Skip to main content
Appalachian Today
News and events at Appalachian State University
  • For the media
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • Accolades
  • Alumni
  • Arts and Cultural
  • Athletics
  • Awards and Honors
  • Community Engagement
  • Diversity
  • Events
  • Faculty and Staff
  • First Destinations
  • Gifts and Grants
  • Global
  • Health and Wellness
  • Publications
  • Research
  • Safety
  • Scholarships
  • Students
  • Sustainability
  • Where can an Appalachian degree take you?
☰ Menu
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • For the media
  • Archives
  • Contact
View larger image

ASC Centers operate through an interdisciplinary team of school personnel, Appalachian graduate students and Appalachian faculty who, together, discuss each student referral’s issues and needs. Here, Dr. Kurt Michael, second from right, and Jennifer Wandler, Watauga High School social worker and ASC coordinator, look at a computer file as other ASC Center team members look on. Photo by Marie Freeman

Teens and mental health

A school-based intervention program developed by Appalachian’s Dr. Kurt Michael lowers rural teens’ suicide attempts and boosts their well-being

View larger image

Dr. Kurt Michael, assistant chair of Appalachian’s Department of Psychology and the Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology. Photo by Marie Freeman

The ASC model has “shown not only an effect in improving mental health impairment, but also a positive impact on (teens') academic outcomes and attendance."

Dr. Kurt Michael, Appalachian’s Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology

By Linda Coutant
Posted Nov. 29, 2018 at 11:50 a.m.

BOONE, N.C. — Dr. Kurt Michael says he got “a front-seat view of human suffering” while volunteering for a crisis line for three years as a psychology major at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

“It was harrowing. But it also showed me there are things you can do to be helpful,” said Michael, Appalachian State University’s Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology.

That early glimpse into people’s despair, as well as family and friends’ experiences with mental health issues, moved him to explore the science that can help bring about healing. Jobs in addictions counseling and juvenile corrections further fueled his curiosity and led him to pursue advanced degrees in psychology.

The result is a career aligned with the “scientist–practitioner model” — a philosophy of integrating science and psychology practice initially developed during a national meeting of psychologists in 1949.

“It’s my love. My ability to go into the community and do this work is why I got into this profession,” said Michael, who continues to serve weekly in a school-based treatment program he founded in 2006 for adolescents at Watauga High School.

The Assessment, Support and Counseling (ASC) program, which expanded to Ashe and Alleghany counties, has been associated with positive outcomes and significant reductions in distress among teens struggling with depression, suicidality, anxiety and the associated academic impairments, and has become a national model for sustainable, school-based mental health treatment initiatives.

The ASC model has “shown not only an effect in improving mental health impairment, but also a positive impact on (teens') academic outcomes and attendance."

Dr. Kurt Michael, Appalachian’s Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology

ASC, and the related suicide prevention protocols he has helped to develop, are needed in rural areas, Michael said, where rates of suicide are two to three times the national average and access to licensed mental health professionals is low or nonexistent.

“At its foundation, ASC is designed to provide ready access to effective mental health care that is so hard to find in rural communities,” he said.

“It’s all dependent on the university allowing me to do this, though. They see the value in it, and I’m not sure that’s typical. That’s unique to Appalachian.”

View larger image

Dr. Kurt Michael, assistant chair of Appalachian’s Department of Psychology and the Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology. Photo by Marie Freeman

What is ASC?
  • A school-based treatment program Appalachian’s Dr. Kurt Michael founded in 2006 for adolescents at Watauga High School.
  • ASC later expanded to Ashe and Alleghany high schools.
  • It is now becoming a national model, with alumni and others creating similar school-based treatment programs in other states.

How ASC Centers work

The idea is straightforward, Michael explained: Provide high-quality mental health intervention where adolescents are — in schools. And, do it with graduate students who are supervised by university-affiliated licensed mental health providers.

In the ASC Centers, graduate students from psychology, marriage and family therapy, and social work take on small caseloads of referred adolescents as part of the internships and practica required to complete their degrees.

What is ASC?
  • A school-based treatment program Appalachian’s Dr. Kurt Michael founded in 2006 for adolescents at Watauga High School.
  • ASC later expanded to Ashe and Alleghany high schools.
  • It is now becoming a national model, with alumni and others creating similar school-based treatment programs in other states.

“Rural mental health has been my priority for a long time and now it’s becoming other people’s priority as graduates of our program carry forth the idea.”

Dr. Kurt Michael, Appalachian’s Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology

The graduate students provide mental health services during regular school hours. They also meet weekly with the high schools’ social workers, counselors, school administrators, and licensed, doctoral-level faculty at Appalachian to discuss the teens’ issues and progress.

Adolescents benefit from easily accessible care, while the counseling profession is strengthened by graduate students’ practical experience, Michael said.

“If you can’t get access in the community, we as a university could provide that service under supervision and as part of training. These kids wouldn’t normally get this kind of health care, and by marrying our job as educators to educate the workforce and in the K–12 landscape help educators educate their students by removing impediments to success — such as depression and anxiety — then we’re serving our students, the K–12 students and their families, and the mission of Appalachian,” Michael said.

Locally, ASC data show:

  • At Ashe County High School, 92 percent of students seeking treatment during the 2017–18 academic year showed significant improvement by the end of treatment, which generally lasted two to three months. The rate of suicide attempts requiring medical attention dropped from 6.6 percent of students in 2014 to 3.3 percent in 2017. The national average was 2.8 percent in 2015.
  • At Watauga High School, 70 percent of those seeking treatment in 2017–18 were significantly improved by the end of treatment, which also lasted two to three months. Between 2011 and 2016, the adolescent-reported suicide attempts requiring medical attention dropped from 4.3 percent of students to 1 percent.

“The services are designed to affect the whole person and the real-world things that occur with depression: (students becoming) less productive workers, paying less attention, having changes in appetite,” Michael said.

“We’ve shown not only an effect in improving mental health impairment, but also a positive impact on academic outcomes and attendance.”

View larger image

How does a psychologist practice self-care? For Michael, it’s a variety of activities: hiking with his wife, Amy, and dog, Mayer (above), or riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle (below). Also, biking, weight training, traveling or attending music performances, among other interests. Photos by Marie Freeman

View larger image

Tearing down barriers to mental health support

Michael says there is “nothing particularly remarkable that I’m doing — it’s helping people get out of their own way and to help themselves.”

Former students, though, say otherwise.

“He stands up for the rights of students to get these services. I’m not sure they’d get them without (this type of intervention),” said Carissa Orlando ’12, who is now working on her doctorate in psychology at the University of South Carolina.

“He’s tearing down the barriers to mental health support. Reaching them in the schools seems to be what works long term, and that’s what Kurt instilled in all of us. We saw his passion for this work and also became passionate,” alumnus Cameron Massey ’10 said.

“The model has worked on multiple levels — for the youths I worked with, and for the overall school climate and culture,” said Massey, who helped expand the ASC Center model into Ashe and Alleghany counties, first as a graduate student and later as a licensed clinician, and has started similar programs in South Carolina with other Appalachian alumni.

Among them is Dr. Abby Bode ’13, who worked as a research assistant for Michael and interned at Watauga ASC. She said the interdisciplinary team approach that combined school, university and community knowledge is part of why she has seen adolescents benefit.

“How a psychologist can arrive at change is different from the marriage and family therapist’s and social worker’s perspective,” said Bode, who now counsels children and adolescents in private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Exposure to these different approaches is what I think made each of our work with the kids more flexible and ultimately more effective.”

Michael has a passion to serve kids, Bode said, “and he creates a team of quirky personalities to do it. He realizes that working with kids takes that.”

Through Michael’s teaching and her work at ASC, Orlando said she learned that school mental health is an important niche to fill and it is underscored by a variety of environmental issues: poverty, homelessness, underemployment and family substance abuse, among others.

All must be considered as therapists offer diagnoses and develop innovative interventions in a rural culture, Orlando added. “I can’t praise the ASC Centers and Appalachian enough — they get us ready to be professionals in the world. I felt like I was well-equipped to practice, especially in a school setting,” she said.

View larger image

Alumni speak highly of their experiences with Dr. Kurt Michael and the ASC Centers. Pictured at the 2012 conference for the Center for School Mental Health are, from left, Michael, Abby Bode ’13, Theresa Egan Holdaway ’12 and Cameron Massey ’10. Photo courtesy of Cameron Massey

Sustainable infrastructures

ASC program co-founders
  • Dr. Lauren Renkert, Appalachian’s Department of Social Work.
  • Dr. Jon Winek, Appalachian’s Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling.
  • Angela Quick ’91, then-principal at Watauga High School.
Psychology at Appalachian State University
Psychology at Appalachian State University
YouTube
Aug. 18, 2017

Whitney Van Sant ’16 discusses the field of rural psychology and her experience as a graduate student at Appalachian.

Watch the video

Based on the program’s success, both Watauga and Ashe high schools now employ full-time coordinators of their ASC Centers, including alumna Whitney Van Sant ’16 at Ashe. The centers are sustained by renewed grants.

The collaborative relationship with Appalachian’s Department of Psychology also supports training of school professionals through two other grant-supported protocols led by Dr. J.P. Jameson, associate professor of psychology at Appalachian, and Michael:

  • The Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) program, which trains educators how to ask teens and their families about access to guns, opioids or other means of carrying out a suicide attempt.
  • Prevention of Escalating Adolescent Crisis Events (PEACE), a comprehensive risk assessment designed for use by licensed clinicians working collaboratively with school personnel.

Much of the stigma around mental health care in rural areas is being reduced, Michael said, as young people and their families become more comfortable acknowledging and dealing with personal issues and increasingly refer their friends to ASC Centers.

Michael’s other accomplishments in advocating for rural mental health and sustaining its support:

  • He co-founded the Carolina Network for School Mental Health, which develops partnerships with North Carolina and South Carolina schools, community-based agencies, families and youth-serving systems and organizations to achieve improved educational and health outcomes for children.
  • He co-edited with Jameson the “Handbook of Rural School Mental Health” (Springer, 2017).
  • He produced a series of webinars on rural mental health for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, a unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Rural mental health has been my priority for a long time and now it’s becoming other people’s priority as graduates of our program carry forth the idea,” Michael said.

As a member of The Appalachia Initiative: A Bipartisan Approach for the 21st Century — a task force co-chaired by senators from Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina dedicated to finding pragmatic, bipartisan solutions to Appalachia’s challenges — Michael has spoken twice in Washington, D.C., impressing on others the need for greater attention to rural mental health.

“Rural school mental health hasn’t been a top priority, and I think that is changing,” he said.

ASC program co-founders
  • Dr. Lauren Renkert, Appalachian’s Department of Social Work.
  • Dr. Jon Winek, Appalachian’s Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling.
  • Angela Quick ’91, then-principal at Watauga High School.
2014 Award for Excellence in Public Service: Dr. K. Michael
2014 Award for Excellence in Public Service: Dr. K. Michael
UNC-TV
Oct. 26, 2014

Heather Burgiss introduces us to Appalachian State University Professor of Psychology & Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Kurt Michael, the 2014 recipient of the UNC Board of Governors James E. Holshouser Jr. Award for Excellence in Public Service. Dr. Michael is recognized for his work in providing mental health services for students in rural Northwest North Carolina.

Watch the video
Watauga County Schools funds continued support of Appalachian ASC Center
Watauga County Schools funds continued support of Appalachian ASC Center
Jan. 18, 2019

This funding ensures that, for the 13th consecutive year, students in Watauga High School have access to the high-quality mental health services provided by Appalachian’s Assessment, Support, and Counseling Center.

Read the story
Appalachian receives approval for doctoral program in clinical psychology to provide more practitioners for rural communities
Appalachian receives approval for doctoral program in clinical psychology to provide more practitioners for rural communities
March 30, 2018

Appalachian has received approval from the UNC Board of Governors to establish a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program. Students will be admitted beginning in fall 2019.

Read the story
‘Living Like You Mean It’
‘Living Like You Mean It’

Meet more Mountaineers who are living intentional lives, and making a difference for others.

Learn more
Psychology at Appalachian State University
Psychology at Appalachian State University
YouTube
Aug. 18, 2017

Whitney Van Sant ’16 discusses the field of rural psychology and her experience as a graduate student at Appalachian.

Watch the video

Related links

  • ASU Psychologist Recognized for Addressing Mental Health Needs
  • Counseling partnership yields positive results for WHS students
  • BOE presented with ASC Center outcomes in student mental health

About the Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology

Appalachian’s Dr. Wiley F. Smith Department of Psychology serves 900 undergraduate majors seeking the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, as well as 80 graduate students in the master’s degree programs in clinical psychology, experimental psychology, school psychology, and industrial-organizational psychology and human resource management. Its newly established Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program will begin admitting students in fall 2019. Learn more at https://psych.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences is home to 16 academic departments, one stand-alone academic program, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. There are approximately 6,100 student majors in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing Appalachian's general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About the Department of Social Work

The Department of Social Work in Appalachian State University’s Beaver College of Health Sciences offers both undergraduate and graduate programs, and is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The undergraduate social work program prepares students for generalist social work practice, and graduates can be found in social service agencies, hospitals, schools, hospices, criminal justice systems and mental health facilities. The graduate program teaches students advanced clinical skills for their work as social service managers and leaders, or clinicians who provide services to individuals, families and communities. Learn more at https://socialwork.appstate.edu.

About the Beaver College of Health Sciences

Appalachian's Beaver College of Health Sciences opened in 2010 as the result of a strategic university commitment to significantly enhance the health and quality of life for individuals, families and communities in North Carolina and beyond. In 2015, the college was named for an Appalachian alumnus and pioneer in the health care industry — Donald C. Beaver ’62 ’64 of Conover. The college offers 10 undergraduate degree programs and six graduate degree programs, which are organized into six departments: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Health and Exercise Science; Nursing; Nutrition and Health Care Management; Recreation Management and Physical Education; and Social Work. Learn more at https://healthsciences.appstate.edu.

About the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling

The Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling in Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education is responsible for organizing and providing instructional programs in counseling and other human development functions for public schools, colleges and universities and various agencies. The department offers Master of Arts degrees in clinical mental health counseling, professional school counseling, college student development and marriage and family therapy. Learn more at https://hpc.appstate.edu.

About the Reich College of Education

Appalachian offers one of the largest undergraduate teacher preparation programs in North Carolina, graduating about 500 teachers a year. The Reich College of Education enrolls approximately 2,400 students in its bachelor's, master's, education specialist and doctoral degree programs. With so many teacher education graduates working in the state, there is at least one RCOE graduate teaching in every county in North Carolina. Learn more at https://rcoe.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

Appalachian State University, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The transformational Appalachian experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and embrace diversity and difference. As one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, Appalachian enrolls more than 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

What is ASC?
  • A school-based treatment program Appalachian’s Dr. Kurt Michael founded in 2006 for adolescents at Watauga High School.
  • ASC later expanded to Ashe and Alleghany high schools.
  • It is now becoming a national model, with alumni and others creating similar school-based treatment programs in other states.
Locally, ASC data show:

At Ashe County High School:

  • 92 percent of students seeking treatment in 2017–18 showed significant improvement.
  • Suicide attempts dropped from 6.6 percent of students in 2014 to 3.3 percent in 2017.

At Watauga High School:

  • 70 percent of students seeking treatment in 2017–18 showed significant improvement.
  • Suicide attempts dropped from 4.3 percent of students in 2011 to 1 percent in 2016.
ASC program co-founders
  • Dr. Lauren Renkert, Appalachian’s Department of Social Work.
  • Dr. Jon Winek, Appalachian’s Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling.
  • Angela Quick ’91, then-principal at Watauga High School.
Watauga County Schools funds continued support of Appalachian ASC Center
Watauga County Schools funds continued support of Appalachian ASC Center
Jan. 18, 2019

This funding ensures that, for the 13th consecutive year, students in Watauga High School have access to the high-quality mental health services provided by Appalachian’s Assessment, Support, and Counseling Center.

Read the story
Appalachian receives approval for doctoral program in clinical psychology to provide more practitioners for rural communities
Appalachian receives approval for doctoral program in clinical psychology to provide more practitioners for rural communities
March 30, 2018

Appalachian has received approval from the UNC Board of Governors to establish a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program. Students will be admitted beginning in fall 2019.

Read the story
‘Living Like You Mean It’
‘Living Like You Mean It’

Meet more Mountaineers who are living intentional lives, and making a difference for others.

Learn more

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Share

Topics

  • Community Engagement
  • Diversity
  • Faculty and Staff
  • Gifts and Grants
  • Health and Wellness
  • Sustainability

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • University media releases published prior to Jan. 1, 2015
  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Share

Topics

  • Community Engagement
  • Diversity
  • Faculty and Staff
  • Gifts and Grants
  • Health and Wellness
  • Sustainability

Other Recent Posts

  • Beaver College of Health Sciences announces new chair of its Department of Recreation Management and Physical Education
    Beaver College of Health Sciences announces new chair of its Department of Recreation Management and Physical Education
  • 5 acclaimed authors to speak as part of spring 2019 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
    5 acclaimed authors to speak as part of spring 2019 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
  • NPS funds Appalachian survey of WNS-affected bats in Blue Ridge Parkway area
    NPS funds Appalachian survey of WNS-affected bats in Blue Ridge Parkway area
  • Peru study abroad programs, summer 2018
    Peru study abroad programs, summer 2018
  • Campus emergency siren test to be conducted March 6
    Campus emergency siren test to be conducted March 6
  • Bryce Helms — from Appalachian police cadet to full-time APD officer
    Bryce Helms — from Appalachian police cadet to full-time APD officer
  • Dr. Cole Edwards emphasizes fieldwork in studying geological history
    Dr. Cole Edwards emphasizes fieldwork in studying geological history
  • JustPax Fund supports sustainability leadership development for educators, administrators at Appalachian Academy at Middle Fork
    JustPax Fund supports sustainability leadership development for educators, administrators at Appalachian Academy at Middle Fork
  • Gilman Scholar Patrick Ross conducts independent study in Madagascar
    Gilman Scholar Patrick Ross conducts independent study in Madagascar
  • Appalachian and RISE sign paperwork for multiphase housing project
    Appalachian and RISE sign paperwork for multiphase housing project
  • Appalachian ties for top producer of Fulbright Scholars among master’s institutions
    Appalachian ties for top producer of Fulbright Scholars among master’s institutions
  • OSEP funding supports Appalachian iSHINE scholars
    OSEP funding supports Appalachian iSHINE scholars

Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • University media releases published prior to Jan. 1, 2015
  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • For the media
  • Archives
  • Contact

Appalachian State University

Copyright 2019 Appalachian State University. All rights reserved.

University Communications
ASU Box 32153
Boone, NC 28608
828-262-6156
ucomm@appstate.edu

Abouts

Disclaimer | EO Policy | Website manager: montaldi | Website Feedback

Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram LinkedIn Snapchat