BHECN awards CSC funds to develop webinar series

Dr. Tara Wilson, associate professor, said the webinars are designed to meet the current needs of rural Nebraska.

“I appreciate that BHECN recognizes rural needs are different that urban areas. These webinars give voice to rural behavioral health professionals. Often, there are dual and even multiple relationships between behavioral health providers and their rural clients. Everyone tends to know everyone in small towns. There is less anonymity than in an urban setting,” Wilson said.

All webinars are free, open to the public, and will be presented in Old Admin Room 137 from 11 a.m. to noon. The webinars will be archived on the UNMC website about two weeks after completion, Wilson said. A free lunch will be provided for attendees after each webinar, but an RSVP is required in advance of each event.

The first webinar will be Dual Relationships in Rural Areas Feb. 3 by Dr. Catherine Jones-Hazledine, an adjunct faculty member.

Jones-Hazledine will discuss the pros and cons of dual relationships, where behavioral health providers engage with clients outside a clinical setting. Once thought harmful, dual relationships are nearly impossible to avoid in rural areas. She will help those viewing the webinar to discern between negative and positive dual relationships and provide an ethical decision making model.

March 23, Dr. Susan Schaeffer and Wilson will present Rural Supervision Practice. This webinar will explore supervision for behavioral health workers in rural areas and examine the development of the supervision process and what is expected of supervision.

March 30, Wilson and Fran Rieken will present Counseling Farmers and Ranchers. Rieken is a CSC alumni and a Licensed Mental Health Practitioner at Great Plains Pediatrics in North Platte, Nebraska.

Wilson and Rieken will offer ideas about how to market behavioral health practices to members of the agricultural community, discuss current conditions and crises affecting farmers and ranchers, and review techniques for working with farmers and ranchers.

The partnership between BHECN and CSC has grown in the past few years. In 2017, BHECN leaders visited CSC faculty and students to discuss workforce growth initiatives with behavioral health partners. In 2019, BHECN awarded CSC a one-time grant for $20,000 in scholarships and a second grant for $29,000 to develop undergraduate curriculum to help students pursuing certification as a licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor. Later in 2019, Wilson and Jones-Hazledine were named co-directors of Panhandle BHECN.

—Tena L. Cook, Marketing Coordinator