The Graduate School is dedicated to providing mentorship and guidance to students who struggle with their mental health. Our faculty and staff are compassionate and form a tight-knit network across campus to support your needs. Our students are also deeply invested in this community endeavor. To hear more on this topic, explore our selected Confluence podcast episodes below which feature students and faculty who work in the area of health and wellbeing.

Confluence aims to celebrate the rich culture of exchange and creativity through conversations with faculty and their graduate students about the ideas that move them and motivate their work. To learn more, visit the Confluence webpage.

Student Spotlight: Madalynn Madigar

In the second installment of "How Climate Changes Me," Madalynn Madigar, graduate of the master's program in Ecocriticism, shares about her work. She presented at UM's 2023 Eco-Melancholia conference about petromodernity and apocalyptic narratives. This episode intersperses highlights from her talk with a conversation between Madalynn and Confluence producer, Amelia Liberatore.

Student Spotlight: Richard Forbes

This episode is the start of a mini-series "How Climate Changes Me," partly inspired by a University of Montana "Eco-Melancholia" conference held earlier this year. Our guest, Richard Forbes, is a graduate of the Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism master's program at UM. He dives into the relationship between his school work, his life's work, and how he deals with the challenges that bridge the two.

Student Spotlight: Graduate Student Lunch Panel

On this episode, we revisit GradCon 2023 and an enlightening panel on grad student resilience. Six students reflect on their graduate journeys and specifically chime in on navigating challenges in their programs, their networks of support, structural barriers they've encountered, and approaches to self-care.

Professor Spotlight: Annie Belcourt

Dr. Annie Belcourt, professor in the Public and Community Health Science department and chair of Native American Studies, returns to Confluence to round out our coverage of the M-HOPES grant: Mental Health Opportunities for Professional Empowerment in STEM. Annie hits home the importance of trauma-informed approaches, reframing thoughts, and cultural context. And she brings with her a great sense of humor.

Professor Spotlight: Bryan Cochran

Psychology professor Bryan Cochran returns to Confluence to pick up our series on the faculty educational program, M-HOPES: Mental Health Opportunities for Professional Empowerment in STEM. Listen back to episode 90 to get the lay of the land. And then tune in here for specifics about what kinds of mental health struggles grad students are experiencing and who is most likely to be impacted, as well as tips for faculty on how to validate and guide those students.

Professor Spotlight: Holly Schleicher

Licensed clinical psychologist Holly Schleicher kicks off Confluence's newest series on graduate student mental health, but with a twist! Holly, along with Annie Belcourt and Bryan Cochran, offered a three-part educational series for UM faculty through a grant called the Mental Health Opportunities for Professional Empowerment in STEM, or M-HOPES. In this episode, hear real clips from the trainings, including a mock conversation between a professor and student, as well as a sit-down interview with Holly about what this training involves and her biggest take-aways. Learn more about the training here, then register for the asynchronous model and complete it on your own time.

Student Spotlight: Phoebe Bean

In episode 88, Clinical Psychology Ph.D. candidate Phoebe Bean continues Confluence's spotlight on mental and behavioral health programs. Hear about Phoebe's uniquely interdisciplinary approach to her work, how she incorporated climate change, and her vision of resilient communities.

Student Spotlight: Jenny Rotzal

Episode 87 launches Confluence into a short series focusing on the mental and behavioral health programs at UM that serve key stakeholders in the community, the state and the region. School Psychology Ph.D. candidate Jenny Rotzal kicks things off, highlighting the importance of mental health support in schools in rural settings and her research on how COVID-19 has impacted both that need and related offerings.

Professor Spotlight: Bryan Cochran

Bryan Cochran has been pushing the boundaries of the clinical psychology field to be more inclusive of LGBTIQ+ studies and treatment for over two decades. In this episode, he talks about growth in that field, the vital importance of mentorship there, and his work at UM as a professor and director of clinical training.

Student Spotlight: Becky Kendall

In Episode 79, Confluence talks with UM Ph.D. student Becky Kendall, who work in toxicology has surprising implications for the use of antidepressants. Becky won the Best in Conference award for last year's Grad Con. In our conversation with Kendall we discuss her creative new research into antidepressants, her pre-doctoral fellowship, and making Montana a better place through her research.

Student Spotlight: Thomas Basolo

This episode of Confluence is the second in a two-part series honoring our graduate student veterans during Veterans Week. Thomas Basolo retired from the military in 2017. In this episode, we discuss his study in social work, his service ethic, and his support for other veterans who are struggling with a variety of issues as they acclimate to civilian life, especially addiction.

Student Spotlight: Julie Cahoon and D'Shane Barnett
 

This episode celebrates the success of two recent graduates of UM’s program in Public Health: Julie Cahoon, who completed her Masters last December, and D’Shane Barnett, who completed his doctorate in Spring 22. Listeners will hear about their academic and research journeys, which demonstrate the value of resilience in pursuing their graduate degrees. They share details on how their team deployed Indigenous Research Methods to draw on existing cultural strengths in Native communities to create public health interventions on addiction. 

Student Spotlight: Daniel Salois

In Episode 59 of Confluence, we hear from Daniel Salois, a Ph.D. student in the School of Education studying Counselor Education and Supervision. Daniel talks about his path to the field of counseling and his research on helping college students incorporate positive psychology techniques into their lives.

Student Spotlight: Nathan Stahley
 

In this episode, we hear from Bertha Morton winner Nathan Stahley on his goal of developing healthy communities through support of youth. He hopes to use his time in the Social Work program to enhance his skills in the interests of increasing access to mental health support in rural communities.  

Student Spotlight: Allison Cutuli

In this episode, hear from Allison Cutuli, a master’s student in sociology at UM. Allison talks about her work as a community organizer, why she selected UM, and her thesis research, which studies mutual aid networks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Student Spotlight: Helen Russette

In this episode, hear from Helen Russette, a Ph.D. candidate within the School of Public and Community Health Sciences. Listen in as Helen talks about her dissertation which focuses on children with prenatal substance exposure and the benefits of early caregiver-child engagement and green space exposure.

Professor Spotlight: Dr. Annie Belcourt

In this episode, we’re in the flow with Dr. Annie Belcourt (Otter Woman) who is a Professor in the College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences. Annie reads an excerpt from Terese Marie Mailhot's memoir Heart Berries which sparks our conversation about her educational journey, the importance of building resilience in Native communities, and the unique research ethics that ground Indigenous research communities.