Alliant Foundation’s Mental Health Consortium, Telehealth Clinic Support Underserved

When beginning therapy, Nicolas Ibarra said the youth he supports often react with wide-eyed uncertainty. His role is to reassure them that there’s nothing to fear.

“Mental health isn’t something to be stigmatized or scared of,” Ibarra said. “It can be fun, especially for kids — there’s so much play therapy involved.”

Ibarra, a third-year doctoral student clinician at Alliant International University, works at the San Diego Center for Children, a San Diego Regional Children’s Mental Health Consortium partner.

Launched by the Alliant Educational Foundation in 2020, the Consortium is an alliance between AIU and youth-serving nonprofits and schools to bolster children’s mental health and strengthen positive parenting.

AIU’s doctoral students, including Ibarra, are assigned to participating agencies to provide clinical assessments and therapy services under the supervision of licensed clinical psychologists. Last year the Consortium facilitated nearly 2,000 individual and group sessions for 153 clients, according to AEF….