clinical protocols, ensuring counseling services are delivered consistent with best practices, are aligned with legal and ethical requirements, and are inclusive and accessible for all students. This is an essential position providing emergency response and serving in the Executive Director’s absence as needed. Detailed responsibilities for the role are as follows:

Counseling services operations:

• Maintain and update counseling procedures in line with best practices and culturally inclusive care. 
• Respond to clinical services issues as they arise including clinical consultation and risk management decisions. 
• Provide formal and informal supervision to staff, including direct and indirect reports. 
• Lead the weekly Counseling staff case consultation meeting and attend Student Affairs meetings addressing students of concern. 
• Maintain counseling staff daytime and on-call schedules to ensure appointment availability, limit wait-time for appointments, and sustain productivity of counseling staff; responsible for clinical protocols associated with CHW’s use of ProtoCall in responding to after-hours needs. 
• Take the lead in providing consultation and assistance to campus partners regarding students of concern, students returning from hospitalization, or other urgent needs. 

Provide clinical services as part of reduced caseload:

• This includes initial assessments, intakes, and carrying a limited individual caseload utilizing culturally inclusive counseling approaches consistent with a short-term counseling model. 
• Provide crisis assessment and response including decisions regarding referral of students to a higher level of care. 
• Provide after-hours consultation to Suffolk staff in collaboration with ProtoCall as a member of the Counselor-on-Call rotation; after-hours availability required in cases of campus-wide emergency response.

Participate in supervision of counseling trainees:

• Provide individual and/or group clinical supervision and training within the Center’s APA-accredited Doctoral Internship and/or Practicum Training Program (in accordance with licensure).
• Facilitate training seminars and participate as a member of the Training Team for both programs as needed.
• Ensure integration of CHW’s doctoral training programs into counseling operations, in collaboration with the Training Director and Practicum Coordinator.

Serve as a member of the CHW Senior Leadership Team:

• Collaborate with the Executive Director and other team members regarding operational and administrative oversight and evaluation of CHW’s services. 
• Contribute to ongoing efforts to ensure CHW services are accessible and effective for students for a wide range of socio-cultural identities and backgrounds. 
• Contribute to and reinforce CHW’s holistic, inclusive, and interdisciplinary service model utilizing strong interpersonal, communication, cultural humility, and self-awareness skills. 
• Serve on the Center’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Team.

Represent CHW to campus partners and external constituencies:

• Participate in provision of outreach to the campus community including serving as a member of the Suicide Prevention training team (QPR). 
• Attend and participate in Student Affairs professional development meetings; serve on campus committees as needed. 
• Actively participate in professional associations and organizations according to degree, license, and role to remain current with innovations in provision of clinical services to university students. 
• This role maintains membership in AUCCCD. Annual conference attendance has been routinely supported with budget approval. 

Plus, other duties as assigned by the Executive Director.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in counseling or clinical psychology from an accredited program in psychology.
• Eligibility for independent licensure in Massachusetts within 6 months of hire. Must be licensed as a mental health clinician in any US jurisdiction for 2+ years. 
• Three or more years of experience in college counseling or comparable setting.
• Two years of experience in leadership including direct administrative and clinical supervision of professional staff and/or advanced trainees.
• Strong leadership skills, with an ability to inspire and motivate staff toward a common vision, while promoting accountability.
• Demonstrated clinical skills in the provision of culturally responsive counseling services to a diverse adult student population; comfort utilizing short-term treatment models such as CBT, ACT, DBT, TLDP, or short-term dynamic/interpersonal approaches; demonstrated ability to manage complex caseload. 
• Strong skills and comfort with risk assessment and crisis response.
• Sincere commitment to the provision of culturally inclusive healthcare; strong self-reflection skills; knowledge of cultural humility and culturally inclusive supervision practices; and interest in ongoing professional development related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills.
• Commitment to ongoing professional development and self-awareness; interest and comfort in engaging authentically in conversations regarding identity, oppression, and privilege with students and staff; and well-developed self-management and work/life balance skills. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctorate in clinical or counseling psychology (PhD, PsyD, or EdD); licensure as a psychologist desired.
• Ability to design, implement, and improve exceptional clinical care and service modalities using technology, data, and best practices/research.
• Demonstrated experience and comfort collaborating with other professional colleagues to support the well-being of students; interest and/or experience working in interdisciplinary and integrated care settings.
• Experience providing clinical supervision to trainees; experience supervising doctoral interns desired. 
• Interest, experience, and comfort initiating, coordinating, and providing outreach and training to the campus community.

Application Process

Suffolk University has partnered with Keeling & Associates (K&A) in this search process. Interested applicants must send a cover letter and resume, preferably in PDF format, to recruiting@keelingassociates.com. The subject line of the email should read “Suffolk—Director of Counseling.” All application materials received by March 31, 2025, will receive full consideration, and the review process will continue until the position is filled. Please address all confidential inquiries and nominations to K&A Vice President and Senior Consultant LeAnna Rice at lrice@keelingassociates.com. 

Suffolk University does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, genetic information, or status as a veteran in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs, activities, or employment. As an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer, the University is dedicated to the goal of building a diverse and inclusive faculty and staff that reflect the broad range of human experience who contribute to the robust exchange of ideas on campus, and who are committed to teaching and working in a diverse environment. We strongly encourage applications from groups historically marginalized or underrepresented because of race/color, gender, religious creed, disability, national origin, veteran status or LGBTQ status. Suffolk University is especially interested in candidates who, through their training, service and experience, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the University community.