Entries by Alexandra Werntz

Therapeutic Mentoring: A Scalable Solution to the Youth Mental Health Crisis

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Editor’s note, we are reprinting this to mark the new State Certified Course in Therapeutic Mentoring. Please check it out! By Alexandra Werntz, Licensed Clinical Psychologist We are in the midst of a youth mental health crisis. While 20–30% of young people need mental health support, far too few actually receive it. The challenges are […]

Community Partnership Spotlight: How Training Enhances Youth Mentoring

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When Angela Hipp, Mentoring Coordinator at Community Connections, secured grant funding for mentor training, she laid the groundwork for an innovative partnership that is showing promising results in youth mental health support. The collaboration between Community Connections and the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at UMass Boston has introduced an exciting approach to mentor preparation through […]

The Promise and Perils of Using Peers and Other Paraprofessionals as Mental Health Service Professionals

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By Alexandra Werntz, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Associate Director of the UMass Boston Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring.    A timely new opinion piece in JAMA Psychiatry by Areán, O’Connor, and Sherrill of the National Institute of Mental Health highlights both the promise and challenges of integrating paraprofessionals into mental health service delivery. As the […]