UW Counseling Student Receives Fellowship to Support Minority Populations

A University of Wyoming doctoral candidate in counselor education and supervision recently was selected for the National Board for Certified Counselors Minority Fellowship Program (NBCC MFP) from the NBCC Foundation.

Benjamin Aiken was one of 20 doctoral students honored with the fellowship this year.

As an NBCC MFP Fellow, Aiken will receive $20,000 in funding and training from the NBCC Foundation to support his education and facilitate his ability to provide effective, culturally competent services to underserved populations.

Aiken has shown a commitment to the LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming population through his teaching and research at UW, and by providing mental health services to members of this underserved population. The fellowship will allow him to dig deeper into his research and finish his doctoral dissertation, titled “Breaking the Binary: A Narrative Inquiry Into the Lived Experiences of Transmasculine-Identified Individuals Working with Cisgender-Identified Male Therapists in Counseling.”

In addition to his doctoral studies at UW, Aiken is a board-certified licensed professional counselor in Colorado and Wyoming. Aiken also is working to expand his clinical offerings as a Diplomat in Logotherapy candidate.

After completing his Ph.D. and Diplomat in Logotherapy credential in 2020, Aiken intends to search for an open faculty position in a counselor education program to support and mentor the next generation of counselors. He also plans to continue his clinical work with clients through private practice.

The NBCC Foundation supports the MFP through a grant awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The goal of the program is to increase the number of professional counselors who are able to provide effective, culturally competent services to underserved populations by increasing the opportunities and resources available to counselors.