Regis University provides teletherapy services in Thornton

Thanks to a generous grant from the city of Thornton, the Regis Center for Counseling and Family Therapy is able to equip qualifying clients within the city with the technology needed to conduct counseling sessions online during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The $166,270 grant was allocated to Thornton through the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress in March. 

The clinic will provide an iPad and mobile hotspot, among other technological tools, to clients in need of low- to no-cost therapy services, said Director Luis Alvarez.

“We lost clients when the coronavirus hit because they didn’t have the technology to attend therapy sessions remotely,” Alvarez said. “This program is targeted at those clients who have essentially been pushed out of therapy for lack of resources.”

When COVID-19 emerged, the Regis Center for Counseling and Family Therapy pivoted, moving its in-person services to a virtual platform. After the pandemic, Regis’ clinicians would like to continue with both in-person and virtual counseling services.

“This short-term grant addresses an immediate need, but it’s also a stepping stone to a shift in how the clinic operates,” said Lindsay Edwards, associate professor in Regis’ Division of Counseling and Family Therapy and clinical coordinator of the Master of Marriage and Family Therapy program. 

“We’ve all realized this is the way of the future,” said Edwards, the center’s former director. “Teletherapy helps us reach people in underserved and remote communities, so providing teletherapy services is actually critical for us to accomplish our mission.”

The Regis Center for Counseling and Family Therapy, operated through Regis University’s Division of Counseling and Family Therapy, offers low- to no-cost counseling services to the community. The Division is part of the University’s Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions. 

The counseling center pairs master’s level marriage and family therapists-in-training and counselors-in-training with a client for 14 weeks of individual, couples, family or child-play therapy. The therapists are supervised by Regis faculty, who are Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) or Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs). Since the start of the pandemic, 120 Regis students have served 235 clients using teletherapy, Edwards said.