Career Awareness: Connecting Nebraskans with Behavioral Health Careers

As they reach their sophomore and junior years, many college students begin making real decisions about which career paths they want to pursue.

A BHECN-supported program at the Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI) aims to meet students at that crossroads and help them discover the diverse possibilities that exist within behavioral health careers.

Launched in 2021, the initiative pairs undergraduate psychology students from the University of Nebraska Omaha — primarily sophomores and juniors — with MMI’s graduate-level trainees and postdoctoral fellows. 

The program exposes undergraduates to real-world behavioral health careers while helping doctoral interns and fellows build supervision skills.

“It’s such a nice package,” said Melissa Hunter, PhD, (right) assistant professor in the MMI Department of Psychology. “We’re making sure that undergrads are benefiting, our graduate and post-grad level trainees are benefiting, and our staff benefit from meaningful support. Everybody wins.”

Since its start, the program has placed between 12 and 15 undergraduates, most of whom go on to pursue graduate education in psychology. Dr. Hunter envisions expanding the program beyond UNO.

Supporting programs like this is just one way BHECN carries out the first pillar of the Nebraska Model — Career Awareness.

Other efforts to raise awareness of behavioral health careers include programs like the Frontier Area Rural Mental Health Camp and Mentorship Program — or F.A.R.M. C.A.M.P. — which is held annually in the Panhandle and led by the directors of BHECN’s Panhandle site: Cate Jones-Hazledine, PhD, and Tara Wilson, PhD.

The free camp — which has been held annually since 2013 — brings together Western Nebraska high school students for a week to introduce them to careers in behavioral health.

“Many students who have attended F.A.R.M. C.A.M.P. have gone on to pursue behavioral health career paths,” Dr. Jones-Hazledine said.

BHECN also raises awareness through participation in career fairs and the creation of written and online materials that educate and connect people with behavioral health careers.

The goal of all these efforts is to ensure the gateway into behavioral health careers remains wide open for Nebraska students, said Kati Cordts, PhD, BHECN’s Deputy Director, who also oversees the organization’s programmatic offerings.

“Strategically connecting with students as they move through the education system — and connecting them with the opportunities available in the behavioral health workforce — is essential to the success of BHECN’s mission,” Dr. Cordts said.