Faculty Directory
Aaron Norton, Ph.D.
Norton is a counselor educator and practitioner whose work examines the use of emerging technologies in the mental health counseling profession, including artificial intelligence, telehealth and virtual reality, as well as bias within counseling and the role of mental health counselors in forensic evaluation. His research and professional practice are grounded in advancing ethical, accessible and effective mental health services across clinical and forensic contexts.
Norton has more than 20 years of experience in mental health counseling, forensic mental health evaluation, clinical supervision and counselor training. Since 2013, he has served as a faculty member at the ºÚÁϱ¬ÁÏ while maintaining a diverse clinical and supervisory career spanning community mental health, correctional programs, public health, residential substance use treatment, vocational rehabilitation and private practice. His work reflects a strong commitment to integrating research, technology and practice to improve mental health care delivery.
Norton earned a doctorate in counselor education and supervision, a master’s degree in rehabilitation and mental health counseling and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the ºÚÁϱ¬ÁÏ. He serves on the Ethics Committee of the American Mental Health Counselors Association, co-chairs an international counseling taskforce for the International Association for Counselling, chairs the Government Relations Committee of the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association and contributed to the development of the Florida Certification Board’s Certified Telehealth Practitioner credential. His areas of expertise include artificial intelligence, psychotherapy, clinical mental health counseling, virtual reality and forensic evaluation.
Research Interests
- Bias in the counseling profession, particularly how counselors’ political ideologies influence clinical decision-making.
- The intersection of counseling and technology, with a focus on telehealth, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.
- Forensic evaluation practices within the counseling field.
Publications
Tan, T.X. & Norton, A.L. (in press). US clinical mental health counselors' responses to requests for emotional support animal letters. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
Norton, A.L. (in press). Considerations for the use of generative artificial intelligence in the counseling profession. Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education.
Norton, A.L., Tan, T.X., & Chen, A.Z. (2025). Clinical mental health counselors' political ideology, political party affiliation, and treatment approaches to clients with a history of abortion. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 47(2), 150-168.
Norton, A.L., Chen, A.Z., & Tan, T.X. (2022). Firearms in clients' homes: Role of clinical mental health counselors' political beliefs and treatment objectives. Psychotherapy and Politics International, 20(3), 1-18.
American Mental Health Counselors Association. (2021). Forensic evaluation standards and competencies. In AMHCA standards for the practice of clinical mental health counseling (pp. 37-40). AMHCA.
Norton, A.L. (2021). Political ideologies, political party affiliation, and treatment decisions of clinical mental health counselors (Publication No. 28411261) [Doctoral dissertation, ºÚÁϱ¬ÁÏ]. ProQuest Dissertation and Theses database.
Davis, E. S., Norton, A., & Chapman, R. (2020). Counselors’-in-training perceptions of using music for theoretical conceptualization training. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 15(4), 443–456.
Davis, E. S. & Norton, A. & Chapman, R. (2019). Using music for case conceptualization: Looking through an Adlerian lens. The Journal of Individual Psychology 75(2), 156-170.
Norton, A.L., & Tan, T.X. (2019). The relationship between licensed mental health Counselors’ political ideology and counseling theory preference. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 89(1), 86-94.
Tan, T.X., Smith, L.S., & Norton, A.L. (2017). Adoption of Black children by White parents in heterosexual and homosexual relationships: Exploring mental health trainees’ explicit and implicit attitudes. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 29(3), 233-251.
