Franchesca M. Garza-Fraire, PhD

Director of School Counseling
Assistant Professor of Counseling

Liffrig Family School of Education and Behavioral Sciences

About Me

I am a lifelong encourager, educator, and counselor. I look for strengths in others, stay curious, and listen carefully to students' stories because I believe it is through our stories that we become uniquely qualified for the work we do as helpers. I am the wife of a secondary school principal and mom to three children and three dogs. I am also the oldest sister and cousin and the first woman in my family to complete college. We are from the border town of El Paso, and I currently reside in North Texas.

Why I’m At Mary

The written Benedictine values of the University of Mary drew me in, and the active demonstration of those values by the people at Mary made me stay.

Expertise

I have served as a counselor in grades K-12, higher education, a child advocacy center, and for couples and families in private practice. My research includes reflective practice, trust-based relational interventions, strengths-based counseling, and the development of multicultural and social awareness, responsiveness, and advocacy skills in counseling students.

Garza-Fraire, F.M., & Stark, M. (2023). Currere as a Method for Developing Multicultural and Social Awareness Skills. Association for Counselor Education & Supervision (ACES): Teaching Practice Briefs 1(1), 81-92. https://acesonline.net/teaching-practice-briefs/

Garza-Fraire, F.M. (2022) Multicultural & Social Awareness, Responsiveness & Advocacy Lesson for Counselor Education. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Texas Christian University. https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/58160

Strickland–Cohen, M. K., Kyzar, K. B., & Garza–Fraire, F. M. (2021). School–family partnerships to support positive behavior: assessing social validity and intervention fidelity. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 65(4), 362 370. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2021.1913084

Strickland-Kohen, K., Kizer, K., & Garza-Fraire, F.M. (2020) "School-Family Partnerships to Support Positive Behavior: Assessing Social Validity and Intervention Fidelity." https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1045988X.2021.1913084

Education

PhD (Counseling & Counselor Education): Texas Christian University, 2022
MEd (Counseling): Texas Christian University, 2002
BA: University of Texas at El Paso, 1997