At the Nashville Health Care Council we are honored to have a diverse community of healthcare leaders of every level. As healthcare evolves and grows, so does our Council membership. One way we support building and growing the healthcare talent pipeline is the Council Fellows program. The Council Fellows program creates the space for the most inspiring conversations in health care. We look to our Council Fellows community to share their experience and spotlight their achievements to provide lessons and examples of success for the full Nashville Health Care Community.
Meet Council Fellow Alumni Marjorie Morrison
Marjorie Morrison is a seasoned entrepreneur and mental health professional with over 25 years of experience. She founded PsychArmor Institute and co-founded Psych Hub with Patrick J. Kennedy, aiming to revolutionize mental health education. Morrison is dedicated to leveraging digital platforms to improve mental healthcare access and quality.
What inspired you to enter healthcare? Tell us about your career journey.
My father was a psychiatrist and I have always been interested in mental health. In college I volunteered at the university crisis line and that was the beginning of my career journey. I got my Masters in Counsling Psychology and got licensed as a CA Marriage Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor. I worked at San Diego Children’s Hospital Outpatient Psychiatry for my early years and eventually opened a private practice. In 2008 I took an opportunity to work with the US Marine Corps. I spent several years developing and implementing a proactive counseling program which I’m proud is still being used today. Ten years ago I founded PsychArmor, a non-profit that hosts a online education library teaching people how to support military veterans. Five years ago I co-founded Psych Hub, a mental health education platform that has digital resources for the whole ecosystem providers, employers, patients, and consumers.
What are you currently focused on?
Building out Psych Hub’s marketplace to connect consumers with right mental health care for them.
What challenge do you most want to solve in healthcare?
Improve the quality of mental health care treatment and increase access for people to find quality care in a timely manner.
How did the Council Fellows program influence your life or career?
I’ve spent so much of my adult life in mental health, it was eye-opening to learn more about the greater healthcare space. I learned so much that has truly shaped my future beliefs and gave me the confidence to go bigger and bolder! I also love the friends I made in my cohort and the other alumni classes.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
My favorite advice is a quote by Mother Theresa, “People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the best you’ve got anyway.”
What are the most critical changes the industry needs to make to face the future effectively?
Mental health as a field is quite a bit behind physical health. Most therapists aren’t using evidence-based treatments that have been proven to be more effective. For example, we don’t treat eating disorders like we do depression or any other diagnosis. We also don’t widely use measurement-based care which is basically assessing how people are doing during treatment. I believe in order to adequately address the mental health crisis, we have to fix the quality of care issue first. That in turn can help with provider burnout and increase access because clients tend to have greater symptom reduction in fewer sessions with evidence-based treatments are being used.
How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?
It’s always a bit of a roller coaster. There are days where I feel like I can do anything and other days when I feel insecure and defeated. I’ve really grown to appreciate good friends and trusted colleagues. There is something so special about the vulnerability that can be shared with people you trust. Then, when things go wrong, you have your tribe to lift you up. Giving the same back for others is very rewarding.
Tell us something about yourself that isn’t on your resume.
My mom is an amazing chef and cookbook author. She’s won two James Beard awards and was nominated for another. I’ve barely cooked always stating that it skipped a generation. Lately, I’ve really enjoyed dabbling in cooking and making vegetarian entrees.
About Council Fellows
Building on Nashville’s legacy as the Healthcare City, the Council Fellows program connects the healthcare industry’s brightest minds, most influential leaders and top drivers of change. Each year, the highly competitive program convenes a cohort of 30 top executive leaders for a curriculum specifically designed to build new perspectives and generate new ideas for addressing the industry’s most pressing challenges. This prestigious cohort-based program is shaping the future of healthcare.
Applications for Council Fellows open in the fall and a new class is seated in December for the following year’s cohort. If you’re interested in learning more about the Council Fellows program, sign up here to receive ongoing updates. For more information, contact felllows@healthcarecouncil.com.
