Marla Smith
Marla Smith, is a licensed mental health practitioner and licensed mental health counselor in the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute's Psychology Department.
- Languages Spoken: English
Professional Bio
Smith joined MMI after working as part of the Mid-America MHTTC as the coordinator for the serious mental illness program. Smith's work focuses on behavioral health services, crisis response, and workforce development. She continues to lead statewide and regional training and technical assistance initiatives focused on evidence-based and promising practices within behavioral health and human service systems.
Smith has extensive experience developing and delivering professional education, learning communities, and communities of practice for multidisciplinary audiences, including mobile crisis response teams, direct support professionals, housing staff, and community-based providers. Her areas of expertise include trauma-informed care, de-escalation and crisis intervention, culturally responsive practices, and cross-system collaboration, particularly at the intersection of mental health, intellectual/developmental disability, and crisis services. She regularly provides training and consultation to public and private agencies and presents at regional and national conferences. Her work is grounded in the application of research-informed practices to improve service quality and workforce competency. She is committed to strengthening workforce capacity to improve outcomes for individuals with complex needs.