TULSA, Okla. — A University of Tulsa doctoral student is using her training to help some of Tulsa’s most vulnerable high school students manage their mental health.
Lauren Prince is using her time in school to build a foundation for mental health growth.
Prince is a fourth year clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Tulsa and a member of the Tulsa Schweitzer Fellowship’s 10th cohort.
Through the fellowship, Prince works with high school students to help them strengthen their communication, emotional awareness and their coping skills during moments of crisis.
Prince said high school students often face higher rates of trauma and mental health challenges, which can sometimes be compounded by family members experiencing similar struggles.
“They’re a particularly important group to help because of all these concerns that are happening for them,” Prince explained.
The Tulsa Schweitzer Fellowship supports graduate and professional students who are committed to improving community health.
Fellowship Director Dr. Emma Morris said the program focuses on leadership development and long-term impact.
“The Schweitzer Fellowship is a health leadership development program for graduate and professional students. Our goal is to equip our fellows with the skills, networks and experience to drive meaningful change and foster healthy communities throughout their careers.”
Prince currently meets with sophomores and seniors at Phoenix Rising Alternative School, but she said she plans to expand her sessions to freshmen and juniors.
“I believe mental health care access is super important and so I met with Scott, who’s the administrator at Phoenix Rising, and he mentioned how important it is for these students to feel more capable of managing mental health challenges. He reported that they’re in therapy in a lot of different ways, but they don’t necessarily feel like they know what skills to use and how to use them. That’s where I came up with using Dialectical Behavioral Therapy because it’s really aimed at helping people who act impulsively and have difficulty managing the emotions and a lot of the concerns that the staff and students were reporting were kind of aligned with that.”
She said she wants her lessons to extend beyond the classroom and into students’ daily lives.
“It’s so important that parents are able to have those conversations with their kids about emotions and how they’re doing. I’m hoping students feel more capable of talking to their parents and asking for support when they need it.”
Prince said her ultimate goal is to help students feel confident discussing their emotions and to help them know how or when it’s best to ask for help.
“I’m hoping they feel capable of using these skills at school with friends and with family, so they can feel happier and more content just existing in the world.”
Prince said the project isn’t just helping students, but is also helping her as she works to become a therapist.