As you walk into the counseling office in the Campus Center, you immediately feel welcomed by a smile, beautiful paintings, and a quiet atmosphere. This sense of acceptance continues as you walk into Bill Burrichter’s office, the new Director of Counseling Services at Houghton. After graduating from Houghton, Burrichter thought it would be great to return to Houghton someday. Now, 23 years later, he’s back.
While speaking with Burrichter, he reflected on his time in Lancaster, PA where he has spent most of his life. He also spent time working in the Boston area, Philadelphia, and even spent a year in Venezuela. In Venezuela, he served as a house parent alongside his wife, who served as a school nurse where he counseled. “I kept trying to go other places, Burrichter said, but God kept bringing me back to the Lancaster area,” he said. After meeting his wife at a summer camp in Pennsylvania and then marrying, they they pursued their common goal of overseas missions. However, their plan to stay overseas was short-lived when they felt God calling them back home to the U.S. Burrichter said, “Sometimes His path doesn’t make sense to us, but He directs them in ways that we never would’ve imagined.”
Burrichter graduated from Houghton with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in sociology. Following his four years at Houghton, he went on to graduate school at Villanova for counseling and later earned his doctorate from Walden University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Burrichter and his wife now have three kids, who are still making the transition from Lancaster to Houghton. He reiterated, “God has a plan” and is hoping to buy a farm near Houghton for their family and their pets.
Burrichter worked in Lancaster for 15 years, including teaching at Lancaster Bible College, where he started and directed a counseling center for students. While teaching full-time and working at a private practice in addition to his work in the counseling center, Burrichter was contacted by Michael Lastoria , the former counseling director, about the position at Houghton. Lastoria told him that he was retiring and Burrichter fairly quickly declined. After receiving more emails from Houghton faculty about the position opening, Burrichter decided to ask his wife and kids about the job. Upon hearing their approval instead of the “no’s” he was expecting, Burrichter knew he should listen to God. He applied and was offered the job last April after extensive interviews.
When asked about his passion for counseling and reaching students, he replied , “Seeing lives changed, seeing lives impacted by the services they get, it keeps you going.” His love for counseling can be traced back to the Introduction to Psychology Burrichter took with Professor Richard Stegen, in which he realized he wanted to interact with people and help them. Burrichter also said, “One of the things I think is really cool about Houghton is that it has a Christian faith foundation.” For Burrichter, “the ability to freely integrate [his] faith with what [he does]… and to be able to talk about faith issues is pretty exciting.”
Burrichter is happy to be back at Houghton, to see students and how far they have come and will come, and to be back to the slower pace of life in our open and rural community.