Suzy Thomas

Office
Filippi Academic Hall - 263--Office hours arranged via e-mail
Contact:
Phone: 4539
Fax: 376-8379
Email: sthomas@stmarys-ca.edu
Mail: P.O. Box 4350
Professional Overview
Dr. Suzy Thomas is a Professor in the Counseling Department at Saint Mary’s College of California, where she teaches foundational counseling and school counseling specialization courses and serves as the School Counseling Program Director. Dr. Thomas has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and is a credentialed school counselor (PPS), a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC), and a former middle and high school counselor and teacher. She has been a supervisor for pre-service school counselors and a school-based consultant on school-based mental health issues. A leader and advocate for school counselors and school-based reform in local, statewide, regional, national, and international venues, Dr. Thomas presents regularly at counselor educator and school counseling conferences and has publications in the areas of mentoring, professional development for counselors, collaboration and school-university partnerships, LGBTQIA+ youth, school-based mental health, legal and ethical issues, group counseling, action research, anti-racist pedagogy and practice, and school counseling reform. Dr. Thomas developed a model for school counselor peer consultation that has been adopted in several settings for the training and practice of school counselors. She was also a member of a team of educators that wrote the 2023 California Standards for the School Counseling Profession, an evidence-based and culturally responsive set of guidelines for practice. Dr. Thomas was inducted into the H.B. McDaniel Hall of Fame in 2013, recognized in 2017 as the School Counselor Educator of the Year by the California Association of School Counselors, given the 2021 Saint Mary’s College Pandemic Pedagogic Excellence Award, and honored with the 2023 Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA) Community Development Award.