Serving our community by using our knowledge, skills, and experience is among our most rewarding activities. We collaborate with a variety of community organizations and institutions in the Pittsburgh region and beyond. These collaborations help to advance the goals of these organizations through direct clinical service delivery, organizational consultation, advocacy, and community-engaged scholarship. Community-engaged scholarship is when community members serve as partners on the research team. These partners work hand-in-hand with our faculty to develop research questions and ensure that our scholarship is addressing the needs of the community members. Details regarding organizations with whom we partner and projects in which we are involved are provided below.
Awaken Pittsburgh is a non-profit organization that brings mindfulness and other wellness programming to the community, including local school districts and emergency responders, as well as conducting research on the benefits of mindfulness.
Commonwealth Technical Institute at the Hiram G. Andrews Center
In 2005, our Counseling program through Pitt’s Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology entered into an Interagency Agreement (IAA) with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), and the CTI at HGAC. Through this collaboration, we develop and implement programs of cognitive rehabilitation, assistive technology, and rehabilitation psychology. Clinical services, consultation, technical assistance, and training are provided through the Center for Assistive and Rehabilitative Technology (CART), the Cognitive Skills Enhancement Program (CSEP), Pre-Employment Transition Service (Pre-ETS) programs, and rehabilitation psychology services.
https://www.shrs.pitt.edu/cbh/community-engagement/hiram-g-andrews-center
Office of Community Health and Safety
The City of Pittsburgh’s Office of Community Health and Safety exists to address longstanding health, safety, and justice issues.
Psychological Evaluation for UPMC Threat Assessment, Faculty Coordinator (January 2021-present)
Dr. Dietz conducts psychological evaluations for potential security and police candidates at UPMC hospital across the state. She has expanded this opportunity to provide an external clinical experience for counseling graduate students. Since January of 2021, this platform has provided training experiences for our CMHC students who are completing internship and require help to attain direct hours. To date, five (5) students have worked with Dr. Dietz and the UPMC Threat Assessment team to conduct clinical interviews for prospective security and police positions within UPMC hospitals. Dr. Dietz provides training and supervision to students at all levels of the evaluations, including supervising the administration of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-2-RF, interpreting testing data to make recommendations for employment and/or Act 235 approval, and reviewing and approving formal written reports. This contract provides paid employment for counseling graduate students who are enrolled in the program and typically supports 1-2 students in each academic year.
Pitt Center for Emergency Responder Wellness
The purpose of this research project is to provide counseling services to promote wellness at no cost to local emergency responders. We are providing evidence-based treatment delivered by providers who are trained in emergency response cultural awareness. Specifically, we are providing a type of talk therapy known as cognitive behavioral therapy. This treatment approach has extensive evidence supporting its effectiveness for the types of problems that emergency responders are most likely to experience. The treatment is provided by advanced graduate students in mental health or recent graduates working toward their licensure. These treatment providers are closely supervised by Dr. Meyer, the project director, a licensed psychologist and professor of counseling who has extensive experience working with emergency responders.
https://www.shrs.pitt.edu/counseling/research/pitt-center-emergency-resp...
News-https://www.shrs.pitt.edu/news/removing-barriers-to-mental-health-services
The Training Religious Leaders in Bereavement to Upskill Treatment Experiences (TRIBUTE) for Bereavement in Communities of Color research study is being conducted through a collaborative with the University of Pittsburgh and community leaders/stakeholders in Homewood and Wilkinsburg, as well as from Homewood Community Ministries and Primary Care Health Services (PCHS).
The team is seeking to learn about the benefits of providing Interpersonal Counseling (IPC-3) to individuals who have experienced the death of a loved one in the past 1-2 years. IPC-3 will be provided by non-licensed individuals from the community who have been trained and are being supervised by licensed mental health professionals within the TRIBUTE team.
https://ctsi.pitt.edu/funding/funding-opportunities/pitt-innovation-chal...
Wellness Pavilion
The School of Health and Rehabilitation Science’s Wellness Pavilion is a student-driven center that seeks to make health and wellness services more accessible in Homewood and the surrounding communities through programming such as interactive educational sessions, special events, and services aimed at prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. All services are student-led, faculty-supervised and offered free of charge. Please add a picture of the logo of each of these organizations to jazz up the page a bit.