JMU Graduate Psychology

08/20/2026

Announcement - GREAT NEWS!!!

JMU Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is accepting new counseling referrals!

Offering Affordable, Confidential Mental Health Services and Learning Assessments for the Community, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is a teaching, service, and research clinics dedicated to supporting health and well-being through high-quality, affordable mental health services for both university students and members of the local community.

Counseling and assessment services are provided by graduate student clinicians in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s Program, Counseling and Supervision Doctoral Program, and Clinical and School Psychology Doctoral Program.

All services are closely supervised by faculty who are licensed professional counselors or clinical psychologists.

CAPS is part of the Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services and the Department of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University.

For more information about CAPS, please visit: https://www.jmu.edu/iihhs/caps/index.shtml

08/03/2026

This is the "ARCessible" collaboration between The Arc of Harrisonburg and Rockingham, JMU's School Psychology, and CSPA students in PSYC749.

The gallery of the projects will debut on Friday from 5-7 at Black Sheep Coffee as part of the Harrisonburg First Fridays Series. All art will be for sale, with proceeds generated for the ARC artists.

For more information about The Arc of Harrisonburg: https://thearcofhr.org/

05/20/2026

Registration is now open for the Nondiscriminatory Assessment Workshop taking place May 28–29, presented by Sam Ortiz. Please see the attached flyer for additional details.
We encourage you to register as soon as possible to reserve your spot for this valuable learning opportunity.
Register now https://jmu.irisregistration.com/Form/NACLDS2026

05/19/2026

On Thursday, May 14th, the programs within the Department of Graduate Psychology celebrated their graduates! Congratulations to the graduates for all academic programs:

M.A./Ed.S. - Clinical Mental Health Counseling Concentration
M.Ed./Ed.S. – School Counseling Concentration
M.A./Ed.S. – School Psychology Concentration
M.Ed. – College Student Personnel Administration Concentration
M.A. – Psychological Sciences
Psy.D. – Clinical and School Psychology
Ph.D. – Assessment and Measurement
Ph.D. – Counseling and Supervision

And the award winners:

Outstanding Scholarship:
Cameron Piper - Clinical & School Psychology
Emily Bogaev - Counseling & Supervision Program
Juste Mehou - Assessment & Measurement Program
Caitlyn Hewitt - Psychological Sciences

Outstanding Service:
Samantha Sitzman - School Psychology
Nisa Khaldun - Clinical and School Psychology
Madison McGuire - Psychological Sciences
Jada Willse - Psychological Sciences

Distinguished Teaching:
Kathryn Grisdale - Clinical and School Psychology
Art Beqiraj - Psychological Sciences
Taylor Morgan - School Psychology
Riley Herr - Assessment and Measurement
Tiffany Snow - Counseling and Supervision

Most Distinguished:
Anna Garst - Applied Research
Autumn Wild - Assessment and Measurement
Jina Yang - Counseling and Supervision

William Hall Award for Contributions to the Learning Community:
Emily Plowright - Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Liana Turturro - School Counseling

Helen Moore Award for the Pursuit of Counseling Excellence:
Morgan Williams - Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Morgan Melchor - School Counseling

Carl Swanson Award for Service to the Counseling Profession:
Daisy Foncha - Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Alexia Cravens - School Counseling

Tina Kauten Memorial Service Award:
Allyana Musa - School Psychology

O. Ashton Trice Memorial Scholarship:
Christine Berry - School Psychology

Patricia Warner Leadership and Advocacy Award:
Ursula Vogt - School Psychology

Madison Scholar of the Year - Dr. Debbie Sturm
Distinguished Teaching - Dr. Cara Meixner
Distinguished Service - Dr. Renee Staton
Outstanding Junior Faculty - Dr. Caitlyn Owens
Excellence in Teaching - Dr. Nattalie Wolff Tseng
Excellence in Mentorship - Dr. Robert Harmison

05/11/2026

Drs. Debbie Sturm and Renee Staton just graduated from their 16-week Forest Therapy Training with The Forest Therapy School. They are now officially Certified Forest Therapists!

Debbie and Renee are excited to continue their training in Scotland in July and look forward to bringing principles of forest therapy to their students!

05/08/2026

On Friday, May 1st, the students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC), College Student Personnel Administration (CSPA), School Counseling, and School Psychology programs participated in JMU's Annual Symposium in Research and Practice at The Union/Taylon Hall.

The Counseling and Supervision Ph.D. program's Dr. Debbie Sturm delivered the keynote address titled, "The Long Game: Growing a Research Agenda into Advocacy".

05/04/2026

Dr. Caitlyn Owens put on a workshop last week for farmers from Augusta and Rockingham.

This is part of the AgriTHRIVE initiative, a university community partnership that seeks to promote farmer wellness and train clinicians about agriculture.

04/30/2026

Dr. Caitlyn Owens and Dr. Cara Meixner were recognized at the 2026 Academic Affairs Awards and Recognition Luncheon.

Caitlyn received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship, and Cara received the 2026 Hanson Roberts Endowment Outstanding Faculty Award in recognition of her nomination for the SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award (OFA).

Congratulations!

04/26/2026

04/14/2026

Congratulations to our wonderful School Counseling alum, Amanda Francis, Director of Counseling at Staunton High School, who won the prestigious Dawbarn Award!

The Community Foundation honors community members for their significant impact on youth in the three local public-school systems, Staunton, Augusta County, and Waynesboro.