Dr. Jeff Peterson, Ph.D., LCPC, LPC, NCC, PCC is an assistant professor in the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences. Prior to this he taught at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and also at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Peterson is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and counselor supervisor in the states of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Utah.
Peterson served as the Chi Sigma Iota faculty advisor for the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs chapter and has been heavily involved in promoting multicultural inclusivity/advocacy within the classroom. Over the past year he served as a faculty mentor for Quad, a joint-university collaboration between the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado College, and the University of Colorado, developing best practices for in-school suicide prevention/intervention programming.
Peterson currently serves on the editorial review board for the American Counseling Association’s Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling and is the co-founder and organizer of the Healthcare Guild, a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping sexual and gender minorities find affirming and culturally competent health care.
In addition to presenting at both national and regional conferences, Peterson is also a national presenter for PESI and Good Therapy. PESI is one of the nation's leading mental health continuing education organizations, where he recently developed and conducted a clinical anger treatment certification curriculum for mental health professionals. Good Therapy is one of the nation's largest resource directories for mental health services, where he recently presented on the developmental impact and long-term effects of shame, as well as reducing sexual and gender identity microaggressions in counseling.
Education
Ph.D., Counselor Education and Supervision, Walden University, 2017
M.S., Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Walden University, 2012
B.A., American Studies/Sociology, University of Iowa, 1996
Academic Interests
Peterson’s research utilizes relational cultural theory centered on the importance of developing positive growth-fostering relationships. He strives to aid educators in facilitating positive and dynamic multicultural learning experiences in both their classrooms and overall curriculum. This includes fostering a more inclusive environment by addressing issues surrounding aversion, shame, anger, racism, gender identity, and sexual orientation negativity. Peterson has also been recently advocating on the importance of incorporating more clinician self-care training as part of the CACREP-accredited mental health clinician core curriculum.
