Birma Gainor — who has served Clemson University as interim director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) since March 2021 — has been appointed to the full-time position overseeing Redfern Health Center’s team of mental health clinicians.
“Birma has done an outstanding job over the past year in an interim role and is highly respected by students, faculty and staff,” said Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Chris Miller. “CAPS is a critically important resource for students and I am fully confident in our team’s ability to continually deliver high-quality care under Birma’s leadership.”
Gainor is a member of the University’s behavioral intervention and threat assessment teams. During the 2021-22 academic term (August-May), CAPS saw 2,660 unique students and conducted more than 13,000 visits. Gainor helped advance Redfern’s efforts in telepsychology and spearheaded a revised and more efficient intake process for students. Reflective of its efforts, CAPS was the recipient of the Student Affairs Team of the Year award for 2021.
As an assistant director from 2015-21, Gainor coordinated research services, monitored case management services and managed on-call counselor assignments. She also coordinated research services from 2013-15 as a staff psychologist, where she provided advanced psychotherapy services to students. Gainor’s initial post-collegiate experience with CAPS came as a staff counselor from 2003-06.
Gainor was an intern for CAPS in 2002-03. She was also a graduate assistant at Clemson for both the Department of Counselor Education and Office of Health Education. She previously held roles as a graduate assistant at the University of Georgia in Counseling and Human Development Services and as a pre-doctoral intern with the Counseling and Human Development Center at the University of South Carolina.
Gainor earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Clemson in 1995 and added master’s degrees in professional communication in 2001 and counselor education in 2003. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in 2010 in counseling psychology.