Even as a young college graduate working in the fashion industry, Becca Pitts always had an interest in mental health. After losing her brother and, two years later, a childhood friend to suicide, Pitts knew there was no other field she wanted to be in.
Determined to make a difference, Pitts left her job, studied for the GRE, and in 2020, enrolled in the UAB School of Education and Human Sciences master’s in counseling program.
During her graduate studies, Pitts was placed at UAB’s Community Counseling Clinic, a teaching clinic that provides low-cost mental health services to the Birmingham community. She also served as the clinic’s office manager and saw firsthand the critical role it played in the community.
Now, years after completing her degree, Becca and her husband have chosen to give back to the clinic that shaped Becca’s career and helped so many in Birmingham. With a $50,000 gift, they are helping to ensure that the Community Counseling Clinic can continue providing vital mental health services to those who need them most.
“I fell in love with what the clinic does,” Pitts said. “It’s the only resource in Birmingham that offers this type of help at such a low cost. Even if someone can’t pay the $10 fee, they’re still seen.”
Her time at the clinic revealed how financial gifts can aid the community and faculty serving it. When Pitts was a student, many faculty members, though paid during the school year, volunteered their time in the summer simply because they believed in the clinic’s mission. While this has since changed, faculty members still aren’t paid their full amount during summers.
“My husband and I believe in the mission of the clinic,” Pitts said. “They help so many people who wouldn’t have access to care otherwise. We wanted to make sure they can keep doing this work.”
Dayna Watson, who serves as the Graduate Program Director for the counseling program and one of the supervising faculty of the clinic, knows firsthand how crucial funds are for the community. More funds could mean more faculty to supervise students, more student clinicians, and more patients seen.
“We are populating the counseling profession for the state of Alabama, and we know there’s a marked need,” Watson said. “Gifts like Becca’s allow us to sustain what we are already doing for the community and also be able to search for ways we can grow and implement new technologies that could assist our patients.”
When Pitts was a student, Watson encouraged Pitts to serve her clinical rotation at the counseling clinic.
“Becca was always a standout student. She excelled in the classroom, but is also just a very kind, very aware person that can get along with a lot of different people,” Watson said. “She’s skilled at figuring out what is needed in any given situation.”
After losing her brother and friend, Pitts dealt with heavy grief. As a student in the counseling program, she learned how to manage her grief and empathize with patients in the clinic who might be experiencing the same thing.
“After I lost my brother, I wasn’t ready to open up about it,” Pitts said. “But going through the loss has made me a better clinician because I understand and can sympathize with my patients who have an issue they aren’t ready to talk about.”
After graduation, Pitts accepted a position in the UAB Department of Psychiatry under Junghee Lee, Ph.D. The research focused on severe mental illness, primarily schizophrenia. With an uncle who faces schizophrenia, studying the illness felt like Pitts was where she needed to be. Pitts now stays at home with her two young children.
For Pitts, the decision to give was personal. It was about honoring the experiences that led her to UAB, supporting the clinic that gave her so much, and ensuring that others in the Birmingham community have access to the mental health care they need.
“My hope is that, through this gift, people see that help is there if they need it,” Pitts said.
For more information on how to support the Community Counseling Center, visit https://go.uab.edu/uabcommunitycounselingclinic.
