Megan Labutka was recently awarded the Center for Teaching Excellence’s Temporary Faculty Award. Her proposal is titled “The Impact of Person-Centeredness and Authenticity in Teaching.”
Since joining the Department of Psychology as a temporary faculty member in spring 2023, Labutka has focused on creating a teaching approach that is both relational and transformative. Her approach and practice integrate traditional pedagogy with authenticity, person-centeredness, and intentional mentorship to support students’ personal and academic growth. She views students as individuals with unique experiences, challenges, and perspectives, striving to create a classroom environment where learning is a collaborative and meaningful journey. Through her teaching, she helps students develop both professional skills and a strong sense of self, supporting their emergence as knowledgeable, ethical, and confident individuals ready to make meaningful contributions in their careers.
Labutka has taught PSYC101, PSYC200, PSYC225, and EDSP760 within the Psychology Department. She has also been a graduate assistant for Lorraine Guth in the Department of Counseling and Human Development for the past three years, co-teaching classes that include Basic Counseling Skills, Multicultural Counseling, Wellness-Based Counseling, Human Sexuality Issues in Counseling, and Counseling Field Experience.
A doctoral candidate in counselor education asd Supervision, she hopes to graduate within the next year with her PhD. She will be a three-time IUP graduate, earning her MA in clinical mental health counseling in 2020 and her BA in psychology in 2017. Labutka is a licensed professional counselor and certified clinical treatment provider, engaging in clinical work in her private practice, Clearer Mind Counseling, in conjunction with teaching since 2024. Previous clinical experience includes outpatient therapy, school-based therapy, child and adolescent partial hospitalization, and behavioral health technician work. Research and clinical interest areas include counselor professional identity development, adult ADHD diagnosis and treatment, experiential learning, trauma-informed care, mental health during pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood.