Servando Miranda graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from DePaul University in 2017, earned a Master of Science degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Aurora University in 2020, and has since come back  to DePaul’s College of Education to pursue his Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) licensed professional counselor accreditation, all the while working in community mental health work. Coming back to DePaul has complimented his knowledge he’s earned in his work.

“I’ve learned so much about the counseling field in the program and about myself and what type of therapist I want to be,” said Servando of his two years so far in the three-year program.

Servando appreciates the fact that DePaul’s CMHC program is a year longer than the normal program at other institutions.

“The difference between other programs in counseling is that DePaul’s is three years; It’s slower in the sense that typical programs are two years, but you get more out of the experience [at DePaul], you know? My first two years were all theory, which I appreciated, while this third year is all about my internship and practicum.”

And while his classroom experience has been valuable to him, taking the knowledge he acquires in class into the field in his work in mental health has been eye opening. “I’m able to see live application of what I’m learning, or to find more reasoning behind it. The theory behind it, I see how it makes sense. My professors know the field and I’m out in the field, too, I work with other therapists and I’m like ‘my professor was right on point when they were talking about this, or describing this,’ so everything connects for me right now.”

Looking ahead to this third year of school, Servando intends to serve the community from which he comes. “I was fortunate enough to land the internship that I wanted at the site that I wanted. It’s Latino-owned, all the therapists are Latino, all the clients are going to be Latino. I want to give back to my community in mental health. We don’t see a lot of brown people in [such spaces], so throughout this coming school year, that’s what I’ll be working on and I’m very excited for that.”

As for his post-graduation plans, “the goal is to continue doing community mental health because there’s a big need.”
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† Servando came back to DePaul with the “Double Demon Scholarship,” a program that invites previous DePaul graduates to come back with savings for a subsequent graduate degree or non-degree work. “If I’m going reinvest in my future, let me smart about it,” said Servando. For more information on the scholarship, visit DePaul’s Alumni & Friends website.