ST. GEORGE, Utah — A new clinic at Utah Tech University in St. George is offering therapy sessions for $30 to help address a shortage of mental health professionals in Utah, particularly in the Southwest.
The clinic is part of the university's Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy program, which launched six years ago. Five classes have graduated from the program. Students are required to complete about 500 client hours and train at private practices before graduating.
The program's new home is inside Utah Tech's General Classroom Building, which includes dedicated therapy spaces designed with features like lighter blue walls to help with sensory issues, a group therapy room for children, and an observation room.
Nathan Ming, the program director of Marriage and Family Therapy at Utah Tech University, said the new facility expands the program's reach into the broader community.
"With the new building now, we actually have, it's a community clinic that we're setting up to provide services both for the students but also for the community," Ming said.
The low-cost clinic model mirrors one already in use at Utah Tech's dentistry school, which offers dental services to community members at reduced rates.
Ming said affordability is a central goal of the therapy clinic.
"The cost will be pretty minimal. $30 per session. So we're really trying to reach out to those, especially in the community who can't afford maybe going to a private practice," Ming said.
Zoey Billings, a Utah Tech student ambassador, said the therapy spaces were designed with clients' comfort in mind.
"It's all part of a master's program, so it's new. So we have our group therapy room, which is incorporated for children. And each of these rooms are meant to help with things like sensory issues, it's supposed to help like the blue kind of lighter walls instead of the harsh grays and whites," Billings said.
Billings also highlighted the observation room used for training.
"This room's really cool because it's like the observation, so you can't see — like I can see through there, but they can't see me. Yeah, so it's like an FBI office, right?" Billings said.
The community clinic is expected to open within the next couple of months.
