The Heart of a Counselor

Meet the current clinical mental health counseling faculty

STORY BY NICOLE MANGES ’18

Summer 2021 marked the beginning of an era for the Master of Arts in clinical mental health counseling program at Huntington University. New program director Dr. Elijah Lee and faculty member Dr. Michelle Caulk joined returning faculty member Dr. Eric Williams, forging a team of three experienced counselors who have a heart for educating other counselors.

As a team, the counseling faculty represent an impressive level and variety of educational and clinical backgrounds. Between them, they hold three PhD degrees in counselor education and supervision plus master’s and bachelor’s degrees in subjects such as English language and literature, sociology, library and information science, psychology, marriage and family therapy and, of course, counseling. They are practicing clinicians as well as counselor educators, each with their own specialties.

Drawing on their experiences, these faculty are ready not just to train clinicians at the level of academic and clinical excellence HU students expect but also to shepherd counselors with identities rooted in faith and compassion.

There will certainly be more to see from these faculty in the coming months as they continue to bring their unique perspectives to the clinical mental health counseling program. For now, the following pages will introduce you to the new faces of the counseling program at Huntington University and give glimpses into the heart of each of these counselors.

Elijah Lee

PhD, LCPC (KS), NCC Program Director and Assistant Professor

In the field of counseling, Dr. Elijah Lee says he has found both the poison and the antidote of humankind’s sickness: authentic relationship. His pursuit of counseling has specialized in looking for this cure and the hope of offering it to a world seeking it out.

Lee’s philosophy as a counselor educator and practicing counselor comes from Jeremiah 3:15, where God promises Jeremiah that He will provide “shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

“This has been a central Scripture for me both in teaching/training counselors and in shepherding His people in the field of counseling,” said Lee. “We are in need of counselors in the field who will shepherd people in the midst of all of life’s experiences, through suffering and joy. To this end, I believe it is my call and great privilege to shepherd shepherds.”

Lee is an ordained minister in the River Fellowship and counsels out of his private practice, Hope Healing LLC.

Michelle Caulk

PhD, LPC, LPHC, NCC Director of Clinical Experiences and Assistant Professor

Dr. Michelle Caulk began her professional life as a librarian and research analyst, then transitioned to the counseling field in 2010. She specializes in grief and loss, trauma, directing a private practice and mental health within the church and is a Master Clinician in Accelerated Resolution Therapy.

Caulk has founded a counseling center, worked with clients to help them live in hope and wholeness and taught counseling students. She has a history of writing and speaking passionately and effectively on topics such as mental health in the church and counseling the bereaved, and she partners with community churches to create “relational homes” in which those with mental illness may find community, advocacy and understanding.

As a counselor educator and practicing counselor, Caulk says that her joyful task and privilege is to help others see and act out God’s purpose within this life in relationships, service, work and personal growth. In addition to teaching, Caulk coordinates practicum and internship experiences at HU.