Antioch master’s student Marissa Arrigoni has earned the prestigious NBCC Foundation’s Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counselors (Master’s). Marissa is a student in Antioch University New England’s MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. Arrigoni will receive $10,000 in funding and training this year to support her education and facilitate her service to underserved minority populations.
“I would not have applied for or been made aware of this fellowship if it wasn’t for the encouragement and help from my professors at Antioch, specifically Dr. Summer Allen and Dr. Catherine Lounsbury,” said Marissa. “Through this fellowship, I have been given many amazing opportunities that I would not have experienced otherwise. This award has thus far allowed me to attend several amazing conferences, pay for licensure exams/fees, and lessen the need of having to work full time in graduate school while balancing classes and internships.”
Marissa was selected as 1 of 30 master’s level recipients of the NBCC fellowship. She and her fellow fellows are being trained to become skilled professionals committed to serving priority underserved populations as identified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Upon graduation, Marissa intends to work clinically with the child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient population as well as continue her research and advocacy work with marginalized individuals who have suffered from police brutality. She also wants to work with LGBTQIA+ youth, ethnic minorities, and those with limited access to mental health care.
“All of my professors at Antioch have always encouraged me to turn my personal struggles into advocacy work,” said Marissa. “This fellowship funding helped me pay for travel expenses to present on police brutality at the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development conference in June. After losing my older brother who struggled with mental health concerns to police brutality, this was an incredible professional and personally fulfilling experience.”
Earning this fellowship allows Marissa to expand her clinical expertise through conferences and training that will improve her ability to work with underserved populations.
“By the end of my fellowship year, I will have begun to develop my professional identity as a specialist who focuses on trauma with minority children and adolescents,” said Marissa. “I encourage any Antioch students to apply for this fellowship, it has been one of the best things to ever happen to me and I have met so many amazing, dedicated individuals in my profession through this!”
The NBCC Foundation is the nonprofit affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), based in Greensboro, North Carolina. NBCC is the nation’s premier professional certification board devoted to credentialing counselors who meet standards for the general and specialty practices of professional counseling. The Foundation’s mission is to leverage the power of counseling by strategically focusing resources for positive change.
Photo credit: NBCC Foundation