Dr. Victoria Kress Bio

Victoria E. Kress, Ph.D./LPCC-S, NCC is the director of the clinical mental health and addictions counseling programs at Youngstown State University.  She has over 20 years of experience in various clinical settings. She is a director of a free clinic that provides counseling services to members of the community who do not have an ability to pay for services. She specializes in child abuse and child trauma, and is a court appointed guardian ad litem who advocates for abused and neglected children. She has served on a number of non-profit boards including a drug and alcohol prevention agency board, and a mental health and addictions agency counseling board. She has also served as a community advocate and as a human rights and ethics advocate for those who have intellectual disabilities. She also served two terms as a governor appointed member of the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board, and served as the chair of their Counselor Professional Standards Committee. She has received many awards which recognize her public and professional service and leadership initiatives, and her teaching, research, and mentorship activities. Most recently, she received the Ohio Counseling Association’s Counselor of the Year Award.