Online Training and Research Clinic in Counseling

The UTRGV Online Training and Research Clinic or OTRC offers free counseling - standard individual, couples and family counseling, various groups for adults and children, as well as online dream sharing groups and dreamwork-assisted individual counseling. If you are interested in receiving services from OTRC, please fill out our Client Application Form.

History: OTRC was created in response to the need for counseling and community support spawned by the coronavirus pandemic. In spring of 2020, the UTRGV Counseling and Training Clinic had to halt all of its office appointments temporarily in order to observe the required social distancing. Consequently, our graduate intern counselors were unable to see clients and earn the hours required for their practicum and internship courses.

In response to this dilemma, the UTRGV Counseling Department asked Dr. Scott Sparrow to create an online counseling service that he named DreamStar Free Online Counseling (DFOC) in hopes that it would 1) serve the counseling and dream sharing needs of a community in crisis, and 2) permit UTRGV student interns to earn their direct hours by leading dream sharing groups, and counseling individuals who are willing to receive services in an online format.

Since OTRC/DFOC began offering services, UTRGV internship students have counseled over 1000 individuals since April, 2020, and provided over 6400 hours of free counseling! All counselors working through the OTRC program are current students in the UTRGV masters degree counseling program. As unlicensed counselors in training, they are supervised by their UTRGV Internship professors and Dr. Sparrow (OTRC's current Coordinator). Their supervisors will, on occasion, visit the group as an observer, in order to ensure the highest level of professionalism and skillfulness from our students.

If you wish to receive services from OTRC counselors, please complete our Client Application Form. Once you submit the form, we will contact you shortly thereafter with further instructions.

• Free Counseling in English or Spanish
• Individual, Couples, and Family Counseling
• Online Dream Sharing Groups
• Other topical groups
• Individual Dreamwork Assisted Counseling