Sentio University 5th Anniversary Letter

December 8, 2025

Dear Sentio Community,

I am very happy to write this letter to you on the 5th anniversary of Sentio University’s founding. We started Sentio with the goal of improving the quality, rigor, and accountability in mental health training. We have many strategies to achieve this, but they all come down to two basic factors: a commitment to work harder and being more willing to face your mistakes than is required in traditional therapist training. Indeed, the Sentio program is the only one we are aware of where applicants are counseled that the rigor, effort, and vulnerability required by the program may be more than they want to engage in, and thus they should consider other programs.

When we started Sentio, we weren’t sure that students would want to enroll in such a program. Now, five years later, we have 17 students studying in the Sentio MFT program. These courageous students are engaging in far more effort and vulnerability than is required of MFT students at other programs, including extensive review of client video, empirical outcome data, and rigorous deliberate practice. It is immensely gratifying and inspiring to witness our students strive to become the very best therapists they can be.

Likewise, our faculty and supervisors at Sentio demonstrate a commitment to professional development not usually seen in our field. I am not aware of any other graduate program where faculty get weekly feedback on their class videos. A senior colleague at a major university in California recently commented that if she required the faculty at her program to videotape their classes, at least half would quit on the spot! Likewise, all Sentio supervisors go through a year-long deliberate practice training program that involves over 50 hours of video review. This is unprecedented in our field, where typically supervisors receive zero video feedback on their own work, and thus no meaningful accountability. Requiring this intense level of accountability serves to not just increase the quality of training we provide students, but also attracts only the most dedicated practitioners to join Sentio, and thus cultivates a culture rooted in hard work and humble self-reflection.

All this wouldn’t be possible without the tireless service of our small team of dedicated staff. Mikaela, Peter, and Sheri have been through Sentio training themselves, so they are 100% on-mission and personally aware of the effort and vulnerability that is asked of Sentio students. In fact, one of my favorite quotes about Sentio training came from Mikaela who was completing her first year of training back in 2022 when she told us: “Deliberate Practice is painful but worth it!”

But ultimately what matters even more than our students, faculty, supervisor, and staff, are our clients. We serve a diverse range of low-income clients, with sessions starting at just $15. For many of our clients, Sentio is their only viable option for receiving treatment, highlighting the crucial role we serve. The clinical data confirms the effectiveness of therapy they are receiving, despite many navigating serious and enduring mental health challenges.

Finally, I want to also openly acknowledge that Sentio is very young, and we are trying something very different. By joining Sentio, you took an implicit risk: there was no guarantee that we were going to succeed. However, as each year goes by, we see increasing evidence that you made the right choice.

Thank you for taking the risk on us, and on yourself. Together, we are redefining the standards of therapy training. Let’s continue to lean into the hard, vulnerable work that makes true growth possible. I am incredibly proud to build this future with you.

Yours,

Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD
President, Sentio Marriage and Family Therapy Program & Executive Director, Sentio Counseling Centers