Dr. Steve Katsikas, Chair of Spalding’s School of Professional Psychology, was named the Kentucky Psychological Association’s Psychologist of the Year earlier this month.

“It’s really humbling because there are so many amazing psychologists that are part of this state association,” Katsikas said. “For them to say that I did a good job and that they appreciate what I do is super meaningful.”

Katsikas was also elected to become the next president of the KPA, starting in 2020.

Katsikas, who has been at Spalding for 12 years, received the KPA award on Friday, Nov. 2, at the KPA Annual Convention in Lexington. He was recognized for his contributions to teaching and training.

Katsikas has overseen a doctor of clinical psychology (PsyD) program that has received millions in federal grants allocated to student scholarships and stipends. Two current grants through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) are used to provide scholarships for doctoral students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have financial need and to award stipends to PsyD students who provide behavioral health services at primary care sites that serve medically underserved populations.

Under Katsikas, the PsyD program has achieved student internship match rates of 100 and 97 percent in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Katsikas is also the founder of Spalding’s Center for Behavioral Health – an on-campus clinic started in 2015 that offers a range of assessment and therapy services for all ages while also serving as a training ground for PsyD students.

Katsikas credited the entire faculty and staff of the School of Professional Psychology for making Spalding’s programs what they are, and he said the grant-writing staff of Spalding’s Office of Advancement played a key role in helping secure the highly competitive HRSA funding. He said former CBH director Virginia Frazier and current director Norah Chapman and associate director Steven Kniffley deserve credit for the growth of that clinic.

“Everything I’ve been able to accomplish has been because of the team and the teams that I work with,” Katsikas said. “I’ve really done nothing on my own. I have an amazing faculty who are dedicated to teaching and training. … There’s an old saying that if you want to go fast, go by yourself. If you want to go far, go with a team. And we’ve gone far because we have a really good team.”

Katsikas said Spalding’s faculty is made up of “stellar psychologists” who could be working anywhere in the country in any kind of professional setting.

“And they choose to work at Spalding to train the next generation of psychologists,” he said. “That’s pretty cool.”

Before coming to Spalding, Katsikas was the Director of Child and Adolescent Psychology at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, and he also served as Director of Training for that institution’s post-doctoral fellowship program in clinical psychology. Katsikas earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Arkansas.

He was not the only Spalding faculty member honored at the KPA convention. Kniffley, a Spalding SOPP alumnus and current assistant professor, received an award for multicultural professional development.

Find out more about the undergraduate and post-graduate programs of Spalding’s School of Professional Psychology at spalding.edu/psychology

At Spalding University, a typical undergraduate student can expect the following:

**Final-exam weeks with only one or two tests to cram for.

**Opportunities to focus all your class and study time on a course you really love, or on a course you find really difficult and needs extra attention.

**A full week off every six weeks to recharge your batteries and do what you want to do.

That sounds pretty good, right?

That’s how it works all year at Spalding, which is unique from other universities in Kentucky by having a nontraditional academic schedule made up of six six-week blocks in which students typically take only one or two classes at a time.

“When I first heard about it,” Spalding sophomore health science major Ontario Hullum said, “I thought it was too good to be true.”

But it is true. Spalding was ranked by CollegeRaptor.com as one of the nation’s five best colleges with nontraditional schedules.

Hullum said Spalding’s schedule makes college feel less stressful.

“At other colleges, you take like five exams toward the end of a semester, and that’s real stressful and makes that whole week really hectic,” he said. “Here, you take two exams every session, and it just spreads things out.”

Spalding’s format is designed for students still to graduate in four years and get all the credits they need. Staff and faculty advisers work closely with students to help them stay on top of their requirements.

“(The six-week schedule) makes it easier for you to do your work and manage your time,” said Marcus Montgomery, a sophomore majoring in business administration. “Instead of having five classes throughout the week, you have only two at the most, and you definitely have time to do your work.”

Now that he’s accustomed to the rhythm of taking one or two classes at a time for six weeks each, Montgomery said, “I couldn’t imagine going to another school and taking like five classes for a whole semester.”

How Spalding’s block schedules work

Spalding has six six-week sessions (three per semester) during the primary academic year, plus another six-week session during the summer.

Just like at universities with traditional semester-long sessions, Spalding advises students to take an average of 15 credit hours (or essentially five classes at three credit hours each) per semester, according to Academic Support Director Katherine Walker-Payne.

With three six-week blocks per semester, that means that a typical Spalding student might have one six-week session with one class per semester and two six-week sessions with two classes per semester. (Some students take more than two classes in a session, potentially setting themselves up to graduate in less than four years.)

A typical class meets four straight days each week (Monday through Thursday) for 100 minutes, condensing more class time into a shorter period. (Another popular aspect for undergrads is that almost everyone has Fridays off.)

Junior Carly Lynch said the six-week sessions were the main reason she chose Spalding, and they’ve helped her succeed in working toward a double major in health science and psychology.

Lynch knew she wanted to pursue a career in occupational therapy, and she liked that Spalding would put her on that path while letting her focus at any given time on just one or two of her important required courses, instead of five or six at once.

“I have Anatomy and Physiology II right now, and I’m able to spend all my time on Anatomy and Physiology II and really learn the material rather than just study for a test,” she said.

Walker-Payne echoed the sentiment, saying that the Spalding system gives students “the opportunity to really immerse themselves in subject matter over a short duration of time.”

“It allows them to progress through their degree program efficiently so long as they stay on track with their courses scheduled each session,” she said. “Absolutely, it’s a great way for students to dig deep into topics and really have an opportunity for deep learning.”

Good for working students

Spalding students who have jobs said the schedule format makes it more convenient for them.

Pre-nursing major Olivia Johnson said being able to focus on one or two classes at a time makes it easier for her to have her job working the night shift at UPS.

Sophomore Brandon Cochran, who is majoring in creative writing, said he’s able to hold two jobs – in the university writing center and at a grocery store.

“I would not have that opportunity (to work) if I didn’t have these lighter class sessions (as far as number of courses being taken) that go by faster,” he said. “So if (wanting or needing a job during college) is a big priority, Spalding is definitely a good place because this is one of the few places you are going to be able to work a lot of hours and also not ruin yourself (academically), because Spalding’s class schedule is so flexible and manageable.”

Every 6 weeks, take a break

Students said they enjoy the weeklong breaks that follow the completion of each six-week session.

On break weeks, students often take a vacation, relax at home or pick up a few hours at their jobs. Students said their parents enjoy it, too, because it offers families frequent chances to reconnect.

“It’s fantastic,” Cochran said. “I’m sure everybody likes having breaks; I know I do. And we still finish on time, still have regular holidays and stuff like that. I think it’s great.”

The school year at Spalding does last a little longer than at most universities, extending into mid-June, but the breaks in between make up for it, Lynch said.

“It’s awesome,” said Lynch, who took a trip to Florida during a break week this fall. “I didn’t really understand it at first. I wondered if we would be in school for the same time as everyone else (as far as the yearly calendar), but we get out the same time as everyone else. It’s just a little later – in June – but with getting a week off every six weeks it’s worth it.”

In the wake of two African-Americans being shot and killed at a Jeffersontown Kroger and 11 people being killed in a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, Spalding University’s Center for Behavioral Health wants to make the community aware of its specialty clinic that helps clients who have experienced race-based stress and trauma.

The Collective Care Center is the only behavioral health clinic of its kind in Louisville – and one of only a few nationally – that specializes in racial trauma, according to Center for Behavioral Health Associate Director Dr. Steven Kniffley, who developed the treatment model for the Collective Care Center.

“Anybody who has experienced oppression or marginalization because of their identities, we’ll have a safe place for them to come and experience healing and safety,” said Dr. Norah Chapman, Director of the CBH and an assistant professor in Spalding’s School of Professional Psychology. “We just want to get that word out that we are here for anyone who needs a space like that.”

Kniffley said the Collective Care Center’s work so far has focused on African-Americans, but anyone who identifies as a member of a marginalized group or is experiencing identity-based trauma is welcome and may find it to be a helpful resource. The Collective Care Center has four clinicians who evaluate and assess the impact of race-based trauma on clients.

Dr. Steven Kniffley, professional head shot — Dr. Steven Kniffley, associate director of the Center for Behavioral Health

People experiencing race-based stress may include those who have been direct victims of discrimination, targets of racial slurs or witnesses to a traumatic event, such as the Kroger shooting. People can also be vicariously traumatized by seeing disturbing images and news accounts of traumatic events involving race.

“We would ask, ‘When was the last time you experienced a racially traumatic event?'” Kniffley said. “‘How distressing was that to you? In what ways is that distress showing up for you? Are you having a hard time sleeping? Are you feeling anxious … around your surroundings.'”

Kniffley said research has shown that nearly all African-Americans say they have experienced an instance of racism and discrimination.

He said race-based stress is nothing new, but only recently has it been more formally recognized as a potentially serious physical and psychological health factor that might require professional help.

“From a public health standpoint, racism can literally kill you,” Kniffley said, “because it can contribute to depression, anxiety, and it can also lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, low birth weight for kids.”

Learn More About The Collective Care Center

Kniffley, who graduated from Spalding in 2013 with his doctorate in clinical psychology (PsyD) and returned as a psychology faculty member in August, said the Collective Care Center attempts to help clients develop coping skills for navigating a world in which they have faced discrimination.

The Kroger shooting “hurt my heart,” Kniffley said, and he wants folks in his hometown of Louisville to know that the Collective Care Center is a resource to them if they’re hurting, too.

“It’s so important that this is part of the CBH,” Chapman said. “We see, especially in our climate today, that there are few safe places for people of color or of marginalized backgrounds to feel like they can be guaranteed to feel affirmed for their identity and to make sure they’re seen for who they are and to be able work through a specific trauma.”

How to get help

For more information on the Collective Care Center or any services offered at the not-for-profit Center for Behavioral Health, call (502) 792-7011 or visit behavioralhealth.spalding.edu, where there is an online inquiry and appointment form. The Center for Behavioral Health is located in Mansion East, Room 212A, 851 S. Fourth St.

Sessions are available in person as well as over video counseling or telephone. Chapman encourages anyone facing transportation issues or other challenges in making it to an in-person session to consider the video and phone options.

Cost-wise, CBH services are offered on a sliding scale based on clients’ financial need and ability to pay.

“We’re extremely affordable because we want the work to focus on the healing process and not be a burden financially,” Kniffley said. “We meet clients where they are in terms of what their financial situation is.”

The CBH offers a range of services, including psychological assessments, plus individual, couple, group and family therapy services with children, adolescents, adults and older adults.

Led by Chapman, Kniffley and other School of Professional Psychology faculty, the Center for Behavioral Health also serves as an on-campus training ground of Spalding’s doctor of clinical psychology students.

With the Collective Care Center, Kniffley is hopeful that Spalding becomes the destination for psychology doctoral students who want to learn about treating racial trauma.

Kniffley recently received a multicultural professional development award from the Kentucky Psychological Association. He and two colleagues wrote, “Out of K.O.S (Knowledge of Self): Black Masculinity, Psychopathology, and Treatment.”

Spalding University announced Wednesday, Sept. 5, that it has reached a milestone in its ongoing, largest-ever capital fundraising campaign: surpassing $30 million in total contributions since 2014. They have supported new construction projects, facility improvements and academic and scholarship programs that broadly impact campus and student life.

The $30.4 million raised to date is a record for a Spalding campaign, and it far outpaces the original fundraising goals – $20 million by 2020 – set by the university’s board of trustees when it voted to launch the campaign four years ago. The goal was officially upped to $30 million in 2016.

“We are extremely grateful for the individuals and organizations who have stepped forward in support of our campaign and the mission and progress of Spalding,” Chief Advancement Officer Bert Griffin said. “We’ve made improvements all over campus and have not used any tuition dollars to make it happen.”

Spalding President Tori Murden McClure added: “Through this campaign, we have provided our students and the community with more resources and services while making our campus greener and more beautiful. We are grateful to our many partners who are helping us meet the needs of the times and change our community for the better.”

Some highlights of the $30 million capital campaign:

● Nearly $11 million in student scholarships and fieldwork stipends have been or will be distributed by way of the campaign, including more than $4 million in federal grants for clinical psychology and social work students from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

● More than $7 million has been donated or pledged in support of a greening initiative that has beautified the 23-acre downtown campus. Completed projects include the Mother Catherine Spalding Square green space on West Breckenridge Street between South Third and South Fourth and 2.2-acre Trager Park, which, in partnership with Louisville Gas and Electric Company and the Trager Family Foundation, opened last fall at the corner of South Second and West Kentucky. The Trager Park site was formerly an unused asphalt lot.

Ongoing outdoor projects are the seven-acre athletic fields complex between South Eighth and South Ninth streets that will be the home of Spalding’s NCAA Division III softball and soccer teams, and the Contemplative Garden at Spalding University, which will be a meditation space at 828 S. Fourth St. that is designed to honor Trappist Monk Thomas Merton and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Thanks to a recent anonymous $500,000 challenge grant, installation of the playing surfaces at the fields complex is expected to begin this fall, and it could be ready for competition by late spring 2019.

FROM WHAS: Spalding works to build Ninth Street ‘Field of Dreams’

● Kosair Charities has contributed more than $1.2 million to Spalding in support of the Kosair Charities Enabling Technologies of Kentuckiana (enTECH) assistive-technology resource center, the Auerbach School of Occupational Therapy and the Spalding School of Nursing.

● A $500,000 challenge grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation has helped raise $1 million to develop programs focused on restorative justice and restorative practices as well as Spalding’s Center for Behavioral Health.

● Nearly $1 million was raised to renovate the lower level of the Columbia Gym into a student fitness center and lounge.

● Other facilities that have undergone major improvements and modern updates are the Republic Bank Academic Center, which is the home of Spalding’s nursing and social work programs; the Spalding Library; the historic Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion; and the Egan Leadership Center Lectorium.

Spalding University will join a city-wide effort next month to train a world-record number of citizens in a suicide-prevention technique known as “QPR,” or “Question, Persuade, Refer.”

Spalding will be among the many sites around Louisville hosting free, public 90-minute training sessions during National Suicide Prevention Week, which is Sept. 9-15. The QPR course, designed for anyone 18 years or older, teaches the warning signs of suicide, how to offer help and how to refer people to get help.

Spalding’s sessions will take place in the Kosair Charities Health and Natural Sciences Building at the following times:

*Monday, Sept. 10, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
*Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2-3:30 p.m.
*Wednesday, Sept. 12, 12:30-2 p.m.
*Thursday, Sept. 13, 2:30-4 p.m.

To attend a Spalding session, participants MUST register online.

As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 100 total people had registered for the Spalding sessions, with space limited, so those interested should register quickly to secure a spot.

Mayor Greg Fischer and city leaders are encouraging members of the public to share the word and get as many relatives, friends, coworkers, etc. as possible to participate in the training and try to establish a Guinness world record for the number of people trained in a single week. Registration information for the dozens of other free training sessions around Louisville can be found at qprlou.com.

No specialized mental health care training or expertise is required for those taking the training. Certified trainers will discuss myths about suicide, identify warning signs, outline how to talk to someone who may be thinking about suicide and how to persuade them to seek help.

QPR is similar to CPR in that it is designed to support an emergency response to someone in crisis, and to save lives.

Leaders from Spalding’s School of Professional Psychology, office of Counseling and Psychology Services (CaPS) and office of Residence Life are helping organize and conduct the training on this campus.

“Suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility,” said Dr. Allison From-Tapp, director of Counseling and Psychological Services. “Anyone can learn to help prevent suicide with some questioning and compassion. QPR was designed to teach individuals to ask the question of suicide, persuade someone to get help, and make appropriate referrals. Through this 90-minute training you will learn the tools you need to help save a life and plant the seeds of hope.”

According to 2017 Home Equity Report, there were 584 suicide deaths in Jefferson County from 2011-15, compared with 333 homicides for the same period. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates are on the increase, and more than half of people who die by suicide do not have a known mental health condition.

“Suicide rates have been rising steadily over the past decade,” said Dr. Steve Katsikas, chair of the Spalding School of Professional Psychology. “Suicide cuts across geographic and demographic boundaries. It is an issue that can impact almost anyone. Learning how to intervene can make a difference and save a life. We are committed to providing training to our community to help make the widest impact possible.”

The city’s QPR undertaking has roots from 2016, when the Louisville Health Advisory Board’s Behavioral Health subcommittee held the Bold Moves Against Suicide Summit on Spalding’s campus.

A group of doctoral students and faculty from the Spalding University School of Professional Psychology spent last weekend learning and helping at the same time.

Ten students from Spalding’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program (PsyD), along with faculty members Drs. Norah Chapman and Amy Young, volunteered to provide information and mental health services while also conducting research at the Remote Area Medical free clinic in Hazard, Ky.

The RAM mobile clinics provide free medical, dental and vision care to underserved or uninsured individuals. The Spalding PsyD volunteers helped add mental health services to the fold in Hazard.

Chapman said the PsyD volunteers worked in three roles at the RAM clinic: staffing an informational table to explain about good mental health practices, performing direct interventions and brief counseling with clients, and providing integrated care with the dentists. They helped calm patients – including many who’d not seen a dentist in years or ever – as they received extractions, fillings and other procedures.

The Spalding volunteers interacted with more 200 clients and patients over the weekend, Chapman said, and for some of the newer PsyD students, it was their first experience working directly with clients.

“This is really the pinnacle of our training programs – research intervention, integrated health care and serving underserved populations,” Chapman said. “It was an incredible experience.”

Chapman said the Spalding volunteers tried to explain to clients and patients the importance of mental health services and to put them at ease about talking to a professional about their concerns and needs. She said some had faced physical trauma; felt anxiety or stress over family or financial issues; or were battling addiction.

Chapman said some of the visitors thanked Spalding’s volunteers for being there and told them they wouldn’t otherwise have had access to mental health services where they live. Chapman said several of visitors there had never previously talked to a mental health professional.

Spalding PsyD student Autumn Truss said it was “truly inspiring” to see the range of health providers from the across the country come together at the RAM clinic to serve the “resilient population of Eastern Kentucky.”

“Partnering with RAM to provide free mental health services was the perfect opportunity to help this underserved population and carry out Spalding’s mission as a compassionate university,” Truss said.

Group of 11 people, wearing matching blue T-shirts that say "Spalding University Volunteers" at the Remote Area Medical clinic in Hazard, Ky. — Spalding clinical psychology student and faculty volunteers at the Remote Area Medical clinic in Hazard, Ky., June 23-24, 2018.

Three female Spalding students wearing blue shirts, sit on gym floor reading to a young boy as a man holding a smaller boy looks on — Photo from RAM Facebook page

One of the incoming students to Spalding University’s doctorate program in clinical psychology received a prestigious honor this spring in the run-up to her graduation last weekend from Louisiana State University.

Bailey Broussard, set to enroll in the Spalding PsyD program in the fall, was named one of the Tiger Twelve by the LSU Office of the Dean of Students. The recognition goes to 12 outstanding seniors – out of thousands from that university who graduated this month, this summer or next December – who contribute positively to the life of the campus and surrounding community.

According to the LSU Dean of Students, the Tiger Twelve students “hold themselves to the highest standards of academic, personal and social integrity; practice justice, equality and compassion in human relations; respect the dignity of all persons and accept individual differences.”

Broussard, a psychology major and sociology minor from Lafayette, La., said that Spalding embraces those same virtues. In the PsyD program, she plans to have a hybrid focus in adult and child and family studies. Broussard, who had a 3.799 cumulative grade-point average at LSU, plans on working with marginalized and underserved populations throughout her professional career.

“The mission (of Spalding) being about equality and how we serve the community and the diversity and having multicultural competence specifically within the PsyD program (were appealing),” Broussard said. “The faculty seemed really supportive, and they really seemed engage with their students and their success. That was something I felt like I really wanted in my education going forward.

“The majority, if not all of the professors (at Spalding) have a component of their research going with multicultural competence and being aware and serving marginalized communities.”

After her Spalding PsyD training, Broussard said, she hopes to one day work in the community as a mental health provider “and helping out, giving low-cost services to underserved populations.”

At LSU, Broussard was a tutor of French, math and psychology all four years of her undergraduate career. She was a member and worship leader of Sigma Phi Lambda sorority and worked as a research assistant studying the effects of hatha yoga on smoking cessation in LSU’s Anxiety and Addictive Behaviors Lab. She also volunteered in a variety of campus and community organizations.

“I’m definitely proud of myself (to be in the Tiger Twelve),” she said. “It symbolizes self-growth I experienced during my college career and being selfless and being able to impact others.”

Read more about the doctoral and undergraduate programs within the Spalding School of Professional Psychology at spalding.edu/psychology.

Consultant and entrepreneur Dana Jackson has been a member of Spalding University’s Board of Trustees since 2004. Jackson, who received a master’s degree in psychology from Spalding, is the CEO of Dana Jackson Consulting, which focuses on results-based leadership development and organizational transformation. Jackson is also a partner with Better Together Strategies consulting firm, which specializes in leadership development, building public-private partnerships and working with nonprofit organizations on community change and economic development. She has also served as executive director of the Network Center for Community Change and in leadership roles for Kentucky’s Department of Community Based Services.

What’s it been like to be a longtime member of Spalding’s board, and what has it meant to you to serve in that role?

Spalding has a special place in my heart, not only because it’s where I got my master’s degree but because of the mission of Spalding. Spalding really is focused on a population that I care deeply about with folks who have often been disenfranchised. Spalding’s social justice focus is another thing that is really near and dear to my heart. I know for me, as a graduate student at Spalding, it was sort of a tough time in my life, and I really feel like if I had been at another institution, I maybe would have gotten lost. Some of the personal difficulties I was having, it was like a season of loss in my family. I lost a lot of people who were very dear to me during the time I was a student there. Had I been at a larger institution or an institution that was not so focused on student support and really getting to know students, I probably would have stepped away from my education. The faculty and staff at Spalding did not let that happen. They helped me change the narrative of my life, and I’m forever grateful for that.

How does the work you’re doing now and throughout your career align with the mission of Spalding to be a diverse community of learners and be grounded in compassion and social justice, and do you see Spalding carrying out that mission when you visit campus?

The mission of Spalding really in many ways is sort of my life’s mission. It’s of high importance to me. I’ve spent the majority of my working career really focused on equity, closing opportunity gaps and disparities, particularly around child well-being, community well-being and education. I really think that’s the work that Spalding does as well. I think the best way to do that work is with the understanding of equity, with a spirit of compassion and to do it with a lens and focus on social justice. That’s how Spalding does its work, and it holds education as the great equalizer. I think that shows up in the demographics of the student body. It’s all in the DNA of the leadership at Spalding, and it’s in the DNA of the offerings at the college.

Are there any programs or undertakings at Spalding that stand out to you that you consider a priority as a board member or hope to work on or have an impact on?

Continuing to hold on to and increase this notion of being a diverse community of learners. I’m really interested in the Muhammad Ali scholarship program (which gives $5,000 in need-based aid to first-year students and is renewable for up to four years), and I’m very much interested in the focus on restorative justice and restorative practices. … I don’t actually think you can talk about restorative justice without thinking about and being open to discussions about disproportionality and inequity, and I think that Spalding is well-positioned in the community – based on this notion of being a compassionate university and really embracing restorative practices and being a diverse community of learners – to really be a leader as our community continues to not only think about but take actions around more equitable outcomes in education.

Ida Dickie, a forensic psychologist and faculty member in Spalding University’s School of Professional Psychology, was honored last month as the winner of the Jack Runyon Community Service Award by the Kentucky Psychological Association.

Dickie, who received the award at the KPA convention in Lexington, is the director of the forensic emphasis area at Spalding while being a public servant in the justice system.

Among her many service projects, Dickie developed and manages the “Healthy Lifestyles” program at Dismas Charities for men who have been in the Kentucky correctional system. On a pro bono basis, she has supervised graduate student therapists in the program as well as offered psychological services herself.

Dickie is also on the board and provides pro bono services for the nonprofit New Legacy Center, which is another residential program that assists men returning to the community from prison.

Dickie also works pro bono with the Muhammad Ali Center, helping implement talking circles about community violence. She has worked with other community organizations to offer restorative talking circles with black men returning to the community from incarceration to provide them with a pro-social support network.

She performs pro bono psychological services and supervises graduate student therapists at the Survivors of Torture Recovery Center, which offers services to refugees and immigrants who have experienced torture in their home countries.

Dickie also trains Louisville Metro Police Department officers and recruits in restorative communication and oversees courses for Spalding students seeking a minor in restorative justice.

For more information on the Spalding School of Professional Psychology and the doctoral program in clinical pyschology (PsyD), go to Spalding.edu/psychology.

Spalding University has received a federal grant of nearly $1.15 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support advanced-level psychology and social work students who perform behavioral health work in primary care settings in medically underserved areas of Louisville.

The grant, which comes via the federal Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training program (BHWET), will provide stipends to doctoral candidates in clinical psychology (Psy.D.) and students pursuing a master’s degree in social work (MSW) who are part of Spalding’s Interdisciplinary Behavioral Health Scholars Program (IBHSP). The stipends will assist in recruitment and retention of future behavioral health professionals who do their training work in vulnerable and medically underserved areas.

Spalding, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville were the only institutions in Kentucky to receive BHWET grants.

Spalding’s psychology and social work scholars are partnering with three Louisville health and wellness organizations to provide services. They are the Family Community Clinic, which provides medical assistance to individuals without health insurance, including many who don’t speak English, at its facility in the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Butchertown; Shawnee Christian Healthcare Center, which provides affordable primary health and dental care to patients in West Louisville; and Smoketown Family Wellness Center, which offers wellness programs in a neighborhood in which residents’ average life expectancy is 10 years below other Louisville areas, according to the center’s website.

“I am very familiar with the health care academic programs at Spalding University and find it very rewarding to know that individuals who rely on health care services will receive the quality care and attention that a partnership with Spalding will bring,” said George Fischer, founder of the Family Community Clinic. “I’m grateful to Spalding and its faculty and students for providing help to members of our community who need it.”

The grant money for Spalding students will be dispersed over four years with the funding increasing after the first year. There will be six student recipients in the first year and 10 in Years 2-4. The psychology students will receive $28,352 each, and the social work students will receive $10,000.

“We are thrilled to have received this federal grant,” said Dr. Steve Katsikas, faculty chair of Spalding’s School of Professional Psychology and the IBHSP program director. “Between 60 and 70 percent of all health-related problems have a behavioral component, such as smoking, living a sedentary lifestyle or eating an imbalanced diet. The grant will allow us to partner with primary care sites in underserved parts of Louisville to provide integrated behavioral health services. Individuals who see a health care provider and need a referral will be able to immediately see a behavioral health specialist. Spalding’s schools of social work and psychology are excited about this program because it allows us to train the next generation of psychologists and social workers to make a lasting health impact in our community.”

The grant will also be used to hire a clinical coordinator and fund seminars.

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