Less than a half mile from campus, The University of Tulsa’s True Blue Neighbors Behavioral Health Clinic plays a vital role in caring for community members while training clinical psychology graduate students.
Founded in 2015, Director Jennifer Steward, who also serves as an applied assistant professor in Kendall College of Arts & Sciences, was one of the program’s first graduate assistants.
“I was very fortunate to have been able to help establish the clinic,” said Steward (M.A. ’14, Ph.D. ’17). “I took over the director role in 2018, and I am very happy to be back at TU and working for the clinic. It has been wonderful helping the clinic grow and extend our influence in the community.”
The facility has seen more than 1,110 clients since opening almost a decade ago; about half of those are children. While most services are offered in-person, the clinic also offers limited telehealth services, allowing them to reach clients statewide.
All of the mental health services are free of charge. “This sets us apart from other training clinics across the country,” Steward said. “We have generous donors who see the importance of what we are doing in providing a much-needed service to the community at large.” The clinic is seeking additional gifts as it prepares to create an endowment to ensure long-term financial support.
The clinic provides comprehensive diagnostic assessments and evidence-based therapy for a number of concerns, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, parenting skills, and stress management. Potential clients are screened to clarify the type of services they are seeking, and then they are placed on a waiting list or referred to other health care professionals because of high demand. “There are some services we don’t provide – such as substance abuse treatment, or treatment for severe mental health issues such as psychosis or bipolar disorder – but we have a great network of providers that we can refer people to,” Steward said.
“While many other mental health professionals can provide supports to clients, psychologists have specialized training, particularly in assessment, to meet a unique community need,” she said. Recent data indicate that the current number of psychologists in Oklahoma only meets 37% of the projected mental health needs. This means the True Blue Neighbors Behavioral Health Clinic is able to help meet the current mental health needs of the community while training the next generation of psychologists.
The clinicians are all clinical psychology master’s and doctoral students at UTulsa, who provide assessments or therapy to clients under supervision from licensed psychologists, including faculty members. All sessions are recorded for teaching purposes.
The students spend 12 months at the clinic for their initial practical training. “This gives our students important foundational clinical skills that they can build upon as our they continue their training in community placements,” Steward said. “There is just no substitute for real world practice, while also giving back to the community.”