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UNO Community Counseling Clinic Celebrates 50 Years of Service and Training

Since 1977, UNO’s Community Counseling Clinic has provided affordable mental health services to Omaha while training future counselors, and on Sept. 15 the clinic will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special community event.

A student clinician works with a couple in the UNO Community Counseling Clinic with text: Celebrating 50 years

Highlights:

  • UNO’s Community Counseling Clinic marks 50 years of low-cost mental health care and counselor training with a milestone celebration on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

  • Recent grant funding expanded clinic staffing, allowing 75 counselors-in-training each year to complete their initial clinical hours under close faculty supervision.

  • Community impact is at an all-time high, with client visits climbing 33% in a single year to a record 3,250 sessions delivered during the 2025–26 academic year.


For 50 years, UNO's Community Counseling Clinic has served two closely connected purposes, providing affordable mental health services to the community while preparing the next generation of professional counselors.

This fall, the clinic will celebrate that legacy with a 50th anniversary event on Sept. 15, bringing together alumni, faculty, and community friends to reflect on its history and look toward the future.

Counselor preparation at UNO began in 1958 with a Guidance minor housed in the Special Education Department under the Master of Education program. Over the next two decades, the curriculum expanded beyond school and vocational guidance to prepare counselors for work in schools, agencies and other community settings.

Over the past several years, grant funding has been instrumental in expanding the clinic’s impact—creating more meaningful training opportunities for our students while increasing access to vital services for our community.

 Dr. Tina Chasek

The Community Counseling Clinic was established in 1977, creating a place where counselors-in-training could work directly with clients while providing low-cost services to the UNO and Omaha communities. That mission remains unchanged today.

In those early years, students transformed whatever empty room they could find in Kayser Hall into a counseling space until the clinic eventually gained a permanent home. By 1996, the clinic had grown into a 1,000-square-foot facility with seven counseling suites, a group counseling room, and technology that allowed students' sessions to be observed and reviewed. In 2011, the clinic moved with the Counseling Department into renovated Roskens Hall, where it remains today.

"The UNO Community Clinic is a model program in the State," said Counseling Department Chair Tina Chasek LIMHP, LADC.

"Over the past several years, grant funding has been instrumental in expanding the clinic’s impact—creating more meaningful training opportunities for our students while increasing access to vital services for our community. It’s exciting to see how this investment continues to strengthen both student learning and the care we’re able to provide to our community."

Just a decade ago, only six practicum students could train in the clinic each semester. Recent grant funding has allowed the clinic to expand its reach by adding a clinical supervisor and an office coordinator. These key additions enable more students to complete their first 100 clinical hours under close faculty supervision before moving into community internships.

Today, 75 counselors-in-training complete those first clinical hours through the clinic each year, increasing both student learning opportunities and access to affordable mental health services. During the 2025-26 academic year, the clinic provided 3250 counseling sessions to the community, a 33% increase in sessions from the previous year.

The clinic's growth reflects the evolution of UNO Counseling itself. The department now prepares students for careers in clinical mental health counseling, school counseling, and student affairs in higher education. Recent additions have also expanded training in new areas such as neurocounseling, play therapy, counseling in Spanish, and advanced substance use counseling as faculty and students respond to changing needs in the profession and community.


The UNO Community Counseling Clinic's 50th anniversary celebration will be held Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Roskens Hall Atrium. Guests are invited to enjoy light refreshments before a brief program celebrating the clinic's history and impact on the community. Following the program, current counseling students will lead tours of the clinic, and historical displays featuring milestones and fast facts from the clinic's first 50 years will be available throughout the event.