Welcome to JBU, Ray Wagoner! Mr. Wagoner joins JBU's Center for Healthy Relationships as the Oliver Endowed Chair.

Ray Wagoner has been a licensed counselor in Arkansas for the past five years and is currently a doctoral student at Liberty University. Upon graduating with an MA in clinical mental health counseling, Ray joined a team of counselors treating diverse and various clientele. After successfully establishing a counseling practice, Ray was given the opportunity to supervise graduate counseling students. Supervising these students has become a passion for Ray. The privilege of mentoring emerging counselors was the impetus for Ray to begin a doctoral program in fall 2022. It is his aspiration to invest his knowledge and skills in the successful development of many potential counselors representing the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the globe.

As well as a gifted therapist, Ray is also an accomplished speaker and educator. Ray honed these skills through years of training and in his previous career as a minister. These accomplishments are carried forward into his current endeavors, and much of what he experienced and learned continues to inform and expand with counseling and supervision. He desires to use these skills to advocate for mental health professionals in all stages of their careers and all aspects of their work. He wants therapists to know they matter more than the work itself.

When Ray is not in the office, he spends time with his wife of 32 years and his two children, their spouses, and his two granddaughters, who are his heartbeat. We are so grateful to have Ray at the CHR and look forward to all the ways he will partner with JBU and the community for years to come!"