June 22, 2025 • 16 mins
Dr. Vaile Wright, Senior Director of the Office of Health Care Innovation in the Practice Directorate of the American Psychological Association takes us inside the intersection of innovation and mental health care. As one in twenty adults faces serious mental health challenges—and provider shortages persist—Wright explores how technology is stepping in to bridge the gap. She spotlights promising tools like AI that ease clinician burden when consumer tools blur the line between support and misinformation.
This episode is a call to action for future healthcare leaders. With mental health needs at an all-time high, Wright emphasizes the need for bold thinking, ethical innovation, and compassionate leadership.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Anthony Stanowski (00:00):
Well, thank you very much, Melissa, for that
introduction and a warm welcometoday to our guest, Vaile
Wright.
And I got to see Vaile presentat the HIMSS conference this
past February and was justtotally blown away by your
presentation and I did a prettythorough LinkedIn posting on it
(00:21):
and I noticed some other peopleposted Vaile a superstar at the
American PsychologicalAssociation.
So, Vaile, first, if you canjust tell us a little bit about
yourself and what the AmericanPsychological Association is,
Sure, and thank you so much forhaving me and for that flattery.
Vaile Wright (00:39):
I doubt I deserve it, but I'll still take it, at
least so thanks again and niceto be here.
So, as you said, I'm VaileWright, I am a licensed
psychologist and I serve as thesenior director for the Office
of Healthcare Innovation at theAmerican Psychological
Association.
So APA is the largestscientific and professional
(01:03):
organization representingpsychology in the United States.
We have over 170,000 memberswho represent clinicians and
researchers and students andeducators, and you know what our
goal is is really to provide,to promote psychological science
, to benefit society and improvepeople's lives, and it's an
(01:23):
exciting place to get to be.
It's certainly a very chaotictime in the country and as well
as within healthcare, and sothere's a lot of things that
we're working on to try toensure that we can reduce
people's suffering as quickly aspossible, and in my role at APA
, a lot of that is looking atthe intersection of technology
(01:47):
and behavioral health.
So how can we use emergingtechnologies in safe and
effective ways to really addressaccess, improve efficiencies
and, again, just try to makethings better for a wide variety
of people?
Anthony Stanowski (02:10):
That was one of the parts that really excited
my imagination during yourpresentation, because you did
talk about this incrediblepent-up demand.
If you would and I don't know,demand's not the best term to
kind of use in this but one in20 adults have significant
mental health crisis, and how doyou kind of address that?
And what was fascinating to meis you looked at a variety of
(02:32):
platforms that are out there,both on a consumer basis
platforms like Calm and in amore therapeutic kind of basis
too, around some AI parts aroundthere, and of course, you're
you're in this fascinatingorganization called the health
innovation part within theAmerican Psychological
(02:53):
Association.
So you're right at the, the,the precipice of all this stuff.
So talk about what you see,what you see there now, and what
do you see kind of coming inthat areas?
Vaile Wright (03:05):
Yeah.
So I mean, I don't think it'sgoing to surprise anybody on
this podcast when I say thatwe're experiencing a mental
health crisis, not just in theUS, but actually globally, and
part of the challenge is aworkforce shortage.
So we have just not enoughbehavioral health providers
across the entire spectrum oftypes of providers.
So, whether you're talkingabout psychologists or
(03:27):
psychiatrists or master's levelproviders, there just will never
be enough to address the crisisthat we're seeing.
And it's not just that we don'thave enough people, it's that
we don't have them in the rightplaces across the country.
We don't have necessarily theright skills when it comes to
language or, you know, acrossthe lifespan, of who you treat,
(03:49):
and we have a lot of providersthat are very disincentivized
from taking insurance, and sothat provides even more access
issues.
So, you know, I think wherewe're trying to look at is how
can we use technologies andother types of interventions to
address this problem?
It's a really complex problem.
We can't just manufacture morepeople and expect that we're
(04:13):
going to be able to meeteverybody's needs.
We've got to be more creative.
We've got to in some waysreally disrupt the healthcare
model that we have in place.
You know we wait for people tobe in crisis to seek out
services, and then we expectthem to receive one type of
service weekly 45 minutespsychotherapy and or medication,
(04:34):
and that's it.
We have one model, and I justdon't think that that's going to
work.
We can't keep doing the samethings we've always done and
expect something different.
Anthony Stanowski (04:43):
I believe they call that crazy same things
we've always done and expectsomething different.
I believe they call that crazy.
Yeah, that's a famous quote outthere.
It's the definition of insanity, right, when you keep doing the
same thing over and over andnot getting the results you're
looking for.
It was, again, a reallyinteresting approach to talk
about.
I mean, you're looking at aworkforce shortage and I think
what we're seeing in psychologyis certainly also kind of
(05:05):
mirrored on the acute end of thebusiness as well, the acute end
of the healthcare field as well, as you know, in therapy,
physical therapist and nursingand all the like.
But your approach and I thinkthe exploration of AI tools is
an interesting one.
And let me kind of also saywe've worked with Dr Reggie
(05:28):
Herzlinger at Harvard BusinessSchool to look at healthcare
innovation, and her comment isinnovation is not just invention
, it's understanding how to useinvention to make a difference.
I love that I think you're doingit in this respect, what are
some of the things that you'reseeing kind of happening in
(05:48):
there?
Vaile Wright (05:49):
I think right now, we're seeing two major trends
as it relates to AI withinbehavioral health.
One is and you're seeing thisin the more physical health as
well as the use of AI ambientscribes to help with automating
documentation is slower thanwithin physical health, in part
(06:15):
because a lot of mental healthcare providers don't have
electronic health records, andso if you're working in a large
system, they might have put anAI scribe in there without
actually even asking you aboutit, with the expectation that
you use it.
It's a little different, Ithink, with mental health.
I think these are interesting.
I think that they provide someinteresting opportunities.
I've talked to one psychologistwho said that, because of
(06:35):
accessibility issues, shecouldn't type as well as she
used to, and so using the AIscribe was actually really
helpful.
Is it going to solve the mentalhealth crisis?
No, you know it doesn't makemore hours in the day, but what
it could do, I think, is acouple of things.
One is it could help reduceburnout, keeping people in the
field longer because nobody wentinto healthcare to document
(06:58):
their notes right.
That's just not part of why wedo this.
We do this because we want tohelp people, so I think that's
one area that could help.
I've also heard, at leastanecdotally, patients say,
particularly again in morephysical health settings, that
they feel like their provider islistening to them more, that
they're not typing at the sametime, and I think that that
opens up opportunities forpeople to be more forthcoming
(07:20):
with their mental health needs.
Now we still have to addressthe access issue, but if we can
get people to even just talk toproviders about what's going on,
that's a good, important step.
So that's the first trend I see.
The second big trend I see isthe use of AI chatbots to
address mental health needs, andagain, I'm sure people on the
podcast have seen the multiple,multiple articles that have been
(07:42):
coming out about this, and Ithink there's a lot of promise
there, but there's also a lot ofchallenge because not all
chatbots are the same.
So I think there will be afuture where, you see, mental
health chatbots using AI thatare rooted in psychological
science, have been rigorouslytested, are co-created with such
(08:03):
and matter experts for thepurposes of addressing mental
health needs, and I think thatthat could actually address some
of the mental health crisisbecause it has the potential to
meet people where they are andprovide them with support at,
say, 2 am when they'reexperiencing real distress, but
that's not really what we'reseeing on the market right now.
(08:23):
What we see on the market isjust a wide variety of chatbots
that weren't built for mentalhealth purposes, but are being
used for them because people aredesperate, and we will seek out
self-help wherever we can findit, and so, while I've also
heard there are some benefitsfor those too, it also concerns
me because we know there've beensome really tragic consequences
(08:46):
, as well, do you want to talkabout some of those, or can you
talk about some of those?
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
There have been a couple ofreally high profile lawsuits
against character AI, which isone of these generative AI
chatbots that market themselvesas companions.
They don't say they're formental health purposes, but, as
(09:07):
you can imagine when you look atthe research, most people are
using these to address theiremotional well-being needs.
It's just kind of you know,sort of not that surprising
really I mean, people you knoware struggling with
relationships and with work andwith being lonely, and so
they're going to seek these out,these chatbots is that they
(09:31):
allow their users, thedevelopers of the avatars, to
market themselves as therapistsand psychologists, even though
they aren't, and so it givesthis false sense of credibility,
and what we've seen is some ofthe advice they have given is
not just not helpful, it'sactually harmful, because the
(09:52):
goal of a lot of these chatbotsisn't to be helpful, it's to
keep you on the platform, andthey do that by being
unconditionally appealing andvalidating, and they tell you
exactly what you want to hear,which is the antithesis of
therapy.
Anthony Stanowski (10:08):
Yeah Well, Wayne, that's a lot of how, what
social media is doing in thisbasis too, that kind of
continued feedback loop of Ibelieve this and other people
believe it, so therefore it mustbe right.
Vaile Wright (10:18):
Yeah, 100 percent.
I think a lot of the principlesthat make social media
addicting are the same kinds ofprinciples that make these AI
chatbots also very addicting.
Anthony Stanowski (10:29):
Yeah, well, I asked you on here, you know I
mean part of it was tounderstand, I think, what's
going on in this separate field.
But I, during the course of mycareer, I've got to meet some
great executives to lead whowere leading some of the health
systems and hospitals out there,facilities out there around
(10:50):
mental health, and you know, Iknow you know a little bit about
CAMI and what we do and weaccredit healthcare management
education programs with the hopethat our students are going out
to being leaders in the field.
I think a lot of times studentsthink, well, I want to become
the hospital CEO and kind ofthinking about the acute care
world.
(11:10):
But I think there's some greatopportunities for students out
there who want to make adifference and want to make a
difference in a field thatdesperately is looking for
people to make a difference thefield of mental health.
And Vaile talk about those typeof opportunities as best as you
know them, for you know thegraduates of healthcare
(11:34):
management education programsSure.
Vaile Wright (11:37):
So you know, I think if there's any silver
lining that came out of thepandemic, it's a greater
recognition of the importance ofmental health and the
relationship between our mentaland our physical health, and in
a way that I don't thinkeverybody appreciated quite so
acutely pre -pandemic.
And, in particular, we knowthat 18 to 34-year-olds are some
(11:59):
of the most stressed and mostdistressed groups of individuals
out there, and so I think thatthat has the potential to
provide a lot of motivation tosay I can bring something new to
this situation and change it,continue to break down stigmas
(12:24):
around mental health and nottreat it as a second-class
citizen almost, if you will.
Then I think it does open upopportunities for people to say,
oh, I never thought about goinginto that space before, but
what if I did?
What if I have something reallyunique to bring to this
situation?
What if I can be a leader indisruption for good?
(12:45):
Because I think oftentimes,particularly for young
individuals, leadership getsequated to experience and that's
not necessarily what it is.
Leadership is about having avision for what the problem is
and how to solve it, and I thinkthat young people today really
can think outside the box anduse technology and use data in
(13:06):
ways that older generations justweren't as accustomed to,
because it's not what we grew upwith.
Necessarily, I didn't evenlearn how to do telehealth when
I was a psychology student, youknow, becoming licensed and you
know, now things are just sodifferent.
So I think that there's so manyopportunities for individuals
to do something really unique inthis space, and so, you know, I
(13:29):
would encourage people to atleast be curious about, you know
, what are the opportunities?
How could I, you know, bringsomething new?
Because the other thing is, notonly are we all, you know, have
our own experiences as patients,right, but we all also have our
own mental health.
I can't tell you how manystories I hear from technology
(13:51):
developers where the inspirationfor whatever they created was
because themselves or a familymember or a very close friend
was was, you know, sufferingfrom some sort of mental health
condition or you know, just, youknow, struggling in some way.
So I think it really does touchus, really personally, and I'm
(14:11):
just excited that the thingabout how we can do this better
yeah, which was a long windedanswer, and I apologize.
Anthony Stanowski (14:18):
No, no, but I think they'll you.
You kind of, you know, hit thenail on the head there.
Like you said when we began,one in 20 adults are having a
major, significant mental healthcrisis.
How do we kind of address that?
If you're a student out thereand you're thinking, how do I
really make a big difference inthis world?
What are some of the things Ican do to make an impact?
(14:40):
You know it's an area that'sthat needs help and you've kind
of nailed it.
I appreciate you, I appreciateyour words in there.
You and I both talked at first,got together and I kind of
shared with you that I was apsych major as an undergraduate
and it was.
(15:01):
It was one of the mostfascinating parts and you kind
of said hey, anthony, almosteverybody takes Psych 101 and
wants to become a psych majorafterwards.
Vaile Wright (15:12):
Yeah, it's like one of the most popular majors
out there.
Anthony Stanowski (15:16):
And then occasionally a few people bite
and kind of go through the wholekind of process with it, and I
ended after my undergraduatedays.
But then you've obviously kindof continued and continued on in
that part when you kind ofthink about that ability.
What is it that doesn't makeeveryone go further, or why
should they kind of look furtherat that point from basically,
(15:37):
you know psychology 101?
.
Vaile Wright (15:39):
Yeah, I think it's a really good question.
You know, I think for a lot ofpeople the thought of going
further and going to graduateschool feels very overwhelming
and expensive, you know.
So it's not necessarily a viablepath for a lot of people.
But I don't think that thatmeans that that can be the end
of your interest in psychology.
(16:00):
I think psychology can reallybe applied in a variety of
different ways, not justnecessarily as a clinician.
So, you know, I encouragepeople to think about what are
the psychological principlesthat you can, you know, use when
you're thinking about how towork within a team setting right
, there's a lot of things goingon there and you know, even if
(16:21):
you are in a traditionalphysical medicine or you're in a
C-suite, how much you knowrelationship building are you
really having to do and tomanage people and manage
expectations.
I mean, all of this is reallyapplying psychology to benefit
whatever organization thatyou're in.
So, you know, I we of courseencourage those with, you know,
(16:43):
strong passion to want to helpothers to to, you know, go
through the processes of, ofgraduate school if that's
available.
But, you know, recognizing thatit's not always the case for
everybody and that and that's achallenge.
Anthony Stanowski (16:58):
And I've known quite a few people that
continued on afterwards in theirgraduate degrees and are
working with folks on anindividual one-on-one basis to
kind of make a difference and animpact in there in a variety of
different areas in mentalhealth too Some really
passionate individuals in there.
But I, Vaile, this has been agreat session for me to kind of
(17:20):
be with and an honor really forto take your time to kind of
talk about.
If you're a student in thereand healthcare management
education, you want to make adifference, this is definitely a
field to kind of look into.
So just appreciate your timeand thanks for coming today.
Vaile Wright (17:36):
Thanks so much for having me.
It was a pleasure speaking withyou.
Well, thank you very much, Melissa, for that
introduction and a warm welcometoday to our guest, Vaile
Wright.
And I got to see Vaile presentat the HIMSS conference this
past February and was justtotally blown away by your
presentation and I did a prettythorough LinkedIn posting on it
(00:21):
and I noticed some other peopleposted Vaile a superstar at the
American PsychologicalAssociation.
So, Vaile, first, if you canjust tell us a little bit about
yourself and what the AmericanPsychological Association is,
Sure, and thank you so much forhaving me and for that flattery.
Vaile Wright (00:39):
I doubt I deserve it, but I'll still take it, at
least so thanks again and niceto be here.
So, as you said, I'm VaileWright, I am a licensed
psychologist and I serve as thesenior director for the Office
of Healthcare Innovation at theAmerican Psychological
Association.
So APA is the largestscientific and professional
(01:03):
organization representingpsychology in the United States.
We have over 170,000 memberswho represent clinicians and
researchers and students andeducators, and you know what our
goal is is really to provide,to promote psychological science
, to benefit society and improvepeople's lives, and it's an
(01:23):
exciting place to get to be.
It's certainly a very chaotictime in the country and as well
as within healthcare, and sothere's a lot of things that
we're working on to try toensure that we can reduce
people's suffering as quickly aspossible, and in my role at APA
, a lot of that is looking atthe intersection of technology
(01:47):
and behavioral health.
So how can we use emergingtechnologies in safe and
effective ways to really addressaccess, improve efficiencies
and, again, just try to makethings better for a wide variety
of people?
Anthony Stanowski (02:10):
That was one of the parts that really excited
my imagination during yourpresentation, because you did
talk about this incrediblepent-up demand.
If you would and I don't know,demand's not the best term to
kind of use in this but one in20 adults have significant
mental health crisis, and how doyou kind of address that?
And what was fascinating to meis you looked at a variety of
(02:32):
platforms that are out there,both on a consumer basis
platforms like Calm and in amore therapeutic kind of basis
too, around some AI parts aroundthere, and of course, you're
you're in this fascinatingorganization called the health
innovation part within theAmerican Psychological
(02:53):
Association.
So you're right at the, the,the precipice of all this stuff.
So talk about what you see,what you see there now, and what
do you see kind of coming inthat areas?
Vaile Wright (03:05):
Yeah.
So I mean, I don't think it'sgoing to surprise anybody on
this podcast when I say thatwe're experiencing a mental
health crisis, not just in theUS, but actually globally, and
part of the challenge is aworkforce shortage.
So we have just not enoughbehavioral health providers
across the entire spectrum oftypes of providers.
So, whether you're talkingabout psychologists or
(03:27):
psychiatrists or master's levelproviders, there just will never
be enough to address the crisisthat we're seeing.
And it's not just that we don'thave enough people, it's that
we don't have them in the rightplaces across the country.
We don't have necessarily theright skills when it comes to
language or, you know, acrossthe lifespan, of who you treat,
(03:49):
and we have a lot of providersthat are very disincentivized
from taking insurance, and sothat provides even more access
issues.
So, you know, I think wherewe're trying to look at is how
can we use technologies andother types of interventions to
address this problem?
It's a really complex problem.
We can't just manufacture morepeople and expect that we're
(04:13):
going to be able to meeteverybody's needs.
We've got to be more creative.
We've got to in some waysreally disrupt the healthcare
model that we have in place.
You know we wait for people tobe in crisis to seek out
services, and then we expectthem to receive one type of
service weekly 45 minutespsychotherapy and or medication,
(04:34):
and that's it.
We have one model, and I justdon't think that that's going to
work.
We can't keep doing the samethings we've always done and
expect something different.
Anthony Stanowski (04:43):
I believe they call that crazy same things
we've always done and expectsomething different.
I believe they call that crazy.
Yeah, that's a famous quote outthere.
It's the definition of insanity, right, when you keep doing the
same thing over and over andnot getting the results you're
looking for.
It was, again, a reallyinteresting approach to talk
about.
I mean, you're looking at aworkforce shortage and I think
what we're seeing in psychologyis certainly also kind of
(05:05):
mirrored on the acute end of thebusiness as well, the acute end
of the healthcare field as well, as you know, in therapy,
physical therapist and nursingand all the like.
But your approach and I thinkthe exploration of AI tools is
an interesting one.
And let me kind of also saywe've worked with Dr Reggie
(05:28):
Herzlinger at Harvard BusinessSchool to look at healthcare
innovation, and her comment isinnovation is not just invention
, it's understanding how to useinvention to make a difference.
I love that I think you're doingit in this respect, what are
some of the things that you'reseeing kind of happening in
(05:48):
there?
Vaile Wright (05:49):
I think right now, we're seeing two major trends
as it relates to AI withinbehavioral health.
One is and you're seeing thisin the more physical health as
well as the use of AI ambientscribes to help with automating
documentation is slower thanwithin physical health, in part
(06:15):
because a lot of mental healthcare providers don't have
electronic health records, andso if you're working in a large
system, they might have put anAI scribe in there without
actually even asking you aboutit, with the expectation that
you use it.
It's a little different, Ithink, with mental health.
I think these are interesting.
I think that they provide someinteresting opportunities.
I've talked to one psychologistwho said that, because of
(06:35):
accessibility issues, shecouldn't type as well as she
used to, and so using the AIscribe was actually really
helpful.
Is it going to solve the mentalhealth crisis?
No, you know it doesn't makemore hours in the day, but what
it could do, I think, is acouple of things.
One is it could help reduceburnout, keeping people in the
field longer because nobody wentinto healthcare to document
(06:58):
their notes right.
That's just not part of why wedo this.
We do this because we want tohelp people, so I think that's
one area that could help.
I've also heard, at leastanecdotally, patients say,
particularly again in morephysical health settings, that
they feel like their provider islistening to them more, that
they're not typing at the sametime, and I think that that
opens up opportunities forpeople to be more forthcoming
(07:20):
with their mental health needs.
Now we still have to addressthe access issue, but if we can
get people to even just talk toproviders about what's going on,
that's a good, important step.
So that's the first trend I see.
The second big trend I see isthe use of AI chatbots to
address mental health needs, andagain, I'm sure people on the
podcast have seen the multiple,multiple articles that have been
(07:42):
coming out about this, and Ithink there's a lot of promise
there, but there's also a lot ofchallenge because not all
chatbots are the same.
So I think there will be afuture where, you see, mental
health chatbots using AI thatare rooted in psychological
science, have been rigorouslytested, are co-created with such
(08:03):
and matter experts for thepurposes of addressing mental
health needs, and I think thatthat could actually address some
of the mental health crisisbecause it has the potential to
meet people where they are andprovide them with support at,
say, 2 am when they'reexperiencing real distress, but
that's not really what we'reseeing on the market right now.
(08:23):
What we see on the market isjust a wide variety of chatbots
that weren't built for mentalhealth purposes, but are being
used for them because people aredesperate, and we will seek out
self-help wherever we can findit, and so, while I've also
heard there are some benefitsfor those too, it also concerns
me because we know there've beensome really tragic consequences
(08:46):
, as well, do you want to talkabout some of those, or can you
talk about some of those?
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
There have been a couple ofreally high profile lawsuits
against character AI, which isone of these generative AI
chatbots that market themselvesas companions.
They don't say they're formental health purposes, but, as
(09:07):
you can imagine when you look atthe research, most people are
using these to address theiremotional well-being needs.
It's just kind of you know,sort of not that surprising
really I mean, people you knoware struggling with
relationships and with work andwith being lonely, and so
they're going to seek these out,these chatbots is that they
(09:31):
allow their users, thedevelopers of the avatars, to
market themselves as therapistsand psychologists, even though
they aren't, and so it givesthis false sense of credibility,
and what we've seen is some ofthe advice they have given is
not just not helpful, it'sactually harmful, because the
(09:52):
goal of a lot of these chatbotsisn't to be helpful, it's to
keep you on the platform, andthey do that by being
unconditionally appealing andvalidating, and they tell you
exactly what you want to hear,which is the antithesis of
therapy.
Anthony Stanowski (10:08):
Yeah Well, Wayne, that's a lot of how, what
social media is doing in thisbasis too, that kind of
continued feedback loop of Ibelieve this and other people
believe it, so therefore it mustbe right.
Vaile Wright (10:18):
Yeah, 100 percent.
I think a lot of the principlesthat make social media
addicting are the same kinds ofprinciples that make these AI
chatbots also very addicting.
Anthony Stanowski (10:29):
Yeah, well, I asked you on here, you know I
mean part of it was tounderstand, I think, what's
going on in this separate field.
But I, during the course of mycareer, I've got to meet some
great executives to lead whowere leading some of the health
systems and hospitals out there,facilities out there around
(10:50):
mental health, and you know, Iknow you know a little bit about
CAMI and what we do and weaccredit healthcare management
education programs with the hopethat our students are going out
to being leaders in the field.
I think a lot of times studentsthink, well, I want to become
the hospital CEO and kind ofthinking about the acute care
world.
(11:10):
But I think there's some greatopportunities for students out
there who want to make adifference and want to make a
difference in a field thatdesperately is looking for
people to make a difference thefield of mental health.
And Vaile talk about those typeof opportunities as best as you
know them, for you know thegraduates of healthcare
(11:34):
management education programsSure.
Vaile Wright (11:37):
So you know, I think if there's any silver
lining that came out of thepandemic, it's a greater
recognition of the importance ofmental health and the
relationship between our mentaland our physical health, and in
a way that I don't thinkeverybody appreciated quite so
acutely pre -pandemic.
And, in particular, we knowthat 18 to 34-year-olds are some
(11:59):
of the most stressed and mostdistressed groups of individuals
out there, and so I think thatthat has the potential to
provide a lot of motivation tosay I can bring something new to
this situation and change it,continue to break down stigmas
(12:24):
around mental health and nottreat it as a second-class
citizen almost, if you will.
Then I think it does open upopportunities for people to say,
oh, I never thought about goinginto that space before, but
what if I did?
What if I have something reallyunique to bring to this
situation?
What if I can be a leader indisruption for good?
(12:45):
Because I think oftentimes,particularly for young
individuals, leadership getsequated to experience and that's
not necessarily what it is.
Leadership is about having avision for what the problem is
and how to solve it, and I thinkthat young people today really
can think outside the box anduse technology and use data in
(13:06):
ways that older generations justweren't as accustomed to,
because it's not what we grew upwith.
Necessarily, I didn't evenlearn how to do telehealth when
I was a psychology student, youknow, becoming licensed and you
know, now things are just sodifferent.
So I think that there's so manyopportunities for individuals
to do something really unique inthis space, and so, you know, I
(13:29):
would encourage people to atleast be curious about, you know
, what are the opportunities?
How could I, you know, bringsomething new?
Because the other thing is, notonly are we all, you know, have
our own experiences as patients,right, but we all also have our
own mental health.
I can't tell you how manystories I hear from technology
(13:51):
developers where the inspirationfor whatever they created was
because themselves or a familymember or a very close friend
was was, you know, sufferingfrom some sort of mental health
condition or you know, just, youknow, struggling in some way.
So I think it really does touchus, really personally, and I'm
(14:11):
just excited that the thingabout how we can do this better
yeah, which was a long windedanswer, and I apologize.
Anthony Stanowski (14:18):
No, no, but I think they'll you.
You kind of, you know, hit thenail on the head there.
Like you said when we began,one in 20 adults are having a
major, significant mental healthcrisis.
How do we kind of address that?
If you're a student out thereand you're thinking, how do I
really make a big difference inthis world?
What are some of the things Ican do to make an impact?
(14:40):
You know it's an area that'sthat needs help and you've kind
of nailed it.
I appreciate you, I appreciateyour words in there.
You and I both talked at first,got together and I kind of
shared with you that I was apsych major as an undergraduate
and it was.
(15:01):
It was one of the mostfascinating parts and you kind
of said hey, anthony, almosteverybody takes Psych 101 and
wants to become a psych majorafterwards.
Vaile Wright (15:12):
Yeah, it's like one of the most popular majors
out there.
Anthony Stanowski (15:16):
And then occasionally a few people bite
and kind of go through the wholekind of process with it, and I
ended after my undergraduatedays.
But then you've obviously kindof continued and continued on in
that part when you kind ofthink about that ability.
What is it that doesn't makeeveryone go further, or why
should they kind of look furtherat that point from basically,
(15:37):
you know psychology 101?
.
Vaile Wright (15:39):
Yeah, I think it's a really good question.
You know, I think for a lot ofpeople the thought of going
further and going to graduateschool feels very overwhelming
and expensive, you know.
So it's not necessarily a viablepath for a lot of people.
But I don't think that thatmeans that that can be the end
of your interest in psychology.
(16:00):
I think psychology can reallybe applied in a variety of
different ways, not justnecessarily as a clinician.
So, you know, I encouragepeople to think about what are
the psychological principlesthat you can, you know, use when
you're thinking about how towork within a team setting right
, there's a lot of things goingon there and you know, even if
(16:21):
you are in a traditionalphysical medicine or you're in a
C-suite, how much you knowrelationship building are you
really having to do and tomanage people and manage
expectations.
I mean, all of this is reallyapplying psychology to benefit
whatever organization thatyou're in.
So, you know, I we of courseencourage those with, you know,
(16:43):
strong passion to want to helpothers to to, you know, go
through the processes of, ofgraduate school if that's
available.
But, you know, recognizing thatit's not always the case for
everybody and that and that's achallenge.
Anthony Stanowski (16:58):
And I've known quite a few people that
continued on afterwards in theirgraduate degrees and are
working with folks on anindividual one-on-one basis to
kind of make a difference and animpact in there in a variety of
different areas in mentalhealth too Some really
passionate individuals in there.
But I, Vaile, this has been agreat session for me to kind of
(17:20):
be with and an honor really forto take your time to kind of
talk about.
If you're a student in thereand healthcare management
education, you want to make adifference, this is definitely a
field to kind of look into.
So just appreciate your timeand thanks for coming today.
Vaile Wright (17:36):
Thanks so much for having me.
It was a pleasure speaking withyou.
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