Despite working in a city with a large Latino population, Carrillo knew few other mental health providers who spoke Spanish and understood the culture, which compromised his ability to connect clients with other services available in the community.

When Carrillo joined the Latina/o Mental Health Providers Network (LMHPN)—an initiative started by The Chicago School’s Center for Latino Mental Health (CLMH) to train more mental health professionals to serve the growing Latino community—he met Carlos Lopez, who runs domestic violence groups for couples less than two miles away. “We’ve been able to talk about the services we provide,” Carrillo said. “I feel more comfortable referring clients to the program because I know him personally.”

This type of connection exemplifies what Dr. Hector Torres, assistant professor of clinical counseling and CLMH coordinator, had in mind when the network launched in 2009 with a $130,000 grant from the Chicago Community Trust. In September, the Trust renewed the grant with an additional $140,000 following a successful first year, in which the network recruited 75 members—more than twice as many as projected. “We connect with the community through the network,” Dr. Torres said. “We have two goals: to allow current providers to know and refer each other; and to increase the number of providers who are culturally competent.”

The network has worked to achieve this in a variety of ways, particularly as a poor economic climate has led to statewide cuts in mental health services and added urgency to connecting agencies and practitioners with each other. Bimonthly meetings allow members to network and take continuing education workshops designed to increase understanding of Latino culture and knowledge of effective mental health interventions, new research, and other relevant topics. After the network launched last year, staff made nearly 40 site visits at community-based agencies to assess needs for providers and services and launched a website (lmhpn.tcscenters.org) that enables members to interact with each other and share resources.

The LMHPN has also given students like Ana Sierra the opportunity to participate. During an internship at The Counseling Center of Lakeview, where Sierra counseled victims of domestic violence, she held a workshop for mental health providers on Latin American gender roles. When she realized the group knew more about male (machismo) than female (marianismo) gender roles, she conducted an exercise that put the practitioners in the shoes of a Latina woman. “We need to know what these terms mean to work successfully with Latinos in therapy,” she said.

Latino Mental Health Facts

In all, 10 Chicago School students who are earning master’s in clinical counseling degrees with a concentration in Latino mental health developed a project for the network, including taking additional case loads, conducting outreach, and running culturally focused workshops on topics like positive parenting, suicide awareness, and supporting Latino adolescents. The Chicago School’s Department of Community Partnerships also placed 56 students in member agencies, providing nearly 7,000 hours of service.

With the grant renewal, LMHPN activities are already well underway. In October the network sponsored the 2010 Latino/a Behavioral Health Conference along with the Illinois Department of Human Services and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and brought more than 200 behavioral health professionals together to address how to improve mental health services for the Latino community.

The network also plans to expand focus on advocacy, professional development, and promotion of mental health careers for Latino students, and launch a local media campaign to raise awareness about Latino mental health issues. Ultimately the network fosters a deeper commitment to address the long underserved mental health needs of the Latino/a community. “Bringing people together who have the same interest in working with the Latino community creates an energy to better provide and advocate for the need for services,” Carrillo says.

He was not alone, but that didn’t make it easier. The year was 1970. The place was South Vietnam.

Four decades later, Mr. Dillon sits on The Chicago School Board of Trustees, one of the institution’s strongest proponents of using the power and the potential of psychology to support the millions of troops and veterans who came before and after him.

“Were there psychological issues that manifested themselves in the soldiers I knew? I’m sure there were, but I wouldn’t have recognized the signs. The Army didn’t talk about those things in those days,” he says.

As a ROTC-trained first lieutenant, Mr. Dillon worked with Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority, negotiating air space agreements that would allow U.S. military planes to take off and land in the embattled region. Frequent trips into the field to supervise mobile radio control tower personnel brought the war into clear focus for him, but he refers to the “culture shock of seeing people work and live as they did thousands of years ago” as an equally impactful experience.

Mr. Dillon, left, with a former college roommate, Captain Gary W. McKillips, at the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division Pleiku, South Vietnam, in 1970.

“When you come from a college-educated, middle-class background of fast cars and supermarkets, you have no frame of reference for the work you see people doing with primitive farm implements,” he says. “It takes time for you to become acclimated to your surroundings.” It just adds to the stress of being in a war zone and separated from your family, he adds.

Today, Mr. Dillon is a strong voice in support of initiatives like the Home Again project that The Chicago School has undertaken in partnership with the Illinois National Guard and the Michael Reese Health Trust (see story, page 20). The services provided to the families of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan—and especially activities that encourage children to deal with the fears brought about by a parent’s deployment—are critical additions to the mental health initiatives that are receiving increasing priority in organizations striving to meet the needs of military and veteran families.

“When I was in the service, there were absolutely no services targeted to the psychological issues that families experienced,” he says. “It was hard—it was very, very hard, but you did the best you could. When I think back to what it was like during my one deployment, I can’t even imagine what it’s like for the families of soldiers who serve multiple tours of duty. The volunteer soldiers of today are true heroes in my book.”

The Army didn’t talk about those things in those days.

While acknowledging the difficulty of returning home from a war that was not widely supported, Mr. Dillon reflects on the changes in popular sentiment he witnessed over the years that followed. The turning point, he says, was the Vietnam Veterans Parade that took place in 1986 in downtown Chicago.

“That day, you just got a sense that something big was happening,” he recalls. “I was in a business suit and I stopped to watch. First came the marchers in fatigues and medals, led by General Westmoreland. It was like a coming out party for veterans. Then came the veterans in wheelchairs, all to an outpouring of support—it was like one of the ticker tape parades from old news reels. For the first time, we sensed the feeling of ‘welcome home’.”

During his 35-year career in the professional services industry, Mr. Dillon has been active in a wide array of community activities and served on numerous nonprofit boards, but says he has experienced particular satisfaction serving as a Chicago School trustee. His tenure—which was jump-started when he happened to sit next to President Horowitz at a community event—has seen him integrally involved in marketing and publicity functions, in governance, and in connecting the school with individuals and organizations that have helped it grow in both potential and public recognition. He has been instrumental in securing several of the honorary degree recipients and commencement speakers who have shared the platform at recent graduations.

“The true highlight of being a trustee is attending commencement,” he says. “This job isn’t about budgets or buildings or accounting systems. It’s about watching the expressions on the faces of graduates—and watching their eyes dance in the light—as they pick up their diplomas. No matter what’s going on in your life, that day is an uplifting experience. And those students are why trustees like me give our time and treasure.”

The vivid drawing of men in combat told the story the 6-year-old boy couldn’t bring himself to tell: of a father in a distant war zone, far from family, alone, and afraid. It was the fear that the crayons brought instantly to life—a fear so palpable that it could be felt continents away.

“We don’t know if the battle scene really took place,” says Dr. Ted Rubenstein. “But in the child’s mind, it was real enough. And putting it on paper helped him express what he was feeling.”

A Chicago School clinical psychology professor with a practice in creative arts therapy, Dr. Rubenstein is the architect of a project designed to address the mental health needs of children whose parents have recently returned from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. He worked closely with a team from TCS’ Office of Community Partnerships, the Illinois National Guard, and the Michael Reese Health Trust to design activities that could support statewide family-reintegration efforts being undertaken by the Illinois National Guard. The Yellow Ribbon Project, as it is called by TCS students who devote their weekends to painting and singing with children, is funded by the Health Trust and an anonymous co-donor.

Thirty-six students representing several TCS departments participate weekly through community service, research, clerkship, and volunteer opportunities in 18 small-to-midsize Illinois towns. They work with small groups of children ages 3 to 15, while their parents—both veterans and spouses—receive their own specialized services nearby. The project is expected to serve a total of 1,500 children in the next few months.

“The readjustment process is a difficult one,” says Dr. Rubenstein, who compares the challenges facing the family of a returning soldier to a canoe that has been overturned.

“You have to adjust and start rowing again when you get the boat right-side up, but when the person who went overboard climbs back on, the boat is upset again. Everyone in the boat has to work together to get the canoe moving smoothly again.”

Because children often have difficulty putting their feelings into words, student volunteers use the creative arts—painting, drawing, music, and drama—to elicit the anger and fear that often preoccupies them. The goal is to help participants cope with stress, anxiety, and depression, and to build empathy and feelings of empowerment.

“They don’t want to talk, but when given the opportunity to tell their story in a different way, they open up,” Dr. Rubenstein says. “Often others in the room—including soldiers who are functioning as security guards—are drawn into their stories.”

Our goal is that one week from now, or one month from now, there will be a family at the dinner table and a child will be able to say to his mom or dad, ‘While you were away, I missed you and I was scared and I was mad that you left’.

Although each child attends only one or two sessions with TCS students, follow-up takes place with the help of a book that parents receive, offering suggestions on communication and readjustment strategies to use with their children. The hope is that parents will continue the conversations initiated during creative arts therapy sessions and build healthy communication skills in their children.

“Our goal is that one week from now, or one month from now, there will be a family at the dinner table and a child will be able to say to his mom or dad, ‘While you were away, I missed you and I was scared and I was mad that you left’,” Dr. Rubenstein says.

Continuing its long-term commitment to filling service gaps and meeting community needs, The Chicago School hopes to build on the relationship created with the Michael Reese Health Trust and the Illinois National Guard to provide ongoing mental health services for both veterans and active-duty soldiers and their families.

The tribal masks adorning a wall in Dr. Steven Nakisher’s office serve as a reminder of —if not a metaphor for—the career he has carved for himself from the resources at hand: a clinical psychology degree from The Chicago School, a passion for mentoring, and a keen business savvy. A man who is repeatedly reinventing himself, he is at once psychotherapist, teacher, benefactor, and entrepreneur.

It wasn’t always that way. He completed his Psy.D. in 1996 with a plan: he would hang his shingle and wait for clients to arrive. When they didn’t, he began to ponder the power of connections—connections that increase impact and minimize the solitary existence of one-on-one therapy.

Dr. Steven Nakisher, Alumnus and Trustee

“It’s hard to do anything really great when you’re working alone,” Dr. Nakisher says. “If you can collect talented people, all with a shared sense of purpose, you can accomplish far greater things.”

Thus was born the Center for Personal Development, which he founded in 1998. Now with two offices in  Chicago and one in Skokie, the center serves hundreds of clients a year and has had as many as 25 psychologists working together at one time. The range of specialties represented allows psychologists to easily refer clients to other practitioners as needs evolve.

The center’s success led him to share his knowledge and experience with Chicago School students and newly minted Psy.D.s who seek him out for advice on starting a private practice. A past president of the Alumni Council, he was instrumental in the council’s decision to create the Alumni Mentorship Program several years ago and has mentored clinical psychology students every year since then. He supervises TCS practicum students, interns, and post-docs, another activity that gives him the opportunity to do what he loves most: help new therapists develop a profession built on passion.

“There are no trade secrets to being successful as a psychologist,” he says. “It’s all about following your dream. I was very fortunate to have been mentored myself by people like John Benitez— and it’s a relationship that I would like to see all Chicago School students have.”

Steve is a champion for The Chicago School model, says President Michael Horowitz. “He reflects our core values—especially service and community—and has been responsible for connecting us to many resources over the years.”

As if donning the masks on his wall one at a time, Dr. Nakisher moves easily among the professional personas he has created for himself over the years. He maintains a strong presence in two other business ventures: Cornerpiece Consulting, which he co-founded with I/O alumnus Jeremy Wicks (M.A.’07), and a gourmet tea company that designs beverages for Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump.

The Nakisher 5: Building a Business
“When starting your own practice, view it as a career,” Dr. Nakisher advises new psychologists. He offers the following tips—referred to here as The Nakisher 5—to help jumpstart the process.

1. Decide what you want and go after it. Ask yourself, “What kind of lifestyle do I want? What type of clients do I want to
   see?” The choices you make should be vital lifestyle choices, not afterthoughts.
2. Find a mentor. We all need help to get where we want to be. Go out and meet successful people in the field.
3. Stop hating the word ‘marketing.’ Like it or not, you are selling a service. Figure out what you are selling and how to sell it using your personality. You want people to say, “Wow! I need that!”
4. You are the product! Create an “elevator speech,” a quick summation of your professional self, and use it every chance you get to brand yourself. People stop listening after 45 seconds, so you have one chance to make a first impression.
5. Go after the exact clients you want. If a client comes your way whose concerns are out of your area of interest, refer that client to someone who specializes in that area. Do this enough times and these therapists will send you clients whose needs are in your area of specialty.

Wicks is one of many alumni who benefited as a student from Dr. Nakisher’s advice.

“The best tip Steve ever gave me came when I told him I was interested in starting a business of my own when I graduated and he advised me to tell everybody I met what I wanted to do and ask every one of them all for advice.”

Steve’s experience in building his own businesses has paralleled the evolution of The Chicago School, President Horowitz says. “He learned early in his career to apply a growth model to his practice, and he had the foresight to connect psychology and business. This is exactly the pattern that the school is following, and for the same reasons of ensuring our viability and broadening our impact.”

Marilyn and Larry Cohen

The passion with which she approached life made her illness, when diagnosed at age 30, all the more difficult to accept or understand. For two long years, a virulent form of bipolar disorder —characterized by frequent and intense mood swings—made steady inroads on her life, robbing her of her career, her marriage, and much of the joy that had long defined her nature. In May 2000, this littleunderstood illness wielded its final blow to the family when Naomi took her own life.

The Naomi Ruth Cohen Charitable Foundation, which her parents founded shortly afterwards, was created with a single goal: to educate the public about the stigma of mental illness. It represented Larry and Marilyn Cohen’s way of dealing with their grief and creating a permanent memory of their daughter. Once developed, however, the foundation became more than a memorial and a catharsis; it became a beacon, shedding light into some of the darkest corners of mental illness.

“So many people are afraid to talk about mental illness, or to acknowledge the shame and embarrassment they feel when it touches their families,” Larry Cohen says. “This was our initial reaction too— to keep it private. But we came to realize that if we didn’t speak up, people wouldn’t understand who Naomi really was. They would not understand the consequences of mental illness.”

The Cohens’ decision to “go public” resulted not only in the establishment of the foundation, but in a series of community mental health conferences that have, to date, provided information to more than 2,000 people—practitioners, consumers, family members, and the general public—about the devastating effects of bipolar disorder, depression, and other manifestations of mental illness. It has reached, and given voice to, people who had suffered too long in isolation.

“Most rewarding are the calls I receive from people who have attended the conferences or heard about us,” Cohen says. “People are so grateful to be able to talk about how mental illness had impacted their families, and to get information about where to turn, or who to talk to. It means so much to know that someone else won’t have to go through what we went through.”

Once developed, the foundation became more than a memorial and a catharsis; it became a beacon, shedding light into some of the darkest corners of mental illness.

In October, the Cohens made another decision—to integrate the foundation with the resources of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. The family’s gift of all foundation assets, the largest ever received by the school, and the establishment of the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute for Mental Health Education was announced to trustees at the school’s October board meeting. In its new home, the institute will continue to fulfill its educational mission through conferences, workshops, the perpetuation of an annual fellowship for a TCS clinical psychology student, and a variety of other educational activities.

“This gift is an indication that others in the community share The Chicago School vision and understand that, working together, we can accomplish so much more,” President Michael Horowitz said in acknowledging the Cohens’ gift. “We are grateful to Larry and Marilyn for entrusting us with the foundation they have created, and for joining with us in the ongoing challenges of addressing mental illness.”

Larry and Marilyn Cohen will be active in the newly created institute, serving as chair and vice chair respectively. Jill Randell, who has served as administrator of the foundation since its inception, will continue as executive director.

“We talk about the ripples one little pebble can create,” Larry Cohen said. “Our hope is that this gift and this partnership will result in ripples that can help many people dealing with the realities of mental illness.”