We began this interview with the intent of focusing, as we usually do, on one person’s research. However, this query soon became—like the collaborative work it highlights—a joint project involving James R. Koller and Karen Weston of the Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology in the College of Education, two individuals working together to “think outside the box” by creating the Center for the Advancement of Mental Health Practices in the Schools, now affectionately called “the Center” by its members. “The Center was created in response to the rising number of students in need of mental health services today,” states its homepage. It was initiated “as a paradigm shift that recognizes prevention as a fundamental element in supporting our nation’s youth facing developmental challenges, psycho-social issues, and environmental stressors within the school system and community . . . with the whole thrust being a paradigmatic shift from mental illness to mental health.” Of course, “you’re never going to get away from mental illness,” admits Koller, “but instead of waiting until pathology occurs, the question posed to me was how we can do something different. How can we better prepare consumers at all levels to be better informed so that we can create a positive learning environment for each learner and increase her or his self-concept, while academic learning flourishes?”

In its mission to convince lay people and the professional community about the importance of early intervention, the Center has encountered several obstacles. Trying to modify teacher certification requirements to include coursework in this area, for example, has been like “trying to teach an old dog a new trick,” Koller recounts. For one thing, people tend to think that mental illness problems and substance abuse don’t exist in their own community. “There is a naiveté that befits the general society as well as the professional ones. We really have to work on shaping and re-shaping the mentality towards mental health; it is a systemic problem that is going to take a long time.”