Dr. Stephanie Smith-Durkin is a faculty member of Old Dominion University in the Counseling and Human Services department. She also serves as the advisor for the university’s Advanced School Counseling Ed.S. program. Stephanie is a wife, mother of two young children, and most recently worked as a high school counselor in Virginia. In her role as a school counselor, she served on her district’s Mental Health Task Force and earned the School Counselor Advocate Award from the Association of Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC). She comes to the field of counselor education with more than a decade of experience serving PK-12th grade students, staff, and families. 

 

Stephanie is an ODU alum, having earned her Bachelor’s in Psychology and Master’s in School Counseling from the university. In April 2022, she successfully defended her dissertation exploring the antiracist social justice practices of school counselors to earn her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from ODU. While in her doctoral program, she also worked as an adjunct professor, teaching practicum and internship courses and was awarded the Outstanding Doctoral Student - Counseling award. 

 

She is a dedicated member of the Counselors for Social Justice School Counseling Task Force (CSJ) and the secretary for the Association of Child and Adolescent Counseling. Stephanie regularly provides professional developments and trainings for school districts on topics surrounding student mental health, social justice, multiculturalism, antiracism, and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). She has also presented locally and nationally as well as written on these same topics. Stephanie works diligently to effectively prepare current and future counselors for culturally affirming professional practices and ethical behaviors.