13 TPC Digest Read full article and references: Smith, J. D., & Gray, N. D. (2022). Lifetime achievement in counseling series: An interview with Mariaimeé Gonzalez. The Professional Counselor, 12(1), 99–104. doi: 10.15241/jds.12.1.99 T his is the seventh article in the ongoing Lifetime Achievement in Counseling Series. The purpose of this series is to highlight seminal figures in the profession of counseling and counselor education and their contributions to the profession. We hope that readers will utilize this series to better examine the state of the counseling profession and be encouraged to reflect on current and future challenges presented by the interviewees. The seventh interviewee in this series is Mariaimeé “Maria” Gonzalez (she/her/ella), PhD, LPC, who is a professor of counselor education, the chair of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Antioch University Seattle, and a transformational leader and advocate. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in the United States, Dr. Gonzalez earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Missouri–St. Louis and moved to Seattle, Washington, in 2014 to become a faculty member at Antioch University Seattle (AUS), located on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, past and present. Dr. Gonzalez is the chair of the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Program and is the co-founder of the Antioch University Latinx Mental Health & Social Justice Institute, which brings together community-engaged research, service, training, and community partnerships to promote the mental health and well-being of Latinx/e people. She truly enjoys teaching in the master’s and doctoral programs at AUS and is passionate about her work with other accomplices in liberation. She is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Missouri and an approved supervisor in the state of Washington. Dr. Gonzalez currently serves as the president of the American Counseling Association (ACA) of Washington (2020–22), chair of the ACA’s International Committee (2022), president elect-elect for the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (WACES), and the ACA parliamentarian for 2021–22. She served as coeditor of Experiential Activities for Teaching Social Justice and Advocacy Competence in Counseling and is a board member for the WACES Journal of Technology in Counselor Education and Supervision. Her research passions are global mental health, clinical supervision, Latinx/e human rights, counselor and counselor educator professional identity development, correctional counseling, liberation psychology, social justice and advocacy counseling, and anti–human trafficking advocacy. She has been involved with global mental health and advocacy for about 15 years and served as a United Nations delegate to advocate for global mental health, especially during the COVID pandemic. Dr. Gonzalez has spent over 20 years working through the paradigm of mental liberation, which includes global community and mentorship. She is currently a WACES mentor and enjoys spending time with her loved ones and community. Dr. Gonzalez’s work as a mentor and community builder is grounded in collectivism, and she strives to strengthen the counseling profession by increasing diversity in all counseling spaces. In this interview, Dr. Gonzalez discusses her work as a mentor, barriers facing the Latinx/e community, and advice for future counseling professionals. Joshua D. Smith, PhD, NCC, LCMHC, is an assistant professor at the University of Mount Olive. Neal D. Gray, PhD, LCMHC-S, is a professor and Chair of the School of Counseling and Human Services at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Correspondence can be emailed to Joshua Smith at jsmith@umo.edu. |
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