Dr. Clayton Culp is a talented clinical social worker with a passion for helping people in crisis. A three-time graduate from UT, Culp earned his bachelor’s in journalism, master’s in social work, and Doctor of Social Work degree. As a master’s student, he was awarded the Bush Family Fellowship and worked as a graduate assistant in the Center for Behavioral Health Research. His doctoral research was focused on college student suicide, while he also developed expertise in relationship health. After focusing his career on relationship health and couples counseling, Culp became a social worker at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, where he provides counseling and support to families facing pediatric cancer.
Helping people through crisis is a theme in Culp’s career. He began his career as a suicide-crisis clinician for the community mental health agency Helen Ross McNabb Center in Knoxville. Next, he joined UT to work with students in crisis and eventually became a therapist and Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the UT Student Counseling Center. Culp and the team provide Relationship Checkup training to other counselors tasked with supporting U.S. service members and their families on or near military installations. By providing these trainings online, Culp and his colleagues have been able to train counselors stationed all over the world, making relationship health support more accessible to service members and their partners.
Culp is proud of his connections to Rocky Top. He taught human behavior as adjunct faculty in the College of Social Work and is a member of the university’s Letterman Club for his time as a student manager for the men’s basketball team. Prior to becoming a social worker, he was fortunate to cover UT Athletics as a regular contributor to the Knoxville News Sentinel. Culp has remained active in his community and, as an avid music fan, has volunteered with Music Export Memphis, a nonprofit organization working to help Memphis musicians build sustainable careers.
