Caroline O’Hara, Ph.D., LPC (GA), NCC joined the Counseling and Human Services Department in 2017 as a core faculty member. She was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure and currently serves as the CHS Department CACREP Accreditation Liaison. Although she teaches across the core CACREP curriculum, she particularly enjoys teaching courses emphasizing leadership, culture, and identity development. Most of Dr. O’Hara’s counseling experience has been in college counseling centers providing campus outreach as well as individual, group, career, and disability counseling. She has also worked in partial hospitalization, hospital, and hospice settings. Dr. O'Hara holds the credentials of Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and is board-certified as a National Certified Counselor (NCC).
Dr. O’Hara has held multiple leadership positions at the local and national levels. She is active with several ACA divisions, including AARC, ACES, and AMCD. She has served AARC as Treasurer and Diversity Committee Chair and is a longstanding member of the Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (DISJ) committee. As Treasurer, she was instrumental in the genesis of the AARC Multicultural Assessment and Research in Counseling (MARC) Student Grant. She has also served AMCD as Awards Chair. Additionally, Dr. O'Hara is an active member of CSI, having served as a Chapter Faculty Advisor and CSI Leadership Intern. She currently serves CSI as an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy.
Dr. O’Hara’s scholarly interests include multicultural counseling competence and advocacy with a particular interest in microaggressions. She has published empirical and theoretical works across an array of professional counseling journals including our flagship journals the Journal of Counseling and Development and Counselor Education and Supervision. As Chair of the AARC Diversity Committee, she spearheaded the development and publication of the AARC Standards for Multicultural Research. Dr. O'Hara also regularly presents at regional and national counseling conferences and welcomes opportunities to co-present with students.