Dr. Catherine Mueller-Bell’s passion for helping those in impoverished communities started as a child, when her parents moved frequently around the country. It's when she first saw the contrast between poverty and wealth.
That led to a 40-year career in building counseling education resources – including the last 14 with her husband, Mark – in oppressed areas, such as Zambia, India and Peru.
Those efforts by Mueller-Bell, a professor of clinical mental health counseling at Grand Canyon University, were recognized by the National Board of Certified Counselors, which honored her with a 2026 NBCC Global Advancement of Counseling: Community Capacity Award.
“It was such an honor. I didn't even know we had such awards in the counseling field, so it was a real shock,” Mueller-Bell said.
The NBCC honors counseling professionals who “ardently seek” to advance the profession on a global level through “dedication and service on the front lines” to mobilize access to clinical resources.
“Dr. Mueller-Bell has demonstrated true obedience to God’s calling,” said Dr. Anna Edgeston, GCU College of Humanities and Social Sciences assistant dean, who grew up in Kenya. “Her lifelong commitment and dedication to serving vulnerable populations in Zambia speaks to human flourishing and global contribution, two critical aspects of GCU’s mission and vision. Her service and leadership to the people of Zambia have yielded generational impact.
“I was privileged to travel to Zambia with Dr. Mueller-Bell in 2023, where I witnessed firsthand the impact she has made through the lives she has touched and the programs she has been instrumental in advancing.”
Mueller-Bell is founder and director of Mapalo Counseling Ministries, which operates under a Christian nongovernment organization, Phoebe Foundation Africa. Mapalo, which means “blessing” in the Bemba tribe of Zambia, provides counseling education that has produced a counseling conference. The event has attracted more than 200 pastors, physicians, nurses, teachers, law enforcement and government officials.
July 2027 will mark Mueller-Bell’s 10th trip to Zambia, and she’s prepared to visit the 10 impoverished villages that PFA serves through Sub-Saharan Africa. The area covers nearly 50 countries. Developing counseling is important to Mueller-Bell, especially since Zambia ranks 110th out of 123 countries in the Global Hunger index, and the national HIV prevalence rate is 11% among adults and 15% among children.
“We drive about 12 hours to get from one tip of the countries to the bottom, and then left to right,” said Mueller-Bell, who talks with PFA officials four times a week as chairwoman for the PFA-USA board. She seeks to elevate awareness in the States about the needs of Zambia residents.
“We provide counseling conferences, and then we train the trainers and the Zambian leaders. And then they do workshops throughout the year in between our visits, and now they're developing counseling centers so people can get counseling.”
The Bells and PFA also established soccer ministries to share the Christian gospel with orphaned children.
“There’s still a ton of challenges, but the trust we’ve developed with the Phoebe Foundation that is really strong is hard to find with (a nongovernment organization),” Mueller-Bell said. “And it's been amazing to see the fruits. And they do this work every day, all year long, where they are leaning into where there's the greatest suffering there, and they do it with such love and with such just bold devotion.”
As a GCU professor, Mueller-Bell referred to teaching methods now known as “intercultural counseling.”
“It implies more engagement and more equity, engagement and relationship,” Mueller-Bell said. “And that's been an important thing, and we just try to pray with my students. I try to encourage them to think about a Christ-centered approach to asking the question of, ‘Where's the greatest suffering in God's kingdom?’
“That really fits with GCU's mission. And how can we lean in in a way that promotes dignity and instills hope and fosters healing and transformation?’ That's really our mission.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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GCU News: Two graduate counseling programs earn prized accreditation
