On Friday, the Wilma and Peter Veldman Family Psychology Clinic hosted its first open house, allowing members of the public to tour the facility and learn about its offerings. The clinic opened June 1.
The facility aims to improve access to mental health resources in the South Bend community, an article on the clinic’s website stated in May.
“The clinic will significantly expand the evidence-based mental health services that Notre Dame provides to the community, while also serving as the new home of the William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families and the newly launched Human Neuroimaging Center,” the article stated.
Located near the junction of South Bend Avenue and North Hill Street, the clinic is positioned along the Link Trail — a pedestrian path connecting the main campus at Notre Dame to downtown South Bend.
Laurie Nafziger, president and CEO of Oaklawn — a mental health and addiction services provider in St. Joseph County — said the two groups would share expertise and cooperate on referrals.
Nafziger said Oaklawn, located a quarter mile from the new clinic, was happy to have it in the neighborhood.
“It was a really important decision to build the buildings here in this neighborhood and to place it in a spot that is accessible to the public,” clinic director Kristin Valentino said in an interview with The Observer.
Valentino named proximity to parking and a bus stop as factors in reducing barriers to provide care.
The clinic does not take insurance. It offers services at a $10 per hour for therapy services, and a $150-300 range for evaluations.
“We really do want to make ourselves accessible for folks who are not able to access care in other ways,” Valentino said. She added that the clinic relies on support from private donors to support the low costs.
While the clinic does not currently offer psychiatry services, it is reportedly exploring a joint employment plan with Beacon to support more than one part-time psychiatrist, Valentino said in a question-and-answer session.
“When you have a family with a very complicated mental health situation for a child, they have to go to Cleveland or Chicago or Indianapolis to try and get specialized services,” Lisa Kelly, director of Mental Health Awareness of Michiana, said. “I think the direction these folks are heading in is the right direction,”
Opportunities open to Notre Dame students
Though off campus, the clinic offers multiple research opportunities for students.
“Each faculty member sort of runs their own research lab, and all have probably at least 10 to 15 research assistants at the undergraduate level working with them each year,” Valentino said.
She added that an undergraduate practicum course is currently being developed that would allow students to connect with the clinic. The course will be piloted this fall before a formal course opens in the spring semester.
Students are also eligible to receive the clinic’s mental health services themselves, Valentino said.
Though separate from the University Counseling Center, she said the center and the clinic have been working on a formal collaboration as well.
Training conducted in professional facilities
Another goal of the clinic is to support the continued education of professionals and the training of students interested in entering the field
In a joint interview with The Observer, Kelly and Nafziger debated whether South Bend could be called a desert of clinicians. Both agreed the term was more appropriate on the state level than locally, though according to Nafziger, “need tops what’s readily available.”
Donna Armentrout, a psychologist for the clinic specializing in child assessment, said the facility sports two-way mirrors for observing trainees.
She said it may also give parents peace of mind by allowing them to observe their child’s interaction with a clinician.
Jennifer Burke Lefever, managing director of the Veldman Family Psychology Clinic, said all clinical and research spaces are also equipped with video cameras.
The recordings, done with consent, are used for training or coded for research depending on the service provided. She noted that all footage is stored securely.
