Elizabeth Villares Sacks

Dr. Elizabeth Villares Sacks is Department Chair and Professor of School Counseling in the Department of Counselor Education at Florida Atlantic University. She has worked as a teacher, school counselor, and guidance director at the secondary level. Her area of specialization includes counseling children and adolescents, integrating technology in school counseling programs to improve data driven practices, and collaborating with school counselors to develop action research, outcome research, and program evaluation projects. Dr. Villares is also interested in the implementation of school counselor led evidence-based programs that lead to an improvement in student achievement.

Research Interests:

• Counseling children and adolescents
• Improving social/emotional skills
• Improving school counseling action and outcome research
• Evidence-based programs that improve student achievement
• Impact of positive psychology on academic, social and emotional performance

Selected Works and Achievements

• Bowers Parker, H., Villares, E., & Kwok, S. (2025). Elementary special education students’ engagement in the Exceptional Student Success Skills program: A mixed-methods study. Counseling Scholarship & Practice in Educational Communities, 1(1), 1 – 31. https://doi.org/10.7275/cspec.2289
• Villares, E., Bowers, H., Brigman, G., & Bottini, C. (2024). The effects of Student Success Skills on attendance and emotion regulation. Journal of Counseling & Development, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12503
• Villares, E., Miller. A. E., & Chevalier, J. A. (2023). The Impact of Leader in Me on the School Climate and Student Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, 19(2), 1-16. https://journals.sfu.ca/ijepl/index.php/ijepl/article/view/1339/351
• Villares, E., Starrett, A., & Limberg, D. (2022). Exploring school counseling during the first wave COVID-19: A latent profile analysis. Journal of Counseling & Development, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12433
• Villares, E., Bowers, H., Mariani, M, & Peluso, P. (2023). Wellness Advocates for Educators and Students. $5,989,554.10. U.S. Department of Education Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant. Principal Investigator.
• Florida School Counselor Association, School Counselor Advocate: School, Community, Family Award, 2025
• Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, President’s Award, 2022
• Journal for Specialists in Group Work, Al Dye Award for Outstanding Article, 2021
• Association for Assessment in Research and Counseling, Outstanding Outcome Research Article of the Year 2017, 2011