Core School Counseling Program Faculty and Staff

María R. Scharrón-del Río—Professor, Program and Clinical Coordinator

María Scharrón-del Río's areas of expertise are in multicultural counseling (including play therapy, individuals, families, and groups) and in developing multicultural competencies in students and in institutions. Her research focuses multicultural competencies in school counselor training, ethics in research with ethnocultural populations, LGBTQ issues, gender variant youth, spirituality, resiliency, and well-being. Scharrón-del Río's appointment is full time in School Counseling.

Pei-Han Cheng—Assistant Professor

Pei-Han Cheng specializes in eating concerns and body image, career counseling, relationship issues and multicultural concerns. She received intensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and is a certified psychotherapist. Dr. Cheng is very invested in providing high quality education and supervision to students of diverse backgrounds to foster their professional identity, clinical skills and multicultural competence. Her research, scholarship and consulting work focuses on diversity and inclusion, multicultural psychotherapy, women's issues as well as intersectionality and psychological wellbeing. Cheng's appointment is full time in School Counseling.

Charles C. Edwards—Assistant Professor

Charles C. Edwards is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and Nationally Certified School Counselor (NCSC). Edwards has more than 15 years of experience working as a teacher, a school counselor, and counselor educator. He is presently assistant professor of school counseling. In the last 15 years he has worked as an educator and counselor in schools and clinics across New York City. His research focuses on the effectiveness of professional school counselors in supporting students' academic, personal-social, and career development within urban school systems and communities. His appointment is full time in School Counseling.

Graciela Elizalde-Utnick—Assistant Professor

Graciela Elizalde-Utnick is coordinator of the Bilingual Specialization in School Counseling and School Psychology Program. Her expertise is in culturally and linguistically diverse infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with special needs and their families. Elizalde-Utnick's appointment is half time with School Counseling and half-time with School Psychology.