Donterio Smith’s appointment as a licensed therapist as part of the Early Therapeutic Intervention Initiative has provided much-welcomed help for crime victims and the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office in Georgia.
Smith, a third-year learner in the College of Doctoral Studies’ Canyon Emerging Scholarship program at Grand Canyon University, earned the 2025 Trailblazing Award at the DA’s office first employee appreciation gala.
Smith, a licensed professional counselor and certified professional counselor supervisor, was honored for his “innovative efforts, style and approach in providing a much-needed service to individuals within the judicial circuit.”
Smith said he took great pride in incorporating mental health support for victims of crime “because oftentimes those victims have to go to multiple places to receive services, but to be able to receive that service in-house makes all of the difference from an accessibility standpoint.”
The Early Therapeutic Intervention Initiative was launched in February of 2024 by district attorney Anita R. Howard. This marked the first DA’s office in Georgia to include a licensed therapist to its team, which provides mental health support for victims affected by crime.
Prior to Smith’s appointment, victims seeking help were referred into a community provider, but often had to wait from three to five weeks.
Now, “as soon as they say they want therapy, sometimes they see me the same day,” Smith said. “They identify that they want therapy, and I bridge the gap up until they see the community provider for the very first time.”
Smith’s efforts to assist victims starts the healing process while addressing the emotional cost of trauma. He reported that community providers have noticed a high increase in the rate of people attending because they’re more comfortable with the process.
“They understand what it looks like, and so that fear has been diminished about the idea of participating in therapy," Smith said. "...The circuit is in a very urban area, and so a lot of the population is Black individuals and oftentimes the first thought is not to go to for mental health treatment.”
Smith said he elected to pursue a doctorate at GCU after completing his graduate degree at GCU in 2018.
“Once I started the program, I thought, ‘this is a great program,’'" Smith said. “So when I considered getting my Ph.D., I had no question going anywhere else outside of Grand Canyon.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at Mark.Gonzales@gcu.edu
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