The True Blue Neighbors Behavioral Health Clinic (TBN-BHC) provides affordable and empirically supported mental health assessment and treatment services to the Kendall Whittier neighborhood and surrounding areas. Thanks to Ascension Foundation through the St. John Health System Foundation, TU has received a grant for TBN-BHC. Associate Professor of Psychology John McNulty explained, “Big picture right now — Without the Ascension grant, there would be no clinic.” On Monday, September 25, TBN-BHC honors their new chief supporters with a celebration at 5:30 p.m. at the clinic.
The clinic allows psychology graduate students to practice what they learn in the classroom, while being supervised by TU’s licensed clinical psychology professors. “The opportunities are learning how to provide psychological treatment of various behavioral health issues and how to conduct evaluations to determine what the problems are and then decide how to treat,” McNulty said.
Two students share their experience with True Blue Neighbors Behavioral Health Clinic.
Rachel Lee: “I’m a fourth-year in the clinical psychology doctoral program. I have been working at the clinic since it first opened in 2015, first as a student clinician and then as an associate director. True Blue Neighbors Behavioral Health Clinic has helped my training experience by giving me the opportunity to see clients of all different ages, presenting problems and socioeconomic backgrounds. Students receive guidance and supervision by licensed faculty members from the clinical psychology program tailored to our programs goals and standards. Not only has the clinic been extremely beneficial to the students by providing rigorous training in clinical practice before they go out into the community to work at other sites, but also it has benefited the community immensely. Our services are free of charge, which means that people in the community, who have no way to pay for mental health services, can now receive the help they need. In some cases, our clinic can provide much-needed assessments that would normally cost clients thousands of dollars free of charge. I have had clients tell me that these services have been life changing for them.
When I first started at TBN-BHC, I had no idea how many people would be dependent on this type of clinic in order to get the help they need. It has been truly humbling. I love working here, and I am ecstatic that we received the funding necessary to keep the clinic open for another five years.”
Kristen Gray: “I am a third-year clinical psychology doctoral student, and TBN-BHC has helped me become a more confident and competent clinician in training. I have been able to apply the training I received at TBN-BHC to many other areas of my work and life, including my research. I specifically want to work with children; and while The University of Tulsa’s clinical psychology doctoral program is generalist, TBN-BHC provided me unique opportunities to receive experience in this area. Additionally, working at TBN-BHC has allowed me to connect with and give back to my community. The experience and knowledge I have gained from TBN-BHC truly cannot be captured in a few short sentences. In addition to learning various evidence-based therapy and assessment protocols, I have learned how to conceptualize individual cases. This has been extremely important and beneficial to my training as a clinician. Individuals with the same disorder may have symptoms stemming from different etiologies. Learning how to conceptualize each case allows me to think critically about the best course of action for their treatment. Furthermore, I have learned how to consult with peers and supervisors and how to interact with individuals from an informed-care perspective. Most importantly to me, I have learned how passionate I am about clinical work, and my experience at TBN-BHC has only solidified my desire to pursue a career in this field.”