Each year in May, Mental Health Awareness Month, provides a national opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues, about the stigma associated with mental health services, and to highlight the need to support those suffering from mental illness.    As a leader in psychology and counseling, PAU is at the forefront of this national movement, bolstered by an amazing community of faculty, staff, alumni and students who have chosen this important field and make a difference in people’s lives every day.

Ten Palo Alto University faculty contributed articles to a special section of “The Professional Counselor” that was dedicated to distance, or online, counselor education.

Unfortunately, due to the ever-evolving coronavirus pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to cancel our in-person commencement ceremonies, scheduled for June 20, 2020, at the San Jose Civic.

PAU is actively exploring alternative ways to celebrate the class of 2020. We are working to determine when and how rescheduled events will take place and will provide more information as soon as possible.

Suicide Prevention during COVID-19: Learn to Be Eyes and Ears for Suicidal Distress  

WEBINAR ON DEMAND - Click Here to View

The COVID-19 outbreak is cause for a wide range of anxiety and distress as people lose jobs, long for connection and have difficulty adjusting to a new way of life. Concerns about suicide are not uncommon during a time like this.

  Mike Shook, a 2016 graduate of the PAU Master’s in Counseling program with an emphasis in Clinical Mental Health, now has a private practice in Beijing, China and is the creator and co-host of The Thoughtful Counselor podcast.   A podcast “dedicated to the art and science of the counseling profession,” Shook started the project in the autumn of 2017, shortly after graduating from PAU.    “When I finished my degree, I felt a void in pro

  In early March, Palo Alto University sent a strong contingent of students, faculty, and staff to the 2020 American Psychology-Law Society Conference (AP-LS) in New Orleans. AP-LS is Division 41 of the American Psychological Association (APA).

  Has there ever been a more inspiring or terrifying time to be a mental health provider? As a recent PAU graduate and current postdoctoral fellow in Clinical Psychology, I am on the “front lines” of mental health care. The more I read about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19; from reputable sources, not Aunt Karen on Facebook), the more concerned I become. We have likely not seen the worst of this pandemic, and the psychological effects of the virus and associated social isolation could be devastating.   There are many reasons as a provider to worry.

  The COVID-19 situation has revealed to me a flexibility and adaptability in Palo Alto University that makes me proud to be a professor here. Students, staff, and faculty are going through a unique, stressful, and challenging situation that is testing our abilities to their limits.