School of Education

Education

• Ph.D. in Counselor Education, University of Central Florida, 2014
• M.A. in Mental Health Counseling, University of Central Florida, 2009
• B.A. in Psychology, University of Central Florida, 2005
  
  

Research interests

Mental health and addiction counseling, individual and community thriving, contemplative practices, and Positive Psychology.

Career highlights

• Associate Editor for Quantitative Research, Journal of Counseling & Development (2018-2025)
• Editor in Chief for Counseling and Values (2025-2026)
• President for Association for Spiritual Ethical Religious Values in Counseling (2021-2022)
• Three-time Recipient of Bigg-Pines Award for Outstanding Scholarly Contribution (2010, 2015, 2019)
• Recipient of outstanding research award by Association for Play Therapy (2022)
• Two time recipient of VCU Nira Award
• Awarded a $3 million grant by the John Templeton Foundation.

Recent publications/projects

• Gutierrez, D., & Dorais, S. (2026). The Space Between Us: On Being a Contemplative Counselor. American Counseling Association Publishing, Washington, D.C.
• Gutierrez, D., Poandl, M. M., & Kitching, E. (2026). The bridge of hope: Mediating the relationship between mindfulness and loneliness. The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, 65(1).
• Gutierrez, D., Dorais, S., & Niles, J. (2025). Spiritual competency training in mental health and multicultural orientation and contemplative awareness: An evaluation of two training approaches with psychotherapists. Psychotherapy.
• Gutierrez, D., Principal Investigator. Co-Principal Investigator, Dorais, S. (2022 – 2024). Spirituality and Client Outcomes: Investigating the Mechanisms of Religious and Spiritual Competence Training in Mental Health. Templeton Religious/Spiritual Competencies Grant. $120,000.
• Gutierrez, D., Principal Investigator. Co-Principal Investigator, Dorais, S. (2022 – 2024). An intensive longitudinal study on a Centering Meditation: Exploring the temporal dynamics of nondual awareness and prosociality. Mind & Life Institute PEACE Grant. $100,000.
• Gutierrez, D., Co-Principal Investigator. (Corona, R., Moreno, O. Múltiple Principal Investigators), Co-Investigator, Christine Kaestle. (2018 – 2021) Culturally enhancing a motivational interviewing intervention for Latinx adolescents. Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth. $449,912.
• Gutierrez, D., Goshorn, J., & Dorais, S. (2022). Thriving in recovery: An exploration of thriving over a course of time in recovery. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 132, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108612
• Ray, D.C., Burgin, E.E., Ceballos, P.L., Lindo, N., Gutierrez, D. (2021). Child-centered play therapy and Adverse Childhood Experiences: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Counseling and Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12412
• Dorais, S., and Gutierrez, D. (2021). The effectiveness of a centering meditation intervention on college stress and mindfulness: A randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychology 12:720824. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720824
• Revens, K.E., Gutierrez, D., Paul, R., Reynolds, A.D., Price, R., & DeHaven, M.J. (2021). Social support and religiosity as contributing factors to resilience and mental wellbeing in latino immigrants: A community-based participatory research study. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 23(5), 904 – 916. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-021-01179-7
  
  

Bio

Daniel Gutierrez, Ph.D., LPC, CSAC, is Assistant Vice Provost for the Office of University Convergence Initiatives and Professor of Counselor Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. His scholarship focuses on mental health, human flourishing, and the ways individuals, communities, and institutions respond to complex challenges. His work spans contemplative approaches to mental health, spirituality and meaning-making, resilience and hope, and the development of transdisciplinary strategies for addressing complex societal problems. In his leadership of Convergence,

Dr. Gutierrez works across disciplines, professions, and institutional boundaries to bring diverse forms of expertise together around compelling societal challenges. His work emphasizes convergence research, complex systems change, and the creation of structures that help interdisciplinary teams move from collaboration toward genuinely integrated and transformative approaches. Across his research and administrative leadership, he is particularly interested in how universities can organize knowledge in service of human well-being and the common good. He is also recognized as a Fellow of the American Counseling Association (ACA).

Curriculum Vitae