Lindsey Wilson University is getting some help with meeting the mental health needs of Central Appalachia. A $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be used to expand the number of the region's mental health counselors.
The grant will assist graduate students in the Lindsey Wilson School of Professional Counseling with their practicum and internships. It provides a stipend to the students and the program's community partners.
Graduate students in the school's master of Education degree in counseling program are required to log 750 hours in their practicum and internships. School officials say this often presents economic challenges to students because most of them work full-time and are also family caretakers.
The $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will support 12 graduate students a year to help expand the behavioral health workforce in Kentucky and West Virginia.
It will be used to prepare 48 new clinical mental health counselors, who will be trained to provide integrated behavioral health care, particularly for children, adolescents, and young adults.
The Lindsey Wilson School of Professional Counseling collaborates with communities in six states, particularly in Appalachia, to address their mental health needs by training qualified professional mental health counselors to serve their communities.
