The University of New Hampshire's Department of Psychology and Office of Career and Professional Success collaborate to host a panel bringing clarity to careers in mental health.
By Benjamin Strawbridge
Contributing Writer
November 2, 2017
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With the intention of spreading awareness about graduate curricula and careers in the fields of counseling and clinical mental health, the University of New Hampshire’s Department of Psychology Clinical Career Programming and Office of Career and Professional Success collaborated to host a panel discussion.
Held in Hamilton Smith Hall in Room 150 from 12:40 – 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26, the five-member panel, hosted by Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology Susan Hess, aspired to enlighten its guests about pursuing professions in the various disciplines of mental health. They described their experiences in their chosen professions, the qualifications and coursework required to progress through the different programs and what inspired them to enter their respective areas of study. Within the panel were a number of faculty and administrative members of various fields of mental health education, ranging from psychology professors to program directors.
Marriage and Family Ph.D. Program Director Kevin Lyness, Ph.D., of Antioch University New England in Keene, promoted the variety of paths interested students can take at Antioch, noting that "our students [and] our graduates work in any area of mental health that you can imagine, from eating disorders programs to home-based family therapy programs,” among others. He also pointed out that many of the college’s graduates within their doctoral programs often enter the field of education by choosing to be "academics and teachers” following completion.
Meanwhile, Spanish-English Psychotherapist Sara Hueso, LMHC, Psya.D of Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, explained the variety of Masters’ and Doctorate degrees that encompass fieldwork in the psychosomatic subjects of "anthropology, sociology, psychoanalysis and other kinds of theories you can bring together to understand cultural and social phenomenon.”
In spite of the number of different options presented by the panel in terms of post-college career paths for those intrigued by mental health, its five members all shared amity for human connection and helping those in need. This was especially so for Counseling Department Chair Nilda Laboy, Psy.D., of William James College, who recalled being inspired by her past teachers in the mental health studies and the process of teaching and counseling students using her first-hand knowledge from her time in the field.
"I felt that there’s only so many people you can touch, metaphorically speaking, one-on-one, or a family at a time,” she said. "…But when you teach, you teach the people who are going to be going into the field, and that multiplies every year.”
Laboy also said that it gives her the "most satisfaction” when she is able to "contribute to the formation and development of the new professions in mental health.”
For Master of Social Work Online MSW Coordinator and Clinical Assistant Professor Trish Cox, MSW, M.S.Ed.D., CCLS, of UNH, she recalled being motivated to enter the field while she was a child-life specialist running the therapeutic programming for pediatric cancer patients.
"I think just seeing all the different systems at play and all of the systems of support that the families needed, that encouraged me to go back for my MSW…just knowing they needed such big supports because they were at the worst time of their life, and to know that social workers could work in so many different levels of systems…it was really what pulled me in,” Cox said.
UNH Nursing Department Chair Gene Harkless, APRN, of the UNH Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program, with decades of experience in public nursing, encouraged students to see nursing and studies in behavioral health in general as an opportunity for "powers you can’t even imagine right now,” including the special skills she said are necessary to fully appreciating the "richness” of a constantly "changing” healthcare system.
Harkless also gave advice to those who are still intrigued but hesitant about jumping into the different mental health programs or feeling precluded from the competition. She mentioned that those who may be rejected from their first program should view the rejection as an opportunity for growth.
"But…don’t lose your dream; figure out what you have to do, take the next step, and take the next step, and sometimes the programs you think are a good fit for you, really aren’t the good fit for you, and you’ll find where it does work for you,” Harkless said.
Originally published in The New Hampshire in Vol. 107, No. 10, on Nov. 2, 2017.