UCF's Department of Counselor Education and School Psychology is heading into the 2025-26 academic year with Sejal Mehta Barden as its new chair.
The Department of Counselor Education and School Psychology’s new leader is a familiar face in Sejal Mehta Barden, who officially stepped into the role on August 8.
Barden, a professor of counselor education, first joined UCF in 2011 as an assistant professor. Since 2015, she has served as the executive director of the Marriage and Family Research Institute — a research initiative focused on empowering individuals, couples and families to build and maintain healthy relationships.
As the new department chair, Barden says she is looking forward to learning and growing in her new role, as well as creating and sustaining an environment where everyone feels supported and empowered. Her responsibilities include fostering new connections and collaborative partnerships that will help serve the community and enhance visibility for the department.
“I’m looking forward to broadening my perspective and gaining a deeper understanding of all the incredible work happening across the college,” Barden says. “I’m especially excited to build meaningful relationships — connection is at the core of who I am — and to learn from the inspiring efforts of colleagues throughout the college.”
Barden was first introduced to the field of marriage and family therapy by volunteering at a crisis center while pursuing her bachelor’s in psychology at the University of Florida. She continued working clinically in marriage, couples and family therapy before transitioning to providing home-based services for families. After earning her master’s degree, she pursued her doctorate in counseling and educational development at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During that time, Barden worked with couples undergoing cancer journeys, focusing on how it was impacting their relationship.
“UCF was always on my radar as a dream job with our nationally known counselor education program and important work they were doing in the community” she says. “So, I couldn't believe I had the privilege to join the team at UCF in 2011 as an assistant professor and have been here ever since, doing the research I intended to do from the beginning — working with couples and assisting with building strong relationship and communication skills.”
During her time at UCF, Barden has secured over $20 million in external funding through agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Family Assistance and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Her research on creating healthy, lasting relationships was recently featured on UCF’s Research in 60 Seconds series.
“I look forward to supporting our faculty, as well as celebrating and elevating the incredible work they’re doing,” she says. “My goal in taking this role is to create and sustain an environment where students, faculty and staff feel supported and empowered while ultimately enhancing the well-being of our department.”