Michele Rivas

Dr. Rivas is a licensed mental health counselor and a counselor educator in the Department of Counseling whose teaching, research, and service are framed within a Critical Disability Studies lens. Through her scholarship, Dr. Rivas aims at amplifying and addressing the intersections of disability, race, and mental health as well as the counseling implications of stigma and criminal justice involvement. Some of her recent publications and projects include a phenomenological study about experiences of counseling interns working with clients with disabilities (2018), a conceptual publication of disability in counselor education in the US (2020), as well as grounded theory and interpretative phenomenological analysis projects related to disability counseling effectiveness and probationer women. Dr. Rivas is also working with colleagues from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to study the experiences of administrators at programs that offer Spanish concentrations in counselor education programs.