Kato wins National Counselor of the Year Award from ACCA

Yuka Kato, a licensed psychologist for the NC State Counseling Center, was named Counselor of the Year at the annual conference for the American College Counseling Association (ACCA). The Counselor of the Year award honors a college counselor who has made a significant impact on the national, state, or local level.

Kato works with students on issues related to depression, anxiety, and trauma. She also enjoys assisting international students. 

“I’m so honored and grateful to be the recipient of this award,” Kato said. “To me, the award is recognition of the importance of support of international students on current college campuses.  International students have unique needs and our support needs to be tailored to their needs. I am happy that the award validated it and encourages us to improve our work to support international students.”

Kato said being recognized by the ACCA gives her a sense of responsibility to expand her contributions to support international students even further.

“I am very fortunate to have great support from the administration and my colleagues, including my work partner, Mary Njaramba, LPCS, at the Counseling Center, the Office of International Services, Office of Global Engagement, University Housing, and so on,” Kato said. “However, I learned at the American College Counseling Association conference that some other college counseling centers do not have this level of support and try to find other ways to help international students. I hope to collaborate with those counselors in order to support international students on more college campuses.”