who calls me asking to start [treatment].” Oregon’s coastal and rural communities face particular challenges when it comes to mental-health access, including higher suicide rates — particularly for rural men over the age of 55. In September 2023, Oregon State University launched the AgriStress HelpLine, a 24-hour mental-health support line (with text and voice functions) designed specifically to support rural Oregonians and their families. When it comes to preparing Southern Oregon students for the realities of the mental-health workforce upon graduation, Christopherson says the SOU method allows for close mentorship opportunities and fieldwork from day one, as well as a compact 20-month program able to get students into the field more quickly when compared to other programs. “Everything starts with both an ethical lens and a multicultural lens. There’s a real emphasis on competence. Our students get professional supervision, even when they’re just practicing their skills in the very first class, the very first week of their program. They’re getting rather close professional supervision, and it starts that day and doesn’t end until they graduate,” Christopherson says. “This is not a radical departure from what we’ve been doing, just bigger.” Cort Dorn-Medeiros, chair of the Department of Counseling, Therapy, and School Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, says the funding from the OHA is exactly what the state needs to get more students working in the field, since the financial investment in a master’s degree incentivizes some students to get onto more lucrative career tracks. “This is the investment we need. If you want more mental-health practitioners, especially those going to work for nonprofit agencies in medical settings, supporting them through their education, from my perspective, is 100% the way to do it,” says Dorn-Medeiros, who adds the investment might allow students to choose their careers with their hearts, rather than their bank accounts. “Sometimes it’s like, ‘Well, if I could go over here and make a lot more money right off the bat, why wouldn’t I do that?’ So this is somewhat leveling the playing field in terms of investment up front, which I think is incredible and very impactful.” Dorn-Medeiros says Lewis & Clark is up front with its students about the challenges of entering the field, and that he sees unionization as a new, accelerating way of making more hospitable work environments for behavioral-health care workers. Last summer 57 employees at Legacy Health’s Unity Center for Behavioral Health in Portland filed for union recognition with the National Labor This is the investment we need. If you want more mental-health practitioners, especially those going to work for nonprofit agencies in medical settings, supporting them through their education, from my perspective, is 100% the way to do it.” Cort Dorn-Medeiros Chair of the Department of Counseling, Therapy, and School Psychology at Lewis & Clark College Cort Dorn-Medeiros, chair of the Department of Counseling, Therapy, and School Psychology at Lewis & Clark College 30
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