Meet the Staff

Support Staff

Mary Alice Morales

Administrative Assistant
mmorales@delmar.edu
361-698-1586

Mary Alice Morales began her college career as a Viking. Mary Alice received her Associate’s degree in Professional Secretary at Del Mar College and went on to get a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at the University of Incarnate Word.

Prior to her position in the Counseling Center she started as an administrative assistant to the director of Counseling & Advising in 1989, where she assisted students with class schedule changes and performed general administrative duties. In her current position, she works closely with the counselors of Del Mar College and plays a pivotal role in providing exceptional services to faculty, staff, and students.  She is the primary contact and assists with the coordination of various activities, meetings, and workshops.

Mary Alice has been a foster care provider in her home for disabled individuals and individuals struggling with mental health diagnoses. Mary Alice spends her quality time with her grandchildren. She enjoys watching horror movies, football (Go Cowboys!), bingo, and going fishing.

Life quote Mary Alice lives by: "A negative mind will never give you a positive life!" - Ziad K. Abdelnour

Counselors

Jessica Edwards, M.A., LPC

Director of Counseling
jgarza89@delmar.edu

Jessica Edwards is a Corpus Christi native who ventured off after high school to attend the University of Texas at San Antonio. There she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and went on to receive a Masters of Arts in Counseling.

In 2014, she returned to her hometown to begin her counseling career. Jessica is a Licensed Professional Counselor and has experience working with kids, adolescents, and adults. Her professional interests include helping clients gain healthy coping skills to manage symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, stress, trauma, and grief and loss. She empowers clients through the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Collaborative Brief Therapy and incorporating relaxation and mindfulness techniques along the way. Jessica explores the mind-body connection to help clients achieve overall wellness. She strives to create an inclusive and safe environment for all her clients. Jessica joined the Counseling Center in 2017 and provides individual and couples counseling, group therapy, and crisis intervention. Jessica implemented the center’s Anxiety Management Program – AMP – that teaches students coping skills using a brief one-on-one counseling approach. Jessica is passionate about educating others about mental health, as she works to support the DMC campus community through outreach events, presentations, Mental Health First Aid trainings, and consultations with faculty and staff members.

Jessica makes sure to find the time to practice her own self-care by working in the yard, adding another plant to her collection, and walking her two dachshunds. She enjoys spending time connecting with her family and friends and she also finds peace just spending a relaxing evening catching up on TV shows!

Life quote Jessica lives by: "Take time to stop and smell the flowers."

Steven Mcfarlin, M.S., LPC

Counselor
smcfarlin@delmar.edu

Steven McFarlin is an Arkansas native who earned his Bachelors degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2009. Steven moved to Corpus Christi in 2017 to begin his master’s degree at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, where he focused on clinical mental health.

In 2020, Steven began working at Del Mar College as a Career Counselor and, as of 2021, has moved into mental health counseling at the Counseling Center. He has experience working with adults and minors dealing with crisis situations as well as working with adults dealing with substance use challenges, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues. While he’s passionate about working with any student who has shown the courage to seek counseling, Steven’s primary interest areas have been working with gender and affectional minorities, as well as ethnic minorities and those students who have a history of legal involvement.

Steven is a Licensed Professional Counselor. He utilizes concepts associated with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), and Collaborative Brief Therapy to assist students in overcoming challenges that life may bring. He focuses on working with students to create a holistic, informed approach to life while fostering an inclusive and non-judgmental space for students to find assistance and support.

Steven provides individual counseling, couples and group counseling, and crisis intervention. He enjoys educating faculty, staff, and students on mental health subjects through presentations and webinars, as well as education on diversity within different communities.

Steven finds time to utilize his self-care skills by playing PC-based games, taking his dogs for a walk, and keeping up with his favorite TV shows. Steven is a lifelong learner so he also enjoys gaining knowledge about the populations with which he works, in his free time, through documentaries and web series.

Life quote Steven lives by: "If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own." -Henry Ford

Alison Marks, PSY. D, BC-TMH

Counselor
amarks2@delmar.edu

Dr. Alison Marks (she/her/hers) is Licensed Psychologist who grew up in San Antonio before heading to Austin to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas. She has also earned a Masters of Science in Counseling & Counseling Education from Indiana University and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. Dr. Marks is a Board Certified Telemental Health Provider (BC-TMH) who enjoys exploring the use of social media and technology to broaden access to mental health care, expand the scope of outreach and prevention education, and improve individual wellness.

Alison empowers clients to explore the interactions between their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and life circumstances as an avenue for making small-yet-powerful changes in their lives through the use of a compassionate and individualized approach anchored in third wave psychotherapies; including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), and Mindfulness.

For more than a decade Alison has been providing individual counseling, couples therapy, group counseling, and crisis intervention at university counseling centers and community mental health clinics around the country. This experience has allowed her to develop specialties in working with relationships, intimacy, gender and sexuality concerns. She is experienced in working with diverse populations and is a sex-positive & LGBTQIA+ affirming therapist who is comfortable working with diverse power & relationship dynamics, including non-monogamous relationships. In addition to this specialty, Alison also has extensive experience working with clients struggling with academic concerns, anxiety disorders (including obsession & compulsion related concerns), executive functioning difficulties (including ADHD), mood disorders, personality disorders, and stress management.

Alison recognizes the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance and has a wide variety of interests and hobbies she turns to for self-care. She is a life-long “cat lady” and has also become a “plant mom” of an ever-expanding succulent and houseplant collection. Her love of animals and nature also extends to her bird watching and photography hobbies. Alison also enjoys crafting, board games, and anything having to do performing arts (e.g., TV, movies, theater, comedy, magic, spoken word, etc.).

Life quote Alison lives by: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Shakira Barnes, M.A., LPC - Associate

Supervised by Johanna Torres M.S., LPC-S

Counselor
sbarnes17@delmar.edu

Shakira Barnes is a San Antonio native who embarked on her collegiate journey at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, where she earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychology.

As a Licensed Professional Counselor - Associate, Shakira employs Person-Centered Therapy (PCT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS) within an interpersonal and relational framework. Her aim is to help clients reclaim their lives and navigate the challenges life presents. She began her professional journey at MHID, the local mental health authority for Nueces County, providing individual therapy services to adults. More recently, she has served the community at Oceans Healthcare and Bayview Behavioral Hospital, offering group therapy services to adolescents and adults. These experiences have reinforced Shakira’s belief that clients are the experts of their own lives and are capable of creating meaningful change. She is dedicated to being a guiding light on their wellness journeys.

Shakira views empowering others as her calling. She specializes in relationships (both monogamous and non-monogamous), relational trauma, emotional and narcissistic abuse, and anxiety. Additionally, she has experience assisting clients with boundaries, executive functioning difficulties (including Autism and ADHD), mood disorders (including psychosis), personality disorders, self-esteem, suicidality, and stress management. Shakira aims to empower her clients, build their resilience, and help them reconnect with their emotional and physical bodies. Her therapeutic approach creates space for clients to breathe—both literally and figuratively—while providing a safe environment to process both little and big traumas.

When she’s not in her therapist role, Shakira enjoys spending time with her cat. She believes that self-care comes in various forms, and for her, it often means unwinding in a bathtub with a bath bomb, candles, and a good book. An avid traveler, she is always seeking her next adventure. However, on quieter days, she loves playing games with friends, watching anime, or exploring the latest true crime documentary.

A life quote that resonates with Shakira is: "Take what resonates and don’t let the rest take from you."

Tera Peeler, M.S., LPC

Counselor
tdoran@delmar.edu

Tera Peeler is a Michigan native however was raised in Corpus Christi, TX. Tera began her educational journey as a Viking at Del Mar College and went on to complete her bachelor’s degree in psychology and Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Texas A&M University of Corpus Christi. Tera is a Licensed Professional Counselor with experience working with several populations using evidenced-based practices such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Solution-focused Brief Therapy.

Tera is confident in her abilities to reach, empower, and teach new helpful skills while collaborating with clients on subjects such as anxiety, stress management, depression, suicidality, self-esteem concerns, Bipolar Disorder, grief and loss, and coping skills/mindfulness/relaxation techniques. She has a history of working in a behavioral hospital facilitating group and individual therapy. More recently, she found herself in forensics and employed at the Nueces County Jail and the local mental health authority, MHID. Tera is dedicated and passionate about continuing to promote, maintain, and restore mental health while developing a compassionate and authentic counselor-client relationship. Empowering others to build independence and resilience is important to her.

Tera maintains her own mental health by spending quality time with family and friends, singing along and dancing at live music performances, self-reflecting by any body of water, going to the theatre to watch films, collecting vintage/art/records, and supporting all things local. When Tera is not feeling social, you may find her diving into true crime documentaries.

Life quote Tera lives by: "The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." -Carl Jung

Heidi Khatibi, M.A., LPC

Counselor
hkhatibi@delmar.edu

Heidi Khatibi is a recent transplant to Corpus Christi, moving here in the Fall of 2022 from Chicago, IL. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago and her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Regent University in Virginia. She has spent most of her career working in college and university settings and is passionate about working with students in higher education. Her areas of professional interest include anxiety, depression, interpersonal/relationship concerns, traumatic life events, healthy boundaries, and life transitions.

Heidi is a Licensed Professional Counselor and utilizes concepts associated with Brief Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy and Collaborative Brief Therapy to assist students in gaining self-awareness, understanding the influence of the past on the present, evaluating established patterns and implementing positive change. She strives to create a safe space with genuineness, acceptance, and empathy as well as the believing that everyone has the capacity for personal growth and change.

Heidi practices her own self care by spending time with family, reading a good book, going for a run, or just spending time in nature.

Life quote Heidi lives by: "We are what we are because we have been what we have been" -Sigmund Freud