{"id":184775,"date":"2023-10-09T13:28:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T23:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=184775"},"modified":"2023-10-09T13:28:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T23:28:09","slug":"1-6m-train-mental-health-counselors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/10\/09\/1-6m-train-mental-health-counselors\/","title":{"rendered":"$1.6M to train mental health, substance abuse counselors"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"teacher
Charmaine Higa-McMillan and students at UH<\/abbr> Hilo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To help curb Â鶹´«Ã½\u2019s<\/span> ballooning demand for mental health services and substance abuse treatment, the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo<\/a> will receive a total of $1.68 million over the next five years. The funding will create a new certified substance abuse counselor (CSAC<\/abbr>) track to accommodate up to 30 students each year within UH<\/abbr> Hilo\u2019s MA<\/abbr> in counseling psychology program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in mental health problems,” said Charmaine Higa-McMillan, director of UH<\/abbr> Hilo\u2019s counseling psychology program. “According to the National Institutes of Health, 50% of Americans in 2021 reported having anxiety or depressive symptoms and 10% stated that their mental health needs were not being met. The need for mental health services in the County of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and across the state has increased significantly due to the opioid abuse epidemic.”<\/p>\n

Weight of addiction<\/h2>\n

\"hand<\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> Hilo received the funding award from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD<\/abbr>) of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Department of Health and in partnership with the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> County Mayor\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 50% of people suffering from substance addiction have a co-occurring mental health condition.<\/p>\n

“An important benefit of adding the CSAC<\/abbr> concentration is that students will be trained to treat both substance use disorders and mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and suicidality,” explained Bryan Kim, a UH<\/abbr> Hilo psychology professor in the program. “In Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, these mental health and substance use problems have posed challenges to our already strained mental health system.”<\/p>\n

Premiere program<\/h2>\n

Established in 2005, the MA<\/abbr> program in counseling psychology provides multicultural, student-centered training with a specialization in clinical mental health counseling. The program\u2019s curriculum meets the requirements for licensure as a mental health counselor in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and is the only one of its kind in the UH<\/abbr> System. The program is nationally accredited and is offered to students throughout the state via distance education technology. The program has graduated more than 200 mental health counselors and has a 90% graduation rate.<\/p>\n

“The mental health counseling program at UH<\/abbr> Hilo is in an ideal position to help address the rising mental health and substance abuse problems in our state,” Higa-McMillan said. “We are excited about our partnership with ADAD<\/abbr> and the Mayor\u2019s Office that will enable us to bring real and tangible benefits to our communities.”<\/p>\n

Alumni from the UH<\/abbr> Hilo program work in various mental health settings across the state such as the state education and health departments, and non-profit agencies including Big Island Substance Abuse Council, Care Hawaii, Child and Family Service, Hale Kipa, and in group and private practice.<\/p>\n

The MA<\/abbr> in counseling psychology program is housed in the UH<\/abbr> Hilo psychology department<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The funding will create a new Certified Substance Abuse Counselor track to accommodate up to 30 students each year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1146,1157,637,14],"class_list":["post-184775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-counseling","tag-mental-health","tag-psychology","tag-uh-hilo","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t