4 days ago
What to know about Bellin and Marquette's new mental health counseling program
Bellin Health and Marquette University hope to reduce a shortage of mental health professionals in northeastern Wisconsin with a new pilot program.
Emplify Health by Bellin — Bellin Health's new name following its merger with Gundersen Health — and Marquette are launching a seven-year pilot program known as the Resch Mental Health Initiative.
Emplify Health and Marquette will recruit 25 students from northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula to become "Resch Scholars" in the master's degree program for clinical mental health counseling. The program is an online two-year program. Students will get scholarships to cover tuitions in full and stipend support.
The first class in the program will start this fall, Emplify Health and Marquette leaders announced June 4 at Resch Expo in Ashwaubenon.
The goal is to improve retention of mental health professionals in the region to address a growing need for treatment. According to data from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in 2024, one mental health provider was available for every 380 people in Brown County. Rates of anxiety and depression are on the rise in kids and adults statewide.
The program was created with a donation from the Richard J. Resch Foundation, a philanthropic foundation formed by Sharon and Dick Resch, previous CEO of KI. Emplify Health by Bellin declined to share how much the donation was worth.
The graduates will work with around 26,000 clients a year, according to Emplify Health.
Chris Woleske, Bellin regional president, said the demands of clinical training makes it difficult to retain counselors.
To become a licensed counselor in the state, students must also get 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience. That's where many students face obstacles because supervisors are in short supply, said Kim Sandstrom, an Emplify Health by Bellin counselor and supervisor for the Resch Mental Health Initiative.
"One of the biggest barriers is finding practicum and internship opportunities, which are not paid and have difficult hours," Sandstrom said. "Therapists in training often have to pay to get their supervision hours adding to the stress. They simply drop out."
Students in the Resch program will complete all clinical training at Emplify Health by Bellin locations in the area. After graduation, the students will also be offered full-time jobs at Bellin with sign-on and retention bonuses.
Interested students can contact Graduate Admission Counselor Jordan Mason at or 414-288-0327.
More: Bellin, Gundersen to be called Emplify Health after merging in December 2022
Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Marquette, Bellin offer pilot mental health counseling master's program
