Jay Couture, CEO/Executive Director, Seacoast Mental Health Center

Today’s interview is with Jay Couture, the Executive Director and CEO of the Seacoast Mental Health Center, a non-profit community mental health center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Jay received master’s degree from the Department of Health Management and Policy here at UNH. Jay knew early on that she wanted to work in mental health, but thought she would be a provider. In this podcast we talk about Jay’s thirty years in the mental health industry working her way up from being an administrative assistant to CEO, and her more than twenty years at Seacoast Mental Health. We also discuss the variety of services provided by a community mental health center, the wide variety of skill sets that are required to deliver those services, the challenges and opportunities facing mental health organizations today, and conclude with a discussion of opportunities for the early careerist who might be interested in pursuing a career in mental health. The full length podcast is approximately 78 minutes. An abridged version is also available that only focuses on Seacoast’s organization and services.

Links to the Podcast:

Anchor: 

Unabridged: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Jay-Couture--Executive-DirectorCEO-of-Seacoast-Mental-Health-Center-Unabridged-egra6h

Abridged: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Jay-Couture--CEO-and-Executive-Director-of-Seacoast-Mental-Health-Center-Abridged-egraa2

Stitcher: https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/40150699&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/40150699

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jay-couture-executive-director-ceo-of-seacoast/id981989377?i=1000349692016

(the following times apply to the unabridged version of the podcast )

  Time                                    Topic

0:01:41	-	0:03:50	background and education
0:03:50	-	0:10:18	early career
0:10:18	-	0:11:41	Portsmouth, NH
0:11:41	-	0:40:03	Community mental health at Seacoast Mental Health Center
0:40:03	-	0:47:24	Associate Director
0:47:24	-	0:53:41	becoming the CEO
0:53:41	-	1:00:07	defining leadership
1:00:07	-	1:02:59	the role of the Board of Directors
1:02:59	-	1:05:16	mentorship
1:05:16	-	1:07:15	organizational culture
1:07:15	-	1:12:32	advocacy for mental health policy
1:12:32	-	1:16:43	how mental health has changed
1:16:43	-	1:19:48	advice to early careerists

Links to Topics Discussed:

Seacoast Mental Health Center

UNH Human Development and Family Studies

UNH Cooperative Extension

Community Partners

NH Drug and Mental Health Courts

UNH Health Management and Policy

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