Dr. Shon D. Smith

• Instructor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Professional Counselor, Clinical Supervisor, Advocate, Leader, and Veteran. Serves youth, adolescents, and adults of all ages. Provides individual, couples, family, and group counseling sessions to a diverse clientele. Utilizes an integrative counseling approach that is most heavily influenced by rational emotive behavioral therapy, structural family therapy, and liberation counseling approaches. Provides clinical supervision and consultation to pre-service and professional counselors, as well as other helping professionals. Educator and advocate in the counseling and counseling delivery profession.

Dr. Shon Smith has been a professional counselor for over 30 years, a clinical supervisor for more than 25 years, and a Counselor Educator for 24 years. His primary research interest’s area addresses the intersection of mental health disparities and public policy, counselor education program design and evaluation, use of technology in counseling and preparation programs, multicultural & social justice issues in community mental health & counselor programs, clinical supervision, leadership, and advocacy competency development, intimate partner violence prevention & relapse prevention and working with military personnel and families.

A Veteran, SSG Smith has been deployed to Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, and stateside. He has conducted several humanitarian missions in Central and South America as a Combat Medic and received a Bronze Star and other military awards for his service.

Dr. Smith has served the counseling profession in several leadership roles at the state, regional, and national levels, including elected office, committee involvement, and membership in organizations such as the American Counseling Association, Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, Counselors for Social Justice, and the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. Dr. Smith is a Past President of the Pennsylvania and Florida Counseling Associations, a former ACA Southern Region Chair, a Past President of AMCD, CSJ, and a past Co-chair for the ACA Bylaws committee, and sat on the Board of the Military and Government Counseling Association (MGCA). Currently, Dr. Smith chairs both the Human Rights Committee for the North Carolina Counseling Association and the City of Greensboro’s Human Rights Commission. Most recently, Dr. Smith has been elected President of the Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Association (RCEA) and President-Elect-Elect of the North Carolina Counseling Association. 

Dr. Smith received his doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision with a focus in Marriage and Family Therapy, a master’s degree from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in Rehabilitation Counseling and School Counseling, and a bachelor’s in criminal justice.