About Us

Our Story

History

SOS Community Counseling (Support Our Students) was established in 1993 by Sonoma State University Professor Emeritus Dr. Mark Doolittle in response to community and school mental health needs. SOS Community Counseling has been a model program of partnership between community organizations, foundations, school districts, and graduate school training programs to provide counseling services to school-age youth at no cost to individuals or families. In recent years, SOS has expanded its services through a community-based clinic program to provide marginalized families and individuals in our region access to high-quality counseling services at the lowest possible cost. As we have expanded to provide additional off-campus services through our community clinics, our mission remains: SOS Community Counseling is dedicated to providing vulnerable families, children, and individuals the highest quality, compassionate, and skilled mental health counseling services at minimal or no cost.

Our Perspective

The counseling relationship and process can be a powerful tool for enabling positive psychological, emotional, and behavioral growth for individuals and their relationships. The bonds of empathy, awareness and insight that characterize healthy relationships are a cornerstone of individual, family, community, and societal health. They serve to directly and powerfully counteract self-destructiveness, narrow-mindedness, intolerance, and violence. Financial limitations should not interfere with the opportunity for individuals, children, and families to have access to high quality mental health services.

Our Commitment

We will work to ensure that no individual, family or child in our community will be prohibited from having access to counseling services due to a lack of financial resources.
We will collaborate with relevant community partners to most effectively supplement existing local programs and services for these populations.
We will advocate for both the immediate welfare and the social progress of our clients and all those who have limited access to mental health services.
We will endeavor to provide the highest quality, solution oriented, ethical and compassionate counseling services to each of our clients.

Our Mission

SOS Community Counseling provides healing throughout Sonoma County, as a training agency that delivers collaborative, compassionate, and accessible care.

Who We Are

SOS is a collective of mental health therapists, associates, trainees and supervisors who share the goal of helping young people, adult individuals, couples, and families develop tools and perspectives to facilitate greater self awareness and esteem, healthier relationships, and ultimately a greater opportunity to live healthy, happy, and fulfilled lives. While each of our counselors employs a unique approach and skill set to their work with clients, all have completed training (minimum of a Masters degree) in Counseling, Psychology, or a related field, preparing them (and professionally enabling) them to see clients as either a Licensed or Associate Marriage and Family Therapist. Our counselors work with clients who face extremely diverse circumstances and challenges to their developmental, social, psychological, emotional, and behavioral well-being. Despite the unique – oftentimes complex and devastating – issues facing clients, our therapists share a deep commitment to treating each with the highest level of respect and compassion, while working to enable positive, productive growth through the counseling process.