Mission:

The sole purpose of The Pipeline program is to mentor SOF veterans and or their spouses as they embark on pursuing a graduate or postgraduate clinical mental health degree. This includes but is not limited to licensed social workers, marriage and family therapist, clinical mental health counseling and clinical psychology. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from a variety of specialists with decades of experience and those who are actively serving the SOF community. SOF Network’s end goal is to retain each participant upon graduation within its network, promoting them as one of our licensed providers. This will enable the graduates of the program to utilize their previous knowledge of the special operations community in their second careers within the clinical mental health field.

Who?

Any SOF veteran and or spouse of a SOF servicemember/veteran who may be considering a master’s and or a doctoral degree in clinical mental health is welcome to apply to The Pipeline program. Even if the individual is already in a clinical mental health degree program they can apply to this program.

Program at a Glance:

The Pipeline program is broken up into a three-phase apprenticeship that will span over a minimum of four years.

First Phase:

In this phase individuals who have applied and been accepted into The Pipeline Program will become “Prospects”. Once accepted into this program, Prospects will receive consultation on which graduate or post graduate degrees they are considering and or seeking (e.g., deciding if they want to pursue a marriage and family graduate program versus social work program). Once they have solidified their graduate degree program and school of choice, they are free to apply to these graduate schools. Upon acceptance they will move into phase two. The purpose of this phase is to guide and consult with Prospects unsure of which degree track to choose and the career options each offer.

*Individuals who have already been accepted and are currently participating in a graduate program of study are able to apply to The Pipeline Program and move straight into phase two once they have been accepted by SOF Network.

Second Phase:

Prospects become “Candidates” once they’ve applied and been accepted into a graduate or post graduate degree program. At this stage the Candidates will have the option of interviewing several mentors to find the right fit for them. They can choose to remain with a single mentor for the duration of their degree program or choose to diversify their mentorship program by selecting different specialists to learn from along the way.

For example, for Candidates interested in working with couples, or trauma then they would be allowed to be mentored from a SOF Network clinician that is a specialist in that area of interest. The purpose of this phase is to provide the Candidate with a trusted mentor during the duration of their graduate program, with the additional opportunity to invest in specialized mentorship from clinical experts.

Third Phase:

Upon graduation Candidates move into phase three of their program and become “Fellow’s” as they begin pursuing their independent state license. This phase will entail a minimum of a two-year track with the end goal of joining SOF Network as an independently licensed clinician. During the final phase of this program, Fellow’s will have the opportunity to be supervised for state licensure, contribute to SOF Network’s resource guide, mentorship concerning private practice, assigned clients from SOF Network (when appropriate) and utilize SOF Network’s resources as needed.