Expanding School-Based Mental Health with Andrea Fisher

Summary

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Expanding School-Based Mental Health with Andrea Fisher

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast – November 5, 2025
Guest: Andrea Fisher, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Endeavor Health
Host: Scott Becker

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the expansion of school-based mental health services, focusing particularly on the innovative partnership between Endeavor Health and Naperville District 203. Andrea Fisher, a seasoned clinical professional counselor with leadership experience at Endeavor Health, discusses her role in launching and operating these crucial programs within schools, as well as broader trends and challenges in youth behavioral health.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Background and Role of Andrea Fisher (00:45–02:50)

• Andrea has spent over 15 years in the mental health field, with the last 10 years at Endeavor Health via Linden Oaks Medical Group, focusing on outpatient behavioral health.
• In the past year, Fisher helped spearhead a partnership with Naperville District 203 to place counseling services directly inside schools—from elementary through high school.
• The program’s primary goal is to remove barriers to care:
  • Time constraints
  • Financial limitations
  • Lack of transportation
• Grant funding covers insurance co-pays, ensuring financially struggling families have access to therapy for their children.

Notable Quote:

“By us being able to provide services on-site during the school day offers students and families really access to consistent, high-quality therapy services without many of the obstacles that might traditionally delay or prevent the treatment.”
— Andrea Fisher (01:56)

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2. Why School-Based Mental Health Matters (02:58–03:45)

• The need for mental health and behavioral support is at an all-time high, especially for school-age children.
• Accessing care within the school removes obstacles and supports well-being in real time, rather than waiting for crises.
• Focus is on early intervention and building robust partnerships among healthcare providers, school staff, students, and families.

Notable Quote:

“Instead of waiting for a crisis to happen, we meet students where they're at, both physically and emotionally, to support their well-being in real time.”
— Andrea Fisher (03:27)

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3. Trends in Youth Behavioral Health (04:06–05:21)

• Persistent rise in youth stressors—anxiety, depression, heightened post-pandemic.
• Increased need for ongoing emotional regulation support, not just during crises.
• Student willingness to talk about mental health is growing, signaling a positive cultural shift toward openness.
• Stressors in young people are growing more complex:
  • Social pressures
  • Academic expectations
  • Identity development
  • Family dynamics
• Schools are responding with wellness spaces, social groups, and an integrated focus on social-emotional learning, aligning with Fisher’s clinical work.

Notable Quote:

“We're also seeing students... becoming more open and willing to talk about mental health. So that's a growing comfort with, you know, seeking help, which is a positive culture shift.”
— Andrea Fisher (04:40)

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4. Looking to the Future – Building on the Pilot (05:21–06:41)

• The program’s first year in District 203 (2024–25) was a pilot; an even greater impact expected in coming years.
• Goals for the next phase:
  • Deepen integration with school counselors, social workers, psychologists for coordinated, seamless care
  • Sustainability and impact through embedding services in the school day
  • Stronger connections with families through parent education series covering topics like anxiety, social media, and emotional development
  • Positive and enthusiastic response from parents, creating new prevention and support channels

Notable Quote:

“The more we can integrate the mental health support into the school day, the more sustainable and impactful our work will become.”
— Andrea Fisher (05:54)

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5. Advice for Emerging Leaders in Mental Health (07:05–08:38)

• Fisher reflects on her own journey making a career shift into mental health, emphasizing passion and community engagement.
• Key advice:
  • Stay curious and never stop listening
  • Adapt to evolving student needs and systemic changes
  • Focus on building and prioritizing relationships—with teams, community partners, and those served
  • Remain connected to the “why” of the work
  • Seek mentorship, maintain personal growth, and model mental wellness for others

Notable Quote:

“It’s easy to get caught up in the systems, data, logistics—you know, but it's ultimately about the work that we do and the kids that we serve and the relationships that we have built and really prioritizing those relationships.”
— Andrea Fisher (07:44)

“Making sure we're also prioritizing our own mental wellness. We need to model that behavior and, you know, of being a lifelong learner.”
— Andrea Fisher (08:21)

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Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• Andrea recalling Scott’s support with her grad school application: (00:45)
• Highlighting grant funding to cover therapy co-pays: (02:08)
• First-year impact: 742 counseling sessions completed in schools: (04:19)
• Discussing parent education series and expanded family engagement: (05:53, 06:24)
• Advice on leadership: “Stay curious and never stop listening”: (07:11)

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Tone & Closing Remarks

The tone throughout is warm, thoughtful, and deeply committed to both innovation and compassion in youth mental health care. Scott Becker expresses admiration and pride in Fisher’s achievements and their shared professional history. Andrea offers encouragement to others who wish to enter or grow within the mental health field, emphasizing the importance of staying grounded in human relationships and lifelong learning.

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Transcript

[A]

This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare podcast. Today for me is a little bit like old home week in that I get to interview someone, a brilliant person who's a licensed clinical professional counselor who works at Endeavor Health. We're interviewing today Andrea Fisher. And the way that I the reason I mean that it's like old home week is that Andrea, at one point prior to going to back to school to grad school 15 years ago to become a clinical therapist and a professional, licensed clinical professional counselor, you used to work with us in another business. And Andrea is just a wonderful, brilliant person. So we're so excited to have her with us today. Andrea, can you tell us a little bit about what you do and about the Endeavor system and how you work?

[B]

Yeah, for sure. First, thanks Scott for having me here. It's just wonderful to connect. So yeah, we previously have worked together in the past, so it's been several years now. I don't know if you remember, you were wrote my letter recommendation to get into graduate school. So definitely appreciate that. So I've been in the mental health field for over 15 years now. The last 10 years I've been with Endeavor Health through Linden Oaks Medical Group. So the medical group is like an outpatient where like behavioral health, mental health setting. I work more on the counseling services side. So last year really exciting opportunity presented itself with the opportunity to partner with Naperville District 203 and Endeavor Health Lyndon Oaks to work together in partnership to offer counseling services within the school setting. So it was a really exciting initiative last year to bring us together as a community. Since Endeavor Health is a community based organization. So being able to actually like be in the community a little bit more has been really exciting. So we have therapists within elementary, middle school and high school level in in District 203. And just to say a little bit more about this school based mental health program, the whole purpose of this was designed really to remove common barriers to care that a lot of people face. So it could be like time constraints, not having time to get to therapy, could be financial limitations, lack of transportation. So by us being able to provide services on site during the school day offers students and families really get access to consistent high quality therapy services without many of the obstacles that might traditionally delay or prevent the treatment. And what's most exciting is like this is grant funded so through District 203. So those that do might have some of those financial limitations. The grant will cover the insurance co pay cost of sessions so they can still access the care they Need.

[A]

I mean that's literally remarkable and such a needed thing. I mean the level of mental health, behavioral health challenges today at every level, and particularly in the school age kids from elementary through high school, through college and so forth, is so acute that what a great resource and opportunity this in the, in the schools themselves. What a fantastic situation.

[B]

Yeah, it's really nice because it's about, you know, we're really trying to hammer home early intervention and building those like strong partnerships between healthcare providers, school staff, students and family. So instead of like waiting for a crisis to happen, we meet students where they're at, both physically and emotionally to support their well being in real time. So it's been great.

[A]

That's just fantastic. And what are some of the trends you're watching in behavioral health since you came into the field 15 years ago? I mean, you were tremendous at what you did with us at the law firm before that, then went on to really grow in this role in what you do. How is behavioral health, how is it changing over the last 15 years? It seems like there's such an acute need. What are some of the trends you're watching?

[B]

Yeah, for sure. So you know, there's definitely that continued rise in youth mental health stressors, you know, anxiety, depression, particularly in the post pandemic era of things. We're definitely seeing a stronger need for ongoing emotional regulation support, not just in crisis moments, but just in everyday life. So last year we completed 742 sessions within the schools and definitely I'm part of surpass that number this year. We're also seeing students, especially the younger age, like adolescents, becoming more open and willing to talk about mental health. So that's a growing comfort with, you know, seeking help, which is a positive culture shift with things. Last thing, we're also kind of noticing an increase in the complexity of the type of stressors that, you know, young adolescents might face. So it could be those social pressures, academic expectations, identity development, family dynamics are all intersecting their ways, often requiring more individualized support. Schools are definitely becoming more proactive in creating, you know, wellness spaces, small social groups throughout the school day, really incorporating the social, emotional, learning into daily routine, which aligns really well with the clinical work we do in the schools as well.

[A]

That's literally fantastic. And talk about as you move into 2026 into next year, what are you most focused on and excited about?

[B]

Yeah, so last year, last school year, the 2024, 25 was our first year in the school. So it was like the pilot program. So that was really exciting. So as we kind of move into the future, looking forward, you know, really excited about deepening our integration within the school system, focusing on building those strong relationships with the school counselors, social work psychologists, so we can continue to provide that coordinated, seamless care. The more we can integrate the mental health support into the school day, the more sustainable and impactful our work will become. Also about, like, we are growing connections within the district with the families. So we do parent education series. We're really trying to, you know, reach out to the parents, connect with the caregivers, offering presentations on a range of topics. Anxiety, social media communication, you know, supporting their child's emotional development. And we offer these throughout the school year for parents who just get added support as well at home. And the response from parents has been very encouraging, and it's really opened up a new channel for prevention support and that parent integration piece.

[A]

Thank you very, very much. And Andrea, I've watched you evolve from really a young professional into this incredible clinical leader and thinker. What advice? And it took you a lot of guts to go back to grad school, leave your job, and now you've had this great career. What advice would you give to emerging leaders? And any thoughts on emerging career people, emerging leaders? What advice would you give?

[B]

Yeah, for sure. So, you know, yeah, definitely making a career shift, but mental health and, you know, working within hospital system has always been a passion of mine. So it's been really great to kind of, you know, my early career, you know, at the law firm in the healthcare department, really integrating it into, you know, that piece of community engagement, involvement. So just some advice, I would say, is just like, stay curious and never stop listening. And as a mental health leader, we have to constantly adapt, you know, the needs of students, systems evolving rapidly. So, you know, great leaders in mental health and in education, we want to make sure we're listening first, you know, staying connected to that, why behind that work. It's easy to get caught up in the systems, data, logistics, you know, but it's ultimately about the work that we do and the kids that we serve and the relationships that we have built and really prioritizing those relationships. The strongest programs, organizations, are often built on that trust with your team, with community partners and the people you serve. So I really would prioritize those relationships you're building throughout your career. The why, what's behind the reason we're doing this and just making sure that we're investing in our own growth, seeking mentorship, staying informed on current trends, and just making sure we're also prioritizing our own mental wellness. We need to model that behavior and, you know, of being a lifelong learner.

[A]

Thank you so much. I want to tell you, Andrea, I came to tell you how, I don't know if the right word is proud, but how impressed I am with your career and what you've done with it and how you've developed. It's really amazing to watch. I am so thankful for you taking the time to join us on the Backers Healthcare podcast. It's a little bit like home old home day, but it feels like you've grown into such an incredible professional that it just is so impressive. And, and thank you for joining us.

[B]

Thanks for your time, Scott. It's been great.