FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — At a time when fees continue to climb for mental health care services, the University of Arkansas Psychological Clinic offers affordable professional counseling for men, women and children in Northwest Arkansas.

"At the University of Arkansas Psychological Clinic, we're serious about our land-grant university mission of reaching out to the communities we serve," said Dr. Patricia Petretic, associate professor of psychology and clinic director.

"We're aware that mental health services are not covered in many health insurance plans, and that many people in need of counseling are reluctant to pursue it because of their perceptions of the costs. One of the benefits of running a training clinic is that we can offer a sliding fee scale to accommodate the financial circumstances of community members, and we have a number of skilled graduate-level counselors available," Petretic said.

The UA Psychological Clinic, located in Memorial Hall at the intersection of

Maple Street and Storer Avenue, provides a variety of services including individual psychotherapy for children and adults, marital and couples counseling, family therapy, intellectual, educational, or developmental testing, personality and psychosocial assessment.

The UA Psychological Clinic is the training and research facility of the Department of Psychology’s Doctoral Clinical Training Program, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association. During the 2001-2002 fiscal year 163 students and community members were provided approximately 6000 hours of services by the

psychological clinic.

"While Clinical Psychology Trainees who are enrolled in the clinical psychology graduate program have the primary contact with clients," Petretic said, "licensed clinical psychologists from the faculty of the UA Department of Psychology closely supervise case progress and bring a wealth of experience to the clinic. Some of our faculty serve as counselors themselves, and, because of their research and expertise, they are familiar with the newest and most effective treatments."

Psychological Clinic supervisors and their areas of expertise are as follows:

--Dr. Petretic, associate professor of psychology and clinic director: coping with trauma, rape, domestic violence, women's mental health, and anxiety and depression.

--Dr. Tim Cavell, professor of psychology and director of the doctoral training program in clinical psychology: parenting issues, emotional and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents, and family and couples therapy.

--Dr. James Fuendeling, assistant professor of psychology: neuropsychological

assessments, relationship problems, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders.

--Dr. Jeffrey M. Lohr, professor of psychology: anxiety disorders, health problems and behavioral medicine, phobias in general and blood injury-injection phobias in particular, and male domestic violence.

--Dr. Kathleen T. Murray, assistant professor of psychology: psychological assessment, child and adolescent anxiety and depression, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, behavioral medicine, and personality problems.

--Dr. Nathan L. Williams, assistant professor of psychology: anxiety disorders, depression, personality disorders, men's health, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, medical psychology, and behavioral medicine.

To get started at the psychological clinic or to inquire further about the

services it provides, contact a clinic secretary at (479)-575-4258 or visit the clinic’s web page at: www.uark.edu/depts/psycclnc/clinicpage.html. Weekday and evening appointment are available.