As director of youth services – behavioral health at SSM Health Care, Taressa Hockaday, MA, manages youth counseling and social services, case management, transportation and supervises a team of 20 employees.
From her first job at age 15 at a day camp in Kansas City, Hockaday said she was naturally drawn to the energy of talking and getting to know people.
“I’ve always known I wanted to get into the field of psychology,” she said. “I was going to be a child psychologist, then the older I got, I realized that you didn’t have to necessarily have a PhD to provide counseling services.”
Hockaday said she does not take for granted her position, the opportunities afforded to her or where she is going in this profession, which allows her to reach back as a positive example of leadership within the organization and to youth.
Hockaday also praises leadership and behavioral health staff at SSM for good work, good professional development and diversity in management.
Hockaday began her SSM career as an emergency room lead assessor of behavioral health. Last year, Hockaday stepped into her current position, where she develops and implements evidence-based therapeutic treatment and programming for youth. Her team collaborates with SSM’s entire patient care team to ensure patients get treated with dignity and respect and receive necessary care and treatment.
SSM is the largest provider of inpatient behavioral health system in the St. Louis area with 235 beds available between four campuses.
“Not everybody is always so patient with kids, especially kids that have behavioral or mental health challenges. It pushes me further on a day to day basis,” Hockaday said.
“And it gives me the opportunity to say to them, ‘It’s up to you. Regardless of what the challenge is today, I assure you there will be one tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. But how you determine how you are going to handle that will help you get to where you want to go.’”
She said a constant in the work of mental and behavioral health professionals is addressing the stigma that exists around mental health.
“When we look at mental health concerns in someone, whether it is anxiety or depression or auditory or visual hallucinations, they are not crazy. This is a medical issue that requires treatment just like anything else,” Hockaday said.
“I think the more we look at calling it by their proper terms – mental health or behavioral health, as opposed to these negative labels that have been placed on it – the more people will become receptive to understanding that this is a medical issue that can be treated, and part of the treatment is good support.”
Hockaday’s previous work includes positions at St. Louis Crisis Nursery, Behavioral Health Response, Child Center Marygrove and in Kansas City, Mo. at Swope Health Services and Crittenton Behavioral Center.
Unlike medical aspects of health care, Hockaday said in behavioral health, there’s a lot of gray.
“It’s getting back to the heart of what we’re there for: connecting with a person, even when there are some disconnects with what they have going on mentally and physically,” Hockaday said.
“It’s putting yourself in that person’s position and asking: If that was my family member or my child, how would I want somebody to engage this individual to get them help? And reaching out to other resources that are available.”
Hockaday is a Columbia, Mo. native who earned a master of arts in nonprofit management from Washington University and a master of arts in counseling, professional mental health from Webster University. She has a bachelor of science in psychology rehabilitation from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Mo.
Hockaday is involved in many community activities. She serves on the boards of St. Martin’s Child Center and the CHADS Coalition and is a member of the YWCA Young Ambassadors and the Regional Business Council’s Young Professionals Network. She volunteers with the St. Louis Effort for AIDS.
Previously Hockaday served as a board member of the Community Action Agency of St. Louis County, an ambassador for the North County Chamber of Commerce and a volunteer for the YWCA Sexual Assault Response Team.
