National fellowship program recognizes Oakland University counseling students

Two Oakland University counseling students are earning national recognition for their commitment to the counseling profession through the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) Minority Fellowship Program (MFP).

Al-Amin Ali, a master’s student in counseling, has been selected as a 2026–2027 NBCC Minority Fellow. Cierra Valles, a doctoral student in counselor education, recently completed the program’s doctoral-level fellowship for 2025–2026.

The competitive national program supports graduate students preparing to address disparities in behavioral health care and serve underserved and historically marginalized communities. Funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and administered by the NBCC Foundation, the program selects a limited number of master’s and doctoral students each year.

Fellows receive financial support for graduate study, specialized training, professional development and opportunities to connect with a national network of counselors and counselor educators.

For Ali, being selected was an unexpected affirmation of his potential as a future counselor.

“On an individual level, it meant a lot to me and gave a huge boost to my self-confidence to have these really high-up professionals acknowledge my potential to be a good counselor,” Ali said. “When you are still starting out, imposter syndrome likes to take hold, and it can be hard to see that potential in yourself.”

The fellowship also supports Ali’s goal of working with LGBTQ+ youth and adolescents, a population he believes could benefit significantly from early intervention counseling but may face barriers to accessing care.

His interests extend to exploring how tabletop role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons, might be used in counseling. Through Oakland’s counseling program, Ali learned about emerging research into the use of these games as a counseling method, including their potential applications with children and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Combining his personal passion for gaming with his professional interests, Ali hopes to pursue research in this area and eventually establish a counseling practice serving LGBTQ+ adolescents.

“Having professionals in the field believe in my niche interest means more to me than I can express in words,” Ali said. “I’m overwhelmed with giddiness and anticipation.”

For Valles, the doctoral fellowship provided an opportunity to explore how play can support healing, strengthen cultural connections and inform the future of counseling research and education.

As a Xicanx and Two-Spirit mental health professional, Valles focused their fellowship year on play as an act of joyful resistance and cultural reclamation. They offered play-based workshops for Latine adults rooted in ancestral knowledge and an Indigenous relational worldview.

“This work grounded me further in my own identities and affirmed my certainty that the wellness and healing I have the honor of accompanying can be strengths-based, non-pathologizing and even fun,” Valles said.

The experience will also shape their future research, including their dissertation, which will focus on re-Indigenizing research methodologies and encouraging critical discussions about research ethics. Valles plans to continue advocating for greater representation of the global majority in counselor education curricula and experiences.

Looking ahead, they hope to expand access to culturally congruent, liberatory mental health care, with an emphasis on adult play therapy.

“Play is not just for children; it is for all of us,” Valles said. “Playing is a powerful way to resist fatalism and move in hopeful ways.”

Their accomplishments continue a tradition of NBCC Minority Fellows at Oakland University. Clark D. Ausloos, an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, was selected as a doctoral-level NBCC Minority Fellow in 2018.

“For me, the NBCC Fellowship was a turning point,” Dr. Ausloos said. “It deepened my commitment to serving underserved communities and gave me the foundation to pursue research that advances justice and wellness for minoritized people.”

The achievements of Ali and Valles highlight the department’s commitment to preparing counseling professionals and educators to make a meaningful difference in schools, clinical settings and communities.

Through rigorous academic preparation, faculty mentorship and opportunities for professional development, Oakland University helps students translate their knowledge into practice and address real-world challenges. The recognition of Ali and Valles underscores the university’s commitment to developing professionals who can improve access to behavioral health care and positively impact lives in Michigan and beyond.

Learn more about graduate programs in counseling and counselor education through Oakland University’s Department of Counseling.