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.
The initiative began in 2018 with extensive community input sessions to identify the most pressing mental health needs. A clear consensus emerged from this research.
“If you had to decide what population could most benefit from new resources in the mental health space over and over again, kiddos came up,” said Valin Brown, AEF’s CEO.
According to reports, 50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14 and suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth ages 10-24 in California.
“It’s almost impossible to pick up a newspaper and not see how mental health is a massive challenge and need locally, statewide, nationally and beyond,” Brown said.
However, the Consortium is making strides. Last year, 70% of students treated in partnership with San Diego Unified School District showed improvement in overall mental health functioning, 75% showed decreased depression and 43% reported lower anxiety levels, according to the foundation.
Ibarra has witnessed firsthand the struggles faced by today’s youth. Many of his clients deal with academic and social challenges compounded by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The transition from virtual learning back to in-person classes was particularly tough for many students, leading to increased anxiety, scholastic struggles and difficulty making friends, according to Ibarra. By addressing these stressors, therapy has helped them grow both academically and socially.
“You let them see the good qualities they naturally have and encourage them to try new things,” Ibarra said. “It’s them putting in legwork, but we’re there to support and give them the props they deserve for each step.”
As a bilingual clinician and Mexican American, Ibarra is passionate about working with Spanish-speaking families.
“To give families feedback and information about how sessions are going — that was a gap that needed to be filled and I’m happy to provide that level of support,” he said.
Building on its success in San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area, AEF recently helped launch the Alliant University Sacramento Psychological Services telehealth clinic. While based in Sacramento, the initiative provides affordable mental health services to adults anywhere in California, addressing concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma, stress and grief.
According to AEF, these mental health programs rely on community support to continue critical work.
“A donation of $100 could mean two or three therapy sessions for the most financially-strained families,” Ibarra said.
To support the Alliant Educational Foundation, go to www.allianted.org.
For information about the new telehealth clinic, go to www.alliantclinics.org/alliant-sacramento-psychological-services.
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