Lynn Etheridge Named Licensed Professional Counselor of the Year

Mississippi College’s Lynn Etheridge received a top honor as the state’s Licensed Professional Counselor of the Year.

The Mississippi Licensed Professional Counselors Association named Etheridge the recipient of the award at its annual meeting in early November. Founded in 2000, the Hattiesburg-based group is a professional organization devoted to advancing the practice of mental health counseling in Mississippi.

Dr. Etheridge works as a counselor in the MC Student Counseling and Disability Services Office on the fourth floor of Alumni Hall.

“I love counseling because I am lucky to constantly get to see the indomitable resiliency of the human spirit,” says Etheridge, a Port Gibson native. “I love the camaraderie and support I get working” at the university’s counseling office on the Clinton campus, she says.

Etheridge obtained licensure in 2003 and has worked in community health as a school-based counselor, the clinical director of a chemical dependency center and at student counseling centers at Mississippi College and the University of Mississippi.

MC’s center served 515 students in a counseling capacity last year and about 75 students with disabilities. The center helps students with issues ranging from eating disorders to grief counseling, from problems with roommates to marriage counseling.

Morgan Bryant, the MC counseling center’s director, says the university is fortunate to have a counselor as skilled and qualified as Etheridge. “She is enthusiastically devoted to her profession and provides excellent service to MC students. Her award is welcome recognition of her exceptional abilities as a counselor.”

She received her bachelor’s in psychology and political science and a juris doctorate, all from the University of Mississippi. Her master’s in counseling/psychology comes from Mississippi College. In addition, Etheridge holds a doctorate in leadership and counselor education from Ole Miss, with a specialty in play therapy.

Etheridge, who came to work at Mississippi College a year ago, was also recently elected president-elect of the Mississippi Counseling Association. She’s a member of the American Mental Health Counselors Association.