Texas State, Dell partner for mental health care initiative

Date of Release: 11/20/2006

SAN MARCOS — Texas State University-San Marcos and Dell are partnering to extend quality community mental health care in North Austin and Williamson County through the Round Rock Higher Education Center (RRHEC).

Dell has donated $50,000 to help equip and resource the counseling clinic located on the RRHEC campus. The clinic is part of Texas State's graduate counseling program and run by senior faculty member John Garcia. It is a working clinic where community residents can go for professional mental health services including family, marriage, career, loss and grief counseling.

"One of our global initiatives at Dell is to positively influence the communities we call home and that is especially true for Central Texas - our headquarters and hometown," said Paul McKinnon, senior vice president of Dell Human Resources. "Investing in the care and education of our neighbors, employees and regional customers is just one example of how we are contributing to the health and well-being of our community."

Dell's gift will provide the latest in therapy equipment, a playscape and administrative support for the clinic. It will also help Garcia create a community mental healthcare alliance in Williamson County of teachers, parents, government services and professional mental healthcare providers.

"We want to further develop our state-of-the-art clinical facility here and at the same time take it to people where they live their lives -- children, adults, adolescents, couples and families -- by way of better use of technology, media, and direct psycho-educational symposia and workshops," said Garcia.

He explained that services will help clients deal with career and transition issues, grief and loss, relocation, military deployment and other issues - both before and after these become overwhelming problems.

"We want the campus at Round Rock to become a touchstone for the community to trust and rely on for creative resolutions to living more healthfully and fully."

While offering quality mental healthcare to people in need on a sliding-scale basis, the clinic also helps ensure that the students who graduate from Texas State's program have the skills and experience they need to enter the counseling profession. Graduate counseling students work in the clinic and are involved in the delivery of care as part of their education. They are supervised and given on-the-job direction by Garcia and his team of professional counselors and faculty members. Garcia said the clinical program emphasizes prevention, early intervention and wellness in addition to later care.