Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology acquires WarmLines

Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology acquires WarmLines
(April 2009 Issue)

By Elinor Nelson

Speaking of Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology's (MSPP) recent acquisition of WarmLines, a 30-year-old Newton-based non-profit that serves families and children in the surrounding communities, MSPP President Nicholas Covino, Psy.D. says, "Instead of sending our students to the state hospital, they will have a chance to see normal development in action."

The merger, which became official in August, is beneficial to both the school and the agency, their leaders agree. WarmLines Director Beth Basnight, M.Ed., notes that both institutions have similar missions and had collaborated on projects for three years prior to the formal acquisition. WarmLines offers support and information services directly to parents and caretakers as well as through employers. MSPP's Freedman Center for Child and Family Development (which merged with WarmLines) promotes a philosophy of creating partnerships within schools and communities to build mentally healthy environments. With the formal affiliation, Basnight appreciates her ability to tap the school faculty's expertise for WarmLines' speaker series as well as the inclusion of WarmLines' classes in the MSPP catalogue, which is distributed to more than 40,000 professionals. "We couldn't have done those things before," she says.

Additionally, MSPP students have work/study positions in the WarmLines Newton office, helping them to understand the workings of a social service agency. MSPP students also work in many of WarmLines' parent/caretaker support groups which, says Basnight, "adds to what any one leader can provide."

Margaret Hannah, M.Ed, executive director of MSPP's Freedman Center, was also a consultant at WarmLines for a number of years and advocated for the merger. "It became clear to me that a lot of my goals for the Freedman Center were in parallel with some of the work done by WarmLines," she says. She refers to WarmLines' long tradition of offering community and continuing education to parents and teachers, as well as parenting support groups, lectures and referrals to mental health professionals. Acquiring WarmLines, she adds, allows MSPP "to jumpstart our mission to provide resources to families and teachers about mental health and wellness." It provided MSPP with "a training center about parenting and teacher issues."

Although the state of the economy was not a driving factor, WarmLines is fortunate among non-profits to have gained additional stability from MSPP's administrative support to its financial support. Now, WarmLines can offer a new mothers' group free of charge. WarmLines employs about 30 people, including seven part-time office staff and more than 20 consultants. Personnel, location and many of its programs have stayed intact. "This has worked out to a degree of success beyond my wildest expectations," Basnight says.

Covino agrees. "There are predictable developmental challenges as people raise families," he says, and the merger with WarmLines will teach MSPP students "about the application of psychology different from what they learn in a clinical setting . . . It's very helpful for a school like ours to have programming that is developmental, preventative and prophylactic," he says.