Terri Mason is a seasoned counseling professional with more than three decades of experience supporting students, families and fellow counselors through comprehensive, developmentally responsive counseling services.
Most recently she was selected as president-elect of the Virginia Counseling Association Foundation and will assume the role on Jan. 1, 2027.
She currently serves with Fairfax County Public Schools’ Human Resources Colleague Assistant Program, where she mentors school counselors to support them in delivering classroom-based social-emotional learning, individual and group work, along with schoolwide prevention and intervention efforts. She supports school counselors through consultation, guidance and professional support, bringing deep practical experience and a counselor-centered lens to her work.
She also supervised numerous counseling interns and twice served as a Pyramid Leader, demonstrating a sustained commitment to mentoring, leadership development and systems-level counseling practice.
Previously Mason spent 25 years as a professional school counselor at Hunt Valley Elementary School in Springfield, Va. Earlier in her career she held counseling roles at Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean, Va., and at the high school level in California, further grounding her expertise across developmental stages and diverse educational environments.
Mason holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling Studies from Capella University. Her dissertation examined parents’ experiences using Social Thinking® strategies with children on the autism spectrum. She also earned a Master of Arts in Education with emphasis in School Counseling from San José State University and holds multiple counseling endorsements.
A recognized leader in the counseling profession, Mason has been a frequent presenter at state, national and international conferences, with presentations focused on effective group work in school settings and the application of Social Thinking® in counseling practice.
She has been actively involved in professional leadership, served as president of the Virginia Association for Specialists in Group Work, director of the Virginia Counseling Association Foundation, and as a board member of both the Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling and the Association for Specialists in Group Work.
Her contributions have been widely recognized, including the VCAF John Cook Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025, ACAC Outstanding Leadership Award in 2023 and Virginia Counseling Association Counselor of the Year in 2017.