Faculty Spotlight - Dr. Lia Falco

Dr. Lia Falco

Dr. Lia Falco is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology where she brings a wealth of experience in counseling, education, and community engagement. She has a deep commitment to student well-being and success, her work bridges research, practice, and service in meaningful ways. Her scholarship focuses on enhancing students’ self-efficacy and adaptive learning strategies, particularly in school counseling and academic development. She is passionate about mentoring future counselors and advancing equity in education. As the founder of the Talk It Out partnership with Tucson Unified School District, she has helped expand access to counseling services for underserved communities while creating training opportunities for graduate students. Dr. Falco is known for her tireless advocacy for students, her inclusive approach to leadership, and her unwavering dedication to empowering future generations of educators and counselors.

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Who do you draw inspiration from and why?

Jessica Summers has been my most enduring champion over the course of my academic career. She has consistently inspired me to step outside my comfort zone both personally and professionally, to take risks, and to reach my potential as a scholar.  She is also a mother. Her daughter and my older daughter are the same age, so we have bonded over that shared experience, and I have learned a lot from her about navigating a successful academic career while balancing the demands of parenting.  We have many shared research interests, and she has also been my closest collaborator. She inspires me to think about research in ways that I wouldn’t otherwise, and we usually have our best ideas for projects over our regular afternoon coffee breaks.  We have worked together for more than fifteen years, and I consider her one of my closest friends. I think those kinds of relationships – those that transcend work – are the most inspiring. I can count on her to always understand where I’m coming from and trust that she will always look out for my best interests as a friend and as a colleague.

What meaning does your role as a mother have on your work in education?

I have two daughters ages 17 and 13, one in high school and one in middle school.  Becoming a mother completely transformed my understanding of education. Having children in school gave me first-hand awareness of how teachers, counselors, coaches, principals, friends, and the entire school system shapes lives. I see, through my kids’ eyes, how the school experience affects children’s sense of self and what they believe is possible.  I cringe sometimes when my kids tell me about what’s happening at school, but other times I am filled with a sense of happiness and pride that they are taught by such excellent professionals.  It also fills me with a great sense of responsibility as a researcher and mentor of future education professionals; knowing that my work and my professional practice will either directly or indirectly influence the lives of others in schools, hopefully for the better. 

What are one or two accomplishments of which you are most proud?

I am very proud of earning tenure.  I am a graduate of the UA and began my academic career here in 2008 less than three months after giving birth to my first daughter. I worked hard in various positions before finally becoming tenure-eligible in 2015.  When I was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2021, that was one of my proudest accomplishments.  However, I am most proud of creating Talk it Out which is a school-based mental health program. Talk it Out uses a training model to provide free mental health counseling to students and caregivers in TUSD. Our graduate students have a unique opportunity to receive training while providing important services to a community that has been historically under resourced.  To date we have provided over 3000 service hours through individual and family therapy sessions as well as mental health literacy training for families and TUSD staff. I believe that every student in school deserves access to high quality and easily accessible mental health care which is why I am so proud of the work and the program.