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phoenix campus faculty

Master of Science in Counseling / Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Gain hands-on experience from our Arizona faculty of clinical mental health counseling professionals who have worked for many years in the field. They bring their knowledge and expertise to help prepare you to provide counseling to the community.

phoenix campus

Associate Dean

Sheila Babendir, Associate Dean

Sheila Babendir, EdD, LPC

Associate Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

phoenix campus

Core faculty

Gabrielle Ficchi

Gabrielle Ficchi, Ph.D., LPC

Dr. Gabrielle Ficchi works as full-time faculty at the university of phoenix. She has served as a full-time... 

...faculty member since November 2022, where she teaches a variety of counseling courses and serves as a clinical supervisor for practicum and internship students. She earned her PhD from University of Arizona in Rehabilitation and Mental Health. She is a licensed therapist as well as a certified rehabilitation counselor. Gabrielle has 10 years of both teaching and counseling experience. She also works as the CEO & Therapist at her therapy practice, New Perspectives LLC. Working to bring mental health services to the disability community & their families. Her specialty and research areas focus on disability adjustment both for individuals and families, independent living, resilience, and disability identity. Her passion is to educate future counselors and advocate for equality and justice for the disability community.

Kelly King

Kelly King, Ph.D., LAC, LPC, C-DBT

Dr. King is the program chair for the on-ground counseling program at University of Phoenix. She... 

...has served as a full-time faculty member since July 2022, where she teaches a variety of counseling courses and serves as a clinical supervisor for practicum and internship students. She earned her PhD from Walden University in Counselor Education and Supervision in 2021. Most of her clinical work has been in the addiction counseling field, where she also participates in advocacy to help increase access of care and address the stigma of addiction and recovery in the community. In her most recent full-time clinical role, she served as Director of Clinical Services at a residential substance abuse treatment center in downtown Denver, CO. Most of her clinical experience has been in the residential and outpatient settings, but she also has experience in withdrawal management and hospital settings as well. She currently works in private practice part-time serving a variety of clients and working with a variety of client issues. She is a Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC) and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Colorado and an LPC in Arizona.

phoenix campus

Non-core faculty

Barbara Burt, Psy.D., LP

Carol Carrell, N.MD., LMFT

Darrian McKiernan, M.SC., LMFT

Gary Zarchy, M.C., LPC, LISAC, HS-BCP, ACS

Kimberly Mahr, M.SC., NCC, LPC

Patricia Kerstner, Ph.D., NCC, LP

Ronald Dankowski, Ph.D., LP