Mental Health Matters

Synergy Brings Workforce Solutions To Forefront

diagnose a mental health illness and treat the illness, whether that’s through prescribing medication, psychotherapy, or a combination.

“That then creates access because our partners are comfortable caring for folks in a primary care setting,” she said. “That then allows for those really specialty appointments to be available for individuals that need specialty care.”

The grant will cover tuition for 15 students over the course of three years. The program spans about a year and is 100% online, and CHI is able to complete the hands-on training in-house, eliminating common barriers for full-time professionals.

Dr. Catherine Todero, Creighton College of Nursing dean, said there also may be travel stipends.

“We’re trying to mitigate anything that might be perceived as a barrier to students taking this opportunity,” she said.

Accessible Entry

While upskilling the current workforce is an essential piece of the puzzle, the coalition of higher education institutions also recognized time and money as a barrier.

Common careers in the field – psychiatrist, physician assistant, psychiatric nurse practitioner, licensed psychologist, professional mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, and clinical social worker – require a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree.

That’s one of the reasons MHIF and its institutional partners zeroed in on mental health technicians. Not only was it one of the most requested positions, but it also doesn’t require a degree or certificate to start.

What Bellevue University, Metropolitan Community College, and Iowa Western Community College wanted to pursue were betterequipping technicians.

Gary Stessman, who is an associate professor at Bellevue University, said burnout happens quickly when technicians don’t understand how a mental health issue manifests. Stessman knows firsthand; he’s a licensed independent mental health practitioner and provisionally licensed alcohol and drug counselor with over 14 years of experience.

He said if a technician doesn’t understand a person’s trauma response or underlying mental health issue, it’s easy to take a negative reaction personally.

“If they understand trauma and its impact on brain function, or if they understand developmental disabilities and psychiatric disorders, they can separate the behavior from the patient and not personalize it,” he said. “When you don’t personalize it, then you can stay focused on making sure the patient receives the treatment they need.”

The mental health technician certificate program that Bellevue University, as well as IWCC and MCC, have launched teaches students those foundational skills and more.

The hope is that by better-preparing technicians they will stay in the field longer, providing stability, and possibly deciding to receive more training.

“It’s an entry-level job, but if they’re working at a hospital they might have benefits like tuition assistance, which allows them to take a look at other avenues they could explore,” said Dr. Michelle Eppler, dean of Bellevue University’s College of Arts and Sciences. “They could go the counseling, social service, or psychiatric nursing routes.”

In the end, it all comes back to creating a better future for Omaha, and the greater Nebraska area.

“The key here is, the larger the pool, the better off everyone in our community will be,” Stinson said.