Vittoria Maione has always known she wanted to work with clients within the forensics population — incarcerated individuals, those recently released from prisons or jails, and even their families.
“These are people who are often forgotten because of their crimes,” said Maione, who moved from Italy to Chicago to pursue higher education. “But at the end of the day, I believe everyone deserves a second chance and opportunities for a brighter future.”
Vittoria Maione
“I was thinking of finding a career in criminology or maybe education,” she added. “That is until Adler University and Adler Community Health Services (ACHS).”
Adler gave Maione the opportunity to experience working in a community mental health setting — first through her Social Justice Practicum and later in an internship with ACHS, the University’s nonprofit clinical training center.
Maione provided individual and group therapy at St. Leonard’s Ministries, a Chicago-based nonprofit that offers a re-entry program for those recently released from prison or jail and those awaiting trial.
“It was one of the most life-changing experiences I’ve had,” said Maione, who officially completed her dual-degree degree in the master’s programs in Counseling in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) and Forensic Mental Health Leadership at Adler University in September and December, respectively.
“My experience at ACHS and St. Leonard’s completely reshaped my goals and led me to work in a community health setting,” she said.
This month, Maione is starting her first post-Adler career as an intake counselor for the Substance Use Diversion Program at Thresholds, one of the oldest and largest nonprofit providers of recovery services for persons with mental illnesses and substance use conditions in Illinois. At its Substance Use Diversion Program, Maione will work with local police district stations and respond to drug-related arrests and referrals.
“For those who meet a certain criterion, instead of putting them in jail, we link them to resources and provide life-saving equipment such as fentanyl strips and Narcan,” she said. “In a few days, we’ll reach out to them again, offer additional resources, and possibly enroll them in a substance use program at Thresholds.”
Maione’s story highlights the importance of ACHS providing student clinicians invaluable hands-on experience, enabling them, through community partners, to reach underserved populations.
“The breadth and depth of exposure to health services, patient needs, and mental health which occurs in community mental health settings prepares students to be well-rounded clinicians and provide practical experience related to a larger range of future career opportunities post matriculation,” said Michelle Anderson, Ph.D., ACHS director of training for the Chicago training programs.
“We feel a deep sense of satisfaction, some pride, and also joy when a former trainee pursue a community mental health career option, especially when they find it rewarding and worthwhile,” she added.
Embedded within communities
Each year, ACHS and its workforce training programs in Chicago and Vancouver offer psychology doctoral internships, psychology doctoral externships, and master’s externships in counseling psychology, art therapy, and in couple and family therapy. Students in these clinical training programs deliver on annual average 12,000 hours of direct clinical services and 8,000 hours of clinical support and consultation for community partner organizations.
ACHS has come a long way from its inception in 1972 as the Dreikurs Psychological Services Center, which offered mental health and substance use outpatient treatment to the public from Adler University in Chicago.
In the 1990s, ACHS began collaborating with local community organizations, with St. Leonard’s Ministries among its first training partners. By 2009, more than 97% of the care provided by student clinicians had transitioned to community-based locations, focusing on reaching underserved populations by embedding services directly within areas of need.
At partner sites, Adler students under the direct supervision and oversight of licensed clinicians offer a full suite of trauma-informed services, whether in-person or virtual. This includes individual, couple, and family therapy, psychotherapy groups, psychological assessment and testing, community and staff psychoeducation and prevention programming, community trauma event debriefing and support, and individual mental health crisis intervention.
ACHS services are provided for free to those accessing them, including youth in foster care, students in after school programs, college students, health care workers, and those with mental health and substance use challenges seeking to have independent lives.
“Our community-centered approach allows the community to shape our mental health services and define our role as advocates for health equity and health justice,” said Kevin A. Ostern-Garner, Psy.D., ACHS executive director and chief psychologist. “And by being deeply embedded in the communities, ACHS reduces barriers to care and improves the quality of services we deliver and the training our students receive.”
Maione, left, and her fellow externs and interns at St. Leonard’s Ministries.
Keyword is ‘rewarding’
Maione began her one-year internship at St. Leonard’s Ministries in September 2023. There, participants have access to a variety of services needed for successful reentry, including safe housing, basic needs, life skills training, workforce development, and behavioral and physical health care.
In Illinois, the recidivism rate is nearly 38% for men and 23% for women. However, the rates of participants in St. Leonard’s programs are reduced to 14% and 2%, respectively.
During her internship, Maione provided individual therapy to up to eight clients and co-led two group sessions a week.
“Yes, there were times when people didn’t want to be in therapy, either because they didn’t know what therapy was or because they were simply required to attend,” she said. “But there were many more moments when clients opened up, expressing how proud they were about an accomplishment, that they completed their GED, or that they found a job. Those rewarding days made up for any of the challenging ones.”
One of those moments included a client Maione worked with during her internship. He was older and had been in and out of prison for drug charges. However, he told her he was finally ready to abstain from drugs and alcohol.
Within a year, in part through the counseling work with Maione, the client reconnected with his family, found a community to support him, and found employment and housing.
“All I really did was give him and others a safe and comfortable space to share whatever was on their minds,” she said. “And to see my clients’ progress just reaffirmed for me that this is what I wanted to do,” she said.
Maione gives credit to the ACHS team, specifically clinical faculty Jason Grebasch, LCPC, who served as her supervisor.
“He supported me throughout my practicum and internship, and he was so supportive and fundamental in my development as a clinician,” Maione said. “And he’s a key figure in my decision to stay in community mental health.”
As she begins her new role at Thresholds — another ACHS community partner — Maione looks forward to changing more lives.
Maione said she hopes students continue to gain experience at ACHS and then, like her, continue to pursue a career in community mental health.
“No, you’re not going to have a fancy chair or office, and the pay won’t compare to those working in private practice,” she said.
“But the keywords here are ‘rewarding’ and ‘community,’” she added. “It is so rewarding, especially as a new practitioner, to know you are a small part in helping someone who may have had nothing find a roof over their head, a stable job, live healthier lives, and reconnect with their family, friends, and the wider community.”