TEACH Behavioral Health Partnership
TEACH grant partnership is a game changer increasing mental health care access for the youth of the Brazos Valley.
MOST RECENT UPDATE:
At the beginning of October, the Behavioral Health team launched a new counseling program. Teams at our ABC and Memorial Clinics have likely already met our student counselors with the Texas A&M Behavioral Health TEACH program. These counselors are available to help both sites offer additional counseling services to patients of any age. As a result, staff can help facilitate this care with a warm hand-off from any team member. The patients will then have the option to schedule appointments with the student counselors if the counselor sees fit.
Original Article
Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center-Telebehavioral Care has been awarded a $1.6Milion grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to help expand mental health services for children in the Brazos Valley. This 4-year Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Grant represents the beginning of an ongoing partnership. It allocates trainees to embed at for the most part at ABC and Memorial clinics. In fact HealthPoint will be one of 3 partner organizations with training psychologists in integrated behavioral health care and tele-behavioral care.
Each site will have two part-time psychology trainees available for either a morning or afternoon shift. The psychology trainees will function as informal coordinators in patient triage, including:
- Treat with brief interventions
- Refer the patient for counseling to a HealthPoint behavioral health provider
- Consulting directly with the Primary Care Provider (PCP)
- Coordinating with the HealthPoint Behavioral Health Service Coordinator on helping the patient find outside referrals
If circumstances warrant, the trainee could then see the patient at no cost to the patient or HealthPoint. In addition, through a video call, they could provide consultation to the PCP for any of HealthPoint’s other 12 outlying clinics. Indeed, this is a much-needed service for patients at HealthPoint. “Having worked for 24 years as a practicing pediatric psychologist, I understand the utility of how behavioral health can help children and adolescents. About 50% of problems confronting pediatricians and family practitioners involve behavior, development, and learning. Psychologists are in a great position to be helpful with these kinds of referrals,” said HealthPoint Director of Behavioral Health, William Rae, Ph.D. E
What does TEACH stand for?
Telehealth for the Expansion of Adolescent and Child Healthcare
Who are the TEACH grant mental health trainees?
Meet the four advanced psychology doctoral students who as a result of this grant will be bringing their expertise to provide integrated behavioral health care and consultation to PCPs at HealthPoint. To begin with, they will office out of the Memorial and ABC clinics. Our goal is to eventually expand services to the BCS clinic and other HealthPoint clinics in 2022.
Katie Console is a fifth-year student in the Counseling Doctoral program at Texas A&M University. She grew up in Louisiana and is bilingual in English and Spanish. She hopes to work as a psychologist in an interdisciplinary medical setting one day. Lastly, Katie has two cats and loves to cook.
Abby Sharer is a fourth-year student in Texas A&M’s Counseling Psychology program. She speaks English and Spanish and hopes to work as a bilingual psychologist after graduation. Finally, Abby enjoys working out, reading, and spending time with her one-eyed cat named Willow.
Kaylee Jackson is a fourth-year student in the Counseling Psychology program at Texas A&M. She is a native Texan and Aggie football fan. She enjoys cooking, traveling, and watching movies with her partner and three dogs. Also, Kaylee hopes to work in integrated behavioral healthcare settings after graduation.
Sherine Presley is a fourth-year School Psychology doctoral student at Texas A&M University. She is a native Floridian who enjoys going to the beach and practicing yoga. Sherine would like to work with children and families within an academic medical center.
Together with the rest HealthPoint Team, please welcome Katie, Abby, Kaylee, and Sherine!
Book an appointment with your PCP to request a referral today!
